Album: Left of the Right Direction
Band: Winslow
Reviewer: Jaysen Gold
Rating: 5 out of 5
I bet you never thought you could take the groove of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and mix it with something that can only be described as Prince on Broadway. Well, that’s exactly what you get with Cleveland, Ohio’s Winslow. The six piece band features players and singers who play nearly every instrument in the book. The band’s front man, Maurice Martin is fresh off a win as Best Vocalist at The Cleveland Music Awards. Music matters just as much to Winslow as family mattered to Carl Winslow.
If you picked up on that 90s TV reference, you’ll be blown away by track four on Winslow’s latest release. “Quarter Life” is about a man going through a quarter life crisis. The sax infused song about a late 80s baby coming to terms with the fact that he’s 25 years old is, without a doubt, the highlight of the album. The album gets its title from a lyric in Quarter Life.
Maurice’s cool tenor Broadway-esque vocal lays nicely over the Dave Matthews Band inspired track, “Last Goodbye.” “A tisket a tasket you have lost your attraction and this fairy tale has come to an end”, that’s how the chorus opens on the track which is a great go-to for any heartbroken man that needs consoling after leaving a woman that put him through the ringer emotionally.
The album concludes with its sole politically infused anthem. “The Change” opens up with some sound bites from a speech made by President Obama. The chorus asks the question, “Will we be the change to rise from the flame and bring forth another day?” A very well written call to arms to conclude a top notch album.
Winslow call themselves a soul band, and it’s evident that each of the six members put both their heart and their soul into Left of the Right Direction. Filled with vocals that will not make you cringe when you listen and musical riffs that rival 90s Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dave Matthew Band and yes…soul music, this album is a must have for any musical enthusiast experiencing the onslaught of a quarter life.