Rock music has a unique relationship with nostalgia. It feels like every few years, there’s an announcement that “real rock is back”. More often than not though, the revival only amounts to reheated riffs, vintage guitars, and a constellation of influential names worn on the sleeve so proudly that they all start to blend together until the actual song takes a backseat. The result is a rock-and-roll experience less about rediscovering its past and more like rummaging through the souvenir shop of a classic rock museum.
And that’s exactly why DownTown Mystic’s latest ‘Mystic Highway Road Trip’ feels so refreshingly human.
At first glance, Robert Allen’s latest six-song EP may sound like the definition of aggressively traditional. It centers around road-trip imagery, bluesy guitar fills, hooky choruses and heartland rock tropes that readily bring to mind Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Buffalo Springfield and even a hint of David Bowie, Queen and Bon Jovi.
Those influences may be unavoidable and don’t try very hard to hide either and this band would rather spend that energy simply enjoying the style than try and reinvent the language of it all- but it’s less about tickling a nostalgia checklist and more about treating classic rock as the living thing it still is, and that has room left for personality.
These aren’t songs attempting to recreate the ‘70s so desperately you can hear the glue and scotch tape holding it all together. Instead, they’re songs performed by people who love to play music like this, why audiences originally connected with it. And that feeling isn’t only in the music’s thematic drive. This is a song list built for movement.
Whether you’re cruising through the city as the sun dips below the horizon, or blasting across long, desolate stretches of highway, the EP boasts an undeniable, driving momentum. It’s easy to picture these songs blasting inside of a hot car on a long haul, windows down as guitars speak all the words you can’t. You can sense it on the EP opening with “Superstar – To Sir Elton with Love Mix.” It’s unapologetic in its tribute and, though the glam-rock influence isn’t so subtle, it never really descends into overt imitation.
Instead, it manages to recapture the larger-than-life theatrical warmth of Elton’s best work, all while maintaining DownTown Mystic’s distinct character.
“Live” featuring Jerry Fierro, introduces a more down-and-dirty vibe. With a thumping walking bass line, splashes of country folk and more of those blue-chip guitar licks, it’s one of the strongest cuts on the EP, sounding loose, unforced, and not at all like the carefully arranged masterstroke that it is.
“Losing My Mind – Re Mix” blends the rock of country with those ever-present blues influences, but gives them a more overt emotional weight. “Shadow Walk” slows things down for something much more atmospheric, giving over more space and time to longer guitar passages and darker sonic shading, making it one of the most absorbing tracks on the record.
There is only one complaint that might be laid at Mystic Highway Road Trip’s door and that’s how, for better or for worse, it never quite throws a curveball after its formula gets going. The EP is so comfortable within its lane. However, considering the very name of the game, that seems to miss the point entirely.
DownTown Mystic doesn’t aim to shake up the genre, they simply offer an incredibly enjoyable reminder of why that classic sound is still popular so long on the way to the modern day because sometimes, a catchy and earnest set of musicians genuinely feeling the moment is exactly what you need.
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About the Author
A tenured media critic known working as a ghost writer, freelance critic for various publications around the world, the former lead writer of review blogspace Atop The Treehouse and content creator for Manila Bulletin.
