Oh, the sweet smell of soft rock. It’s very Sunday morning. After a long, busy and exciting night in the club, and you are retreating to the diner – that’s where soft rock triumphs.Emo (and its older brother screamo) are very cool and "it" right now. Brand New, Dashboard, Taking Back, and Thursday are relentlessly fighting to create another music revolution. They have found a leader in the White Stripes, and groups like Face to Face and Alkaline Trio can’t seem to silence the blue chip bands like Matthews, Metallica, and Brit-pop heroes. But soft rock is always there.
John Mayer and Norah Jones have discovered the success of soft rock in a major way. And hard bands find newfound fans in acoustic versions of their mosh pit anthems.
New York City’s Surrey Lane, a regular at The Goldhawk in Hoboken, wears the soft rock seal on their chest with pride. A significant track like "Why Do We Do" is thoughtful and deep. After cutting through the preaching, listeners discover a passive, honest singer. Enda Keegan wants to make you feel safe, warm, and most importantly, happy. Their 11-track album, The Long Way Home (Piltown) is an unfound pearl in the sea. Produced by Frank D. Fagnano, Long succeeds in originality and soulful melodies.
Despite long intros on a few tunes, Keegan’s voice penetrates the psyche and satisfies frustrations while filtering noise pollution. Turn up the volume to max and it still sounds like Keegan is whispering words of hope into your ear, especially in a sad song like "2 Cents."
A first listen to the album can be almost modern alt-country sounding with a spice of Christian rock, but after a careful study you realize Surrey Lane can jam. But summer Sunday mornings at the shore, they prefer to take the quiet, simple, peaceful long way home.
Surrey Lane performs at The Goldhawk at 936 Park Ave. in Hoboken on Oct. 16 at 9 p.m. For information visit www.surreylane.com or call the venue at (201) 420-7989. q