The band Hard Soul is a band coming from the Capital District in Upstate, New York. The band’s lineup includes: Johnny Salka (lead vocals/guitar), Justin Cheever (drums), Nick Kossor (guitar), and Erin Grim (Keys/Piano). The band has got their start as an acoustic duo performing in bars, coffeehouses, and music venues across the Capital District. The band plays both acoustic and electric guitar-driven rock which defined their straight-forward rock n’ roll sound. “Seize The Year” is the band’s second EP, a follow-up to 2012’s, “Love Eats The Young”. Their latest EP “Seize The Year” has 5 tracks: the title track, “Conquered The World”, “Passes You By”, “Falling Faster” and “Not Alone”.

The album’s sounds is mostly straight-up-rock with one acoustic song, which is “Not Alone”; it has a folky feeling to it. As for the rock n’ roll songs, they can be catchy and they can easily be radio-friendly songs; something that you would here on EQX. Songwriting seems simplistic and easy to listen. That’s the way songs should be. You don’t have to be a technical musician or be a speed-demon shredder to make great rock n’ roll music. The guitar sounds on the album are good. Once a song starts, the songs get straight to the point, and you’re immediately hooked. Great rhythm chops, tasty guitar solos, and good sound over-all. The band’s sounds reminds me of other national bands such as Weezer, Silverchair, Oasis, The Beatles, and others. The band says they get most of their sound influences from Thin Lizzy, and I guess you can hear a little bit of that in their music as well.

Johnny’s singing is good and can easily catch a listener’s ear. He draws you to the music. His singing is real, heartfelt, and he doesn’t try so hard like most rock singers seem to do. He’s no classical singer or Robert Plant, but you don’t need to be to perform great rock n’ roll. All you need is to sing songs with passion and Johnny has that.

Even though this album has 5 tracks, this album is worth a listen. They’re a great rock n’ roll band and they have the potential for a big career in music in their future. I loved the album and hope they release a full-length album with even more songs in the near future. I’m a new fan.

For more information on Hard Soul visit these links:

http://thehardsoul.com/

http://facebook.com/thehardsoul

http://youtube.com/watchhardsoul

http://thehardsoul.bandcamp.com/

http://twitter.com/thehardsoul

Kev