Stone Portal
Smoke & Mirrors
This band, or “rock collaboration from across the British Isles,” as they like to call it is a bit of a mystery. We know that this track was written by Duncan MacLean and Kenneth Maclean, and produced by session veteran Ryan Jones, but as to the specific members of the band, that’s a bit fuzzy, but perhaps that’s their intent.
This track, “Smoke and Mirrors,” is the follow-up to their debut “Stealing Airwaves.” Rumor has it it was inspired by the open roads of America, and the feeling one gets by getting out of town on the open road with a muscle car. Top down, hot summer night, speakers at the verge of blowing, tires squealing, dust, smoke….we think they hit the mark - here’s our review.
The opening riff is thick and heavy. Great down count to start with a drum fill that drops in perfectly. Tones are exactly what you need when you’re tracking heavy rock. Band is tight too, but just loose enough to keep the feel breathing, like they (thankfully) didn’t snap everything to the grid. Vocals come in crystal clear in the first verse and we love how the melody ascends in unison with the intervals in the guitar riffs. Bass tones and playing are huge and in the pocket. Nothing fancy - it doesn’t have to be - and it works perfectly.
With the chorus, we get the addition of nice harmonies that find the perfect spots, hi and low, that don’t get in the way and really compliment the feel. Kudos to Ryan Jones for the production work on this, it’s spot on. There’s a slight variation in the chords and riffs here - it opens up nicely to create a bigger space - and we get a tasty four bar solo with a Kim Thayil like tone to take us into the second verse . Absolutely love it! Second verse and chorus continue the build effectively, creating a swirl of visuals in sync with the vocals that are right in line with “barreling out of town,” “big sky and bigger dreams,” “foot down, outta town” - this is a well executed rock song, to the core.
Solo section is beautiful! Great change in the chord progression without losing any of the intensity or direction of the track. Whomever shredded that solo is probably still cooling off their hands in a bucket of ice right now. Finally, really have to compliment how clean the mix is throughout the entire song. There were a lot of great rock songs in the 80’s and 90’s that got absolutely destroyed by too much reverb, crappy tones, and too much compression (I’m looking at you, hair metal morons!). If they had only followed the true sound of rock - much like you hear in this song - they’re music wouldn’t be considered so passé.
As we said at the beginning, this band is still a bit of mystery with only two tracks in, but we like where they’re going and can’t wait to hear what they do next!