Geoff Wilbur posted: " The Backstory Back in the early '90s, when I was getting my start as a music journalist in Boston, Steve Sera was the frontman for the band Wildside, one of the best melodic hard rock bands in Boston at the time. I covered a few Wildside shows and " Geoff Wilbur's Music Blog
Back in the early '90s, when I was getting my start as a music journalist in Boston, Steve Sera was the frontman for the band Wildside, one of the best melodic hard rock bands in Boston at the time. I covered a few Wildside shows and reviewed the band's EP Sheet Music. Before Wildside, Steve was in the band Axminster. Well, in the decades since I write about Wildside, Axminster reformed. Axminster's lineup consists of Benny Fiorentino (guitar, vocals), Steve Sera (vocals, guitar), Danny Callan (bass, vocals), and Xanon Xicay (drums); the band devotes a page of its website to a tribute to its late drummer Mike "Maddog" Lamm.
What you'll hear on Axminster's Tightrope EP is classic hard rock, delivered with enthusiasm, fully embracing the playful bluesy rock influence that has underpinned the sounds and styles of many of the best melodic hard rock bands for decades.
image courtesy of Axminster
Like so many classic hard rock albums, Tightrope kicks off with a show of power on "Broken Nails." Going all-in on intensity, Axminster establishes its hard rock street cred with this opening track. The song surges mostly straight-ahead but features a little sidewinding axework, offering a glimpse into the band's more expansive capabilities, in a way foreshadowing the breadth of influences yet to come on Tightrope.
The second track, "Down to the Bone," is my personal favorite. It leans into its funky rhythm early on, drives continually toward its catchy, memorable, raucously singalongable chorus, and closes with a repetitive push toward close that'll have you singing the echo of the "cuts right" lyric. You know, in my early days on the Boston hard rock beat, this city was known for its funky metal – well, one local band, in particular. Axminster may be channeling some of that vibe here on this song but wisely resists going full-on Extreme. The result is a catchy original that's undeniably stylistically Axminster.
"Kids These Days" follows, driving home Axminster's musical philosophy that straight-ahead rock doesn't need to steer itself in a straight line. Better yet, there's some variance to draw the listener in, a chance to show off vocal skills, and room for some well-placed guitar runs. It's as if this song is a rock 'n roll master class from some knowledgeable veterans sharing their tricks with the kids these days.
"Tightrope" is a guitar-driven rock number whose axework could be better described as playful than shredding, with Fiorentino's guitarwork meshing with Sera's vocal phrasing to provide a lighter vibe to an otherwise heavy rocking song.
"Put Ya Money" has a vocal line that surges and ebbs with the beat that, like so much of this EP, leaves room for some impressive guitarwork, particularly late in the song.
Finally, "Trippin'" comes out aggressively. And, though I've tried to avoid making the comparison, this song forces me to succumb. Indeed, particularly on the back half of this EP and most of all on this song, the songwriting, thumping rhythms, and vocal delivery remind me quite a bit of classic Y&T. Sera seems to channel Dave Meniketti during "Trippin'" more than he does anywhere else on this EP, and it results in a frenetically entertaining EP-ending number – quite clearly my second-favorite song in this collection.
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