by Mansoor Syed
Picture yourself cooking — and all around you are myriad assorted ingredients. Here by your right hand lay a little spice marked “the Police”. Sitting up there on the shelf are three little bottles labeled “Tupac”, “Whitney Houston”, and “Neil Diamond”. “The Beatles” sit on the counter next to “Simon Curtis”. Watching over them all are “the Backstreet Boys”.
Now as every good cook knows, too many spices can ruin a meal — and as every good consumer knows, a lack of spice can ruin a meal just as much.
Bryce Avary, better known by his stage name The Rocket Summer, took three of the best spices — “Michael Jackson”, “Chris Daughtry”, and “Justin Timberlake” — and created one of the prettiest palettes in the musical cuisine of 2016 so far.
From the first song to the very end, I was in love with Avary’s work. “Cold War” kicks the album off with a popesque, upbeat, “get-your-ass-shaking” beat that draws you in immediately. “Same Air” tells you that there’s a lot more where that came from. Every song from “UNI” to “Rules of Thirds Kind of Life” resonates with that glorious savor — then “Sharks” gives you closure with its soft kiss and “Emergency Landings” waves you off.
I’ve never listened to The Rocket Summer before, but now I can’t wait to explore his older music. I’ve heard his past music is better — this I can’t believe. This album is no ordinary album… it’s a masterpiece. You know that one song that goes mainstream but never, ever gets old? This album takes that song and squeezes little distinct clones out of it.
Let The Rocket Summer fly you to the moon and back with this gorgeous album.
