Chase Encounter - On The Road Again

Chase Encounter

On The Road Again
self-released; 2015

3.8 out of 5

By Jamie Robash

Chase Encounter is a southern rock blues band that hails from the UK. The band itself is a group comprised of professional musicians who have worked with one another over the years and that is very evident from how tight they sound musically as a band. Chase Encounters is headed up by the duo of Trevor Duffin and Neil Sadler. It is these two men who are responsible for the lyrics, vocals and song arrangements on their latest album On the Road Again. 

On the Road Again has hints of irony behind its creation. It was recorded, mixed and mastered at No Machine Studios in Wokingham, Berkshire, UK. The first of the ironies is No Machine Studios, its name hinting at an earlier way of doing things, an album made by hand, which the southern rock blues sounds of On the Road Again sound like they were forged by the hands of a workingman, which closely parallels the spelling of Wokingham where the album was recorded. 

The album is a mix of telltale songs about hard luck and they have a sense of empathy about them; you believe the tales that are being recounted to you as you listen, such as on “Black Sheep” and the Joe Cocker inspired “Getting Better.” 

Though many of these songs also find time to rock, mainly with long and squealing guitar solos, which occur on just about every track, but that shine most brightly on tracks like the upbeat electric organ rocker “Crossfire.” Then there’s the epic “Gambler,” which has a bit of that old Dire Straits feeling and is the best song on the album. Here the guitar solo waits until nearly the end and wails alongside the piano based melody. “Gambler” really helps to show off not only what Chase Encounter is capable of as a band, but what music is capable of no matter how long the genre has been around for. 

On the Road Again also contains two covers, Bob Seger’s “Turn the Page,” from which the album takes its title. The Chase Encounter version is at the same speed but more of a mellow blues feel. As far as covers go it’s really not a song one should mess with in my opinion and my thinking is Chase Encounter should have gone with a deeper cut. The second cover is “The Highwayman” by Jimmy Webb. Again another one that perhaps should not have been put on the album. Cover songs, even with their own spin on them really should be saved for the stage and the original recordings left for the album. 

Despite a few songs that sound like they could be repeats of one another and the cover versions that should have stayed off the album On the Road Again by Chase Encounter is an album worth checking out. Their original songs are fresh and give new life to an aged genre. 

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