Quiet Oaks – Never Really Minded

Quiet Oaks – Never Really Minded

SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/quiet-oaks/01never-really-minded-2444/s-xrTJu?in=quiet-oaks/sets/almost-ok/s-Bkrb8

The evolution of modern rock n’ roll has not been predictable nor simple by any stretch of the imagination. Over the last half century we’ve seen rock grow out of the ashes of blues music and slowly transform into this unbelievably strong entity that can pack stadiums and quake the earth beneath a highway just the same. Electrifying and rousing, rock n’ roll is a force to be reckoned with. The fuzz-rocking Quiet Oaks take the history of this genre very seriously and exhibit just how committed they are to keeping its eternal flame alive in the new single “Never Really Minded,” which is equal parts a throwback to hard rock’s golden period and a snapshot of the vicious underground that is dominating its development today.

“Never Really Minded” is soaked in feedback, distortion and a swinging beat that recalls the garage rock of The Stooges and MC5 but never quite drifts into the jarring experimentation of proto punk acts like the Velvet Underground. It’s a polished track that could blend in with the contemporary sound without raising too many eyebrows, but don’t get the idea that this is background music. “Never Really Minded” commands our attention with a staggering riff that slinks around with more adrenaline than some hipsters will likely be comfortable with, and though it defiantly shakes its finger in the face of more relaxed rock songs, it isn’t shy about basking in the enigmas that its lead singer discharges with pointed impunity.

BANDCAMP: https://quietoaks.bandcamp.com/album/almost-ok

The star of this song is the chaotic riffage that guides the band along from beginning to end, and it’s a lot more colorful in its presentation than some of us have come to expect in 2018. My only complaint with this track is that ultimately its centerpiece – the guitar – is rather buried in the master mix, making it a little harder for us to fully appreciate the grandeur of the performance. I think that to really get a grasp of what this band is able to accomplish you’d have to see them live, where equalization and audio engineering take a backseat to the raw tenacity of the players themselves. This is still a searing peek at the depth of their songwriting, but it pales in comparison to the damage they could do on stage.

Quiet Oaks has got some rough edges that could keep some mainstream listeners away, but at the end of the day they successfully deliver a sufficiently smooth yet raucous product in their latest blistering single. I love the direction that this band is going in, and to be frank I think that you’d have to be a pretty discriminating critic to find any real flaws within “Never Really Minded” other than its somewhat limited scope of production. This is still a hard rocking fastball pitched at us with the intensity of a freight train, and my gut tells me that most diehard rock fans will be inclined to agree with me. This group is definitely worth watching as they move forward, and this single is a good way to get familiar with their sound.

YOU TUBE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99bAuBxyxX4

Mindy McCall