pablo alto - ​Fever

Pablo Alto

​Fever
self-released; 2017

3.6 out of 5

By Jamie Funk

Pablo Alto is John Rose (guitar/vocals), Steve Crews (bass/vocals) and Dave Savagar (drums/vocals). The three-piece band plays garage rock in the spirit of staples like The Stooges and modern day rockers like Ty Segall. They play into all the tropes and criteria for the genre - no more, no less. Imagine CBGB’s in the ’80s and the punk rock bands that would play there. 

The production on their EP Fever is spot on except for one perplexing issue. The second song “Tension” is about 5 - 7 dbs softer and sounds no where close to or as good as the other songs from a production perspective. I’m not sure why and the band could have at least raised the volume with a stock limiter that comes in almost every DAW.

The band opens with “Fever” which in typical punk/garage rock fashion is a short song at two minutes. I liked it and it has good energy, a fun chorus and is sloppy and raw enough to work. “Troubled Mind” is practically identical in energy and delivery but then again that kind of schtick was typical of bands in this genre. The chorus is slightly different but the things that matter like crunchy power chords and energetic drumming are there. 

“Fall” is the most ambitious song and arguably the highlight. It's a little more psychedelic sounding and has a number of builds which leads to frantic drumming and white noise. The band rocks out for the second half of the song in a Comets on Fire type of way. 

I like this band. I also want to see them push their abilities on their next effort and see where the music can go. They have the potential of a band like No Age which took garage rock and fused it with original artistic exploration. The other choice is to be purists but do it in such a distinct way that sticks out from the countless bands barking up the same trees. 

​Overall, the band builds a solid foundation and I think they have the potential to take it to the next level.

Become A Fan

bandcamp

Tweet