Eldorado - Antigravity Sound Machine

There's something in the air.  I can feel it.

Living music as much as I do, day after day, it just feels like something big is happening.  More and more it seems that the world is waking up to real rock n roll.  The time of overly-produced, radio-fodder, corporate commercial pap is ending.  People want to rock.  They want real instruments and passon and energy.   I sense a longing for old-school 70's festival shows like the famous Days on the Green in Oakland. People want real, retro hard n heavy rock.

And this seems to be happening all over the world, not just the classic music staples of the U.K., Sweden and Germany.  Just check Miss Lava in Portugal.  Concrete Sun in Serbia, and now, Eldorado from Spain. 

I hadn't heard Eldorado before, but I've learned that Antigravity Sound Machine is their third album; their second with new singer Jesus Trujillo, and their second album sung in English (first album with Trujilo was in English and Spanish).  Cool.  Now that means I gotta go back and track down their first two albums because I'm a sucker for rock blasted out in a band's native language.  Particularly if those albums sound half as good as Antigravity Sound Machine.

Full on retro-heaviness Zeppelin inspired rock is the name of game here.  Blazing guitars and ballsy rhythms for days, played with zeal and fire.  Trujillo ably brings a Plant-esque command to the music without ever aping the master.  In fact, despite the retro-influences, Eldorado never fall into the "too-heavinly influenced by the masters" trap.  They combine their Zeppelin meal with other 70's touches courtesey of Sabbath, and Bad Company, some 80's spice from the cookbook of The Black Crowes, and some stewy gobs of 90's grunge to the scene a la Soundgarden, fusing it all into a paella of simmering rock tastiness.  I've seen a lot of references to Rival Sons, The Answer, and Wolfmother, but Eldorado seems much more real to me.  The closest comparison I hear is Portlands, Ape Machine, and that's a damn fine band to be compared to. 

"Background Radiation" is all Zep and Soundgarden swagger with soaring bluesy vocals and massive chunky riffs.  Think Crowes, "Too Hot to Handle" existing on a diet of Red Bulls, weed and uppers for 20 years.  It rages, it steams, it kicks some serious ass.  "Like a Lost Child" builds off a simmering bass intro to layer in huge Deep Purple, Hammond organ, before dropping into a groovefest of mid-tempo blues-fueled stadium rock.  This song just explodes with some tasty psychedelic guitar licks and groove.  "Another Bright Sunday" is an explosion of ballsy, hard-rocking madness with massively thick grooves and a killer, guitar-vocal harmony verse.

From start to finish, Antigravity Sound Machine is a kick-ass journey through the world of retro-rock, with band finding ample room to explore and show off their chops.  Quality from start to finish. 

If the sounds of retro-70's rock are your thing, take heart, the world is right there with you.  What started out as an underground rumble is becoming a world-wide roar.  Rock is back, and Eldorado rightfully take their place leading that charge.

Don't miss it.

--Racer