photo courtesy of Cobra Promotions
Album Review of Paul Sherry: Peace in Mind
The anguished rock ‘n roll voice of Paul Sherry. It’s a gravelly voice that conveys itself as weary but full of wisdom and sincerity. There are a handful of rockers out there who does this with the same gravitas Sherry carries, but there ain’t many, and it’s worth taking notice when you run across one of the few. In this case, Paul Sherry.
Last year, I reviewed an advance single from this record, “Fades,” and it’s still one of my favorites, thanks to its jangly rockin’ness, its coolly swaying tempo, and its descent (ascent) into raucousness as it heads into its fade. But let’s talk about some of the album’s other tracks, too, some of which have become new favorites.
You can almost divide the album into two halves. (“A” side and “B” side, anyone? Is Piece in Mind available on vinyl?) Disc-opener “Rise” kicks off a noisy, loud, grainy five-song bender, as each song features Sherry’s voice at its glass-garglingest, forcefully pounding skinswork, near constant guitar buzz, and the occasional nifty guitar run. Within that framework, though, each song has its own personality, and while the five-pack feels similar, and they all seem to be a well-fitted first half of the record, each has its own distinct character, providing the variance that keeps things interesting.
image courtesy of Cobra Promotions
“Rise,” for example, is a noisy, raucous rocker. “Peace in Mind” has a little slower pace, carves out some white space inside the wall of noise from time to time, and even sports the occasional tuneful noodling on the axe, all befitting the song’s lyrical introspection. “Show Your Love” has a warmer guitar buzz throughout than its neighboring numbers, as its “show your love right here before you go” lyric is repeated like a mantra atop a methodical, always-moving-forward heavy rhythm.
The steady nature of “Show Your Love” is an ideal set-up to one of my favorite songs on the record, “Soul Searching,” a jangly, grainy rock song that seems to be always lifting upward, providing a hopeful underpinning to the “soul searching” lyric, helped along by some “ooh-ooh” support vox in the bridges. It’s just a plain-ol’ cool, broad-appeal noisy rock song.
To be honest, though, I think “Feel the Glow” will be the most popular number among these first five, with a primary guitar riff that’s the most memorable on the record so far.
“Meditation Instrumental,” next, kicks off the “B” side, and it feels like a palate cleanser, like ginger if, in this metaphor, you consider the songs before and after to be sushi. The instrumental number has a jazz-like feel, or is perhaps more reminiscent of something you’d hear on progressive or experimental rock albums, with light guitarwork dancing across a synthetic buzz before the guitar sound increases in density, slowly building to a moderate intensity before fading toward the end. Again, it’s so unlike anything before or after on the album that it stands out for that reason alone.
photo courtesy of Cobra Promotions
Sherry stays mellow for a couple more songs. Well, one at least. “Here Lies the Way” comes across as a grainily, at least initially, plaintive plea before it builds in, well, I’d have to say confidence, if it were possible for a song to have confidence. Indeed, I’m sure it is confidence, at least to the extent its composer or creator can breathe that trait into a song. In this case, the song grows into its message of “Here Lies the Way.” It’s well-followed, both lyrically and musically, by “Serenity.” Indeed, the moderately uptempo rock ‘n roll swagger, tunefulness, and recurring cheerful guitar flourish help establish this as another of my personal favorites on the record, replete with a fun, late song, ’70s/’80s-style dancing guitar line. I wouldn’t say it’s exactly like a Dirty Guv’nahs song, but I’d stick it back to back on a playlist with some of the Dirty Guvs’ best.
“Fades,” next, is a song I was incredibly familiar with already before hearing Piece in Mind, since I reviewed it in the spring of 2025. It’s a fun, kickass, mid-tempo guitar-rock number, just as memorable as when I reviewed it more than a year ago.
The record closes with the fittingly-entitled “It’s All Over.” Even more fittingly, it includes the lyric “It’s all over. Start again.” The guitarwork absolutely drips hard-rockin’ blues, even as the rhythm section powers forward as if it’s a strict rock ‘n roll song. Put those elements together, and the resulting song is rockin’ and cool, a strong album-ender… unless, of course, it convinces you to “start again” from track one, in which case it ain’t over yet!
There’s a reason Paul Sherry is a decorated professional musician. His music is catchy. Sherry’s energy – and that of his music – is the sort that’s designed to absolutely rock a stage as small as a dive bar or as massive as a festival main stage. And Piece in Mind is a strong rock ‘n roll record. The music is electric and will leave you buzzing long after the album ends. Or, if it compels you to catch one of Sherry’s live shows, you’ll clearly be feeling the buzz long after the concert ends.
