Singer and songwriter Josh Epstein doesn’t sound like Bruce Springsteen, but like a kid whose mom listened to a lot of Boss. The Silent Years’ music is thoroughly informed by proletariat rock of the highest order, the kind of rock that doesn’t pander to the average person that needs to be entertained, but to the person that needs to be challenged, offering good metaphors to chew on, good hooks to get snagged by, and pronounced melodies that are as uniquely fresh as nostalgically reminiscent. Opener “No Secrets� is about that cathartic moment when you share everything with a person, including your values, fears, and dreams, when “we see all secrets disappear.� Further mixing the sexual with the spiritual, Epstein pens “when we die, we’ll all have no clothes on,� replete with an instrumental break that is truly cause for rocking out, feeling like a weight has been lifted. Throughout their sophisticated song structures, Silent Years build foundations where the message comes across not only in the lyrics but also the music, moving from plaintive and inviting acoustics on the endearing “Someone to Keep Us Warm� to feedback-frenzied on the fed-up “This Town� to swinging lullaby-like on “Lidocaine,� soothing pain like the song’s namesake. Pop this CD in not because you already feel some certain way but because this is one of those rare releases that can excite feeling.
~ Melody Caraballo
