photo by Will Cook; photo courtesy of Nothing’s Shocking Media

Album Review of Thorslund: Thorslund

Thorslund are brothers Jeff Thorslund (vocals, guitar, bass) and Tom Thorslund (drums, backing vocals), with Charles Horin handling live bass duties.

The band performs classic, timeless, guitar-driven hard rock music. You hear elements of ’70s rock, but with updated tone, riffs, and production values. In its bio, Thorslund notes the influence of the melodic elements of grunge on the band’s music. I’m not convinced that influence, necessarily, comes through in an obvious sense, but if it’s an influence, then the music is well-served by it. The band’s self-titled debut release was self-produced by Jeff and Tom and mixed by Nick DiDia (Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, Dirty Honey).

image courtesy of Nothing’s Shocking Media

The gritty, heavy, bluesy hard rock riffs that begin album-opener “Firecracker Man” establish Thorslund as a modern, classic-styled hard rock band that’s clearly first-tier. When assembling an album, especially as a new band, put your best song – especially your best song in your trademark style – right up front. Thorslund has done that here, and it works well. Within the first few seconds of “Firecracker Man,” I knew I’d like this album, and I knew I’d review it. Yes, this twisty, hooky, singalongable (“I’m the long-awaited… firecracker man!”) song is still my favorite, but, as expected, Thorslund is a strong album beginning to end.

“Hours to Go” also kicks off with a catchy guitar hook that leads to a fun, riff-laden, classic guitar rock song. It features enough hooks to be enjoyed by a rock ‘n roll fan, with enough impressive axework to be a musician’s favorite track, too.

“Wildfire” features a sidewinding hook, not completely unlike “Firecracker Man” but with a lighter classic rock feel. Something about one of the guitar flourishes reminds me of “Rocky Mountain Way,” and while the entire song doesn’t sound anything like it, I can see the two songs being seamlessly played side-by-side by a cover band somewhere because “Wildfire” really does have a bit of that ’70s vibe to it.

photo by Will Cook; photo courtesy of Nothing’s Shocking Media

“New Light” is a heavy rock thumper with a catchy, repetitive overriding rhythm and bluesy classic rock guitarwork plus the sort of psychedelic rock fade-out one might expect from Enuff Z’nuff or “Green Tinted Sixties Mind”-era Mr. Big.

Change-of-pace, lighter number “I Got Time” is an intense strummer that is lighter, fresher, and acoustic, eschewing drums until the very end.

“So It Goes” is more mid-range classic rock, still guitar-driven but more along the lines of what you might hear from Rick Springfield (but with a ’70s rather than an ’80s vibe) and ending with a seriously fun extended guitar solo.

And “Armageddon Tonight” is another AOR-era guitar rocker, this one with a cool recurring rhythm.

photo by Will Cook; photo courtesy of Nothing’s Shocking Media

Finally, to close, the rhythm of album-ender “Rocker” reminds me a little of Helix’s “Heavy Metal Love,” and it certainly has that modestly wild-yet-contained Helix vibe, though the vocal harmonies in some spots are reminiscent of the richer harmonies of other ’80s rock bands. Notably – and enjoyably – the axework that sits atop the beat is of the flamboyant shredding variety found on a variety of ’80s album rock tracks.

Guitar-based classic rock fans are sure to enjoy Thorslund’s self-titled debut LP. My favorites remain “Firecracker Man,” “Hours to Go,” and “Wildfire,” but yours may be different.

Looking Ahead

The “Live” page of Thorslund’s website doesn’t list any upcoming shows, but check back for dates as they’re added.