Santa Cruz’s debut album is one you won’t want to miss

Over the past few years, it appears that it has been harder and harde

r to find new, unique and innovative hard rock/metal bands that capture the classic 80’s-esque sound. Through continuous searching, I came across a band hailing from Finland, Santa Cruz.

It was no surprise that a band containing such talent came straight out of Helsinki, Finland. In the country there are 53.5 metal bands per 100,000 people. The difference making Santa Cruz stand out from all of these other bands is their latest, self titled album, Santa Cruz, that they released in 2015. The album from the first track to the last encapsulates the raw sound of 80’s metal bands mixed with modern elements to keep them current.

To kick off the album, the band opens up with the hard hitting track Bonafide Heroes that starts with a modern electric sound, which may throw off some listeners, just until the first guitar riff bursts through it to establish the mood of the album. The powerful riff constructed by guitarists Archie Cruz (Arttu Kuosmanen) and Johnny Cruz (Jonny Parkkonen) is followed up by the pounding drums of Taz Cruz (Tapani Fagerström) and bass of Middy Cruz (Mitja Toivonen) that push any doubt about the album out of the water. (Yes, Santa Cruz did, like the Ramones, change their last name to part of their band name).

To follow up is Velvet Rope, a bolder song, featuring harsh lyrics relating to the not exactly liking someone else. So if you are annoyed with someone, this may just be the song for you. Although laced with profanity through the chorus, it may not be a song for everyone and is the boldest song on the album, but it still contains the very same attitude and power as the rest of the tracks.

One of the singles that was first released comes next on the album, My Remedy. If any song has profanity in it, it would be this one as it has more profanity in the first 30 seconds than most albums have in their entirety. Again, it may not be everyone’s taste, but luckily My Remedy and Velvet Rope are the only two songs that carry large amounts of profanity.

Aside from this, one of the elements that makes this song noteworthy is the lengthy and complex guitar solos by the Archie and Johnny duo. The pair trade off solos that put them in the running for the best guitar duo of our generation. Not only this, but the chorus does have the same 80’s rock/pop feel that make you sing along whether you like it or not.

Two other singles on the album are Wasted and Wounded and We Are the Ones to Fall. Along with My Remedy, they all come paired with a music video. Each song features erratic camera work, that at first is hard to watch, but truly captures the message of the band. We Are the Ones to Fall stands out in that the band is featured playing in a dark warehouse, which somehow leads to the band members beating each other up. Once the song comes to an end, the bloodied band members sit together with Archie saying, “Guys, we should do this again sometime” to close out the video.

Wasted and Wounded contains the most modern sound in that it has overdubbing and work with auto tuned elements, which sets it apart from the other songs. The song does, however, save itself with a catchy chorus and the guitar work of Archie and Johnny once again.

One of the other songs that stands out on the album is Bye Bye Babylon, a mellower song than the rest that has softer vocals and lyrics. It is in this song that Archie is also able to exhibit his vocal range alongside his guitar playing skills.

Overall, the album may not appeal to everyone at first due to some songs being heavier than most, but it does capture the talent that the band posses. The most compelling aspects, as stated before, is the guitar work of Archie and Johnny. The pair trade solos on and off throughout the album, out shredding any other new guitarists I’ve heard in the past decade. The band announced the recording of their newest, yet to bet titled album, that will be released this fall.