The Voyces - "Let Me Die In Southern California" Review

The Voyces’ second album released by Planting Seeds Records, “Let Me Die In Southern California”, is a magnificently crafted concept album filled with radio-ready singles, and serves as a tasty, riff-heavy ode to Southern California. Songwriter Brian Wurschum creates the group’s most memorable collection of songs, many of which could be compared to dreamy reflections by the likes of both The Eagles and Pink Floyd. Here, they have elegantly shaken their folk roots, sprinkling them into what can only be described as a classic rock and roll album, complete with searing and bombastic harmonies.




The brief intro “Gold Wine” sets the stage with its whimsy, dream-like, hum-along melody, only to be smashed to bits by the album’s instantly catchy and majestic title track. “King of Castle” follows, with Jude Kastle singing lead and bringing profound longing and yearning to an already captivating adventure. “If I Am Not Your Everything, Baby, I’m Not Anything” is, quite simply, one of the nicest love songs ever written, by The Voyces, or anyone else for that matter. “Finest Hour” barrels along next, a satanic-funk groove instantly embraced by the body of the listener. It is, remember, a concept album, and the next song, “La Lomita”, a quiet little instrumental, pastes the songs together effortlessly.



Then comes “You Can Never Know”, a chorus-heavy heartbreaker very much in the in the vein of Fleetwood Mac. “The Speed of Fear” is flat out heavy metal if it is not for the lush, Steve Miller-style vocal onslaught resting on top. The instantly classic and timeless, “It Never Just Goes” comes next, with another unforgettable hook, a plush, rich sound, and military-style drumming. “And The Trickling Sun”, a one minute instrumental puts the listener in a trance so that “It Whispers”, the album’s final piece, arrives like a epic, Floydian dream, summarizing the record’s journey with poetic greatness, violins, and a guitar solo that will make you want to start the whole album over again.


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