Moscow-based rock outfit Apache Rose recently dropped their debut LP, Attention!, amalgamating their ‘90s-laced sound with tinctures of punk, metal, and hard rock.
According to the band, “We wanted to make an album like the ones we love, the one you could listen on repeat. Like Aerosmith’s Rocks, Metallica’s Kill’ em All, Sex Pistols’ Nevermind the Bollocks, Nirvana’s Nevermind, Soundgarden’s Superunknown, Stone Temple Pilots’ Core, Arctic Monkeys’ first album. We hope we succeeded.”
Churning up waves of attention in Europe, the UK, and the U.S., Apache Rose has collected more than 1 million hits on YouTube, along with considerable airplay. If the pandemic subsides and things get back to some semblance of normal, Apache Rose will hit the road internationally in 2021.
Encompassing 10-tracks, Attention! starts off with “Easy,” riding a rumbling, contagious rhythm topped by snarling guitars and warm vocals. Vaguely reminiscent of Guns N Roses, this track is at once potent and smooth.
Entry points include “On My Watch,” which summons up memories of STP merged with Alice In Chains. Dirty, growling guitars ride a raw rhythmic pulse, complete with sonic shifts and breakdowns leading to a murky, dazzling guitar solo.
A personal favorite, “Hit Me,” blends ‘90s savors of cool jazz-rock with driving alt-rock, while sleazy guitars and synths ripple overhead. Deliciously hushed vocals infuse the lyrics with mysterious sensual hues.
“You Kiss Like A Girl” opens on smoldering, seductive guitars supported by a throbbing, straight-ahead rhythm. This track is elusively familiar yet simultaneously imaginative, like the Kings of Leon covering Aerosmith. The last track, “Some Kind of Love,” conjures up hints and tints of the Beatles crossed with Steely Dan with dollops of Queen tossed in as relish. The vocals on this track resonate with buoyant coloration and scrummy pop washes.
Apache Rose has it going on! Attention! Is imaginative, yet recognizable as precisely what it is – charismatic rock ‘n’ roll.