Summers – 364

Southampton band Summers was formed in 2007 by brothers Crash and Ricky Summers.  Unfortunately their bio starts off with one my pet hates – a made up genre.  They claim to play “stadium rock”, which isnt a genre of music but is actually a term used for bands playing arena or stadium size venues – which Summers don’t (yet at least).
Ok so they aren’t stadium rock, but what is their music like?  well the short answer is “Damn good”.  The longer answer is that there’s a strong Def Leppard influence here along with a hint of Bon Jovi.  Really though it’s that Def Leppard sound that takes centre stage here – and I’m not talking modern day mediocre Def Leppard – I’m talking 80’s Def Leppard when they were at their peak.  They aren’t a Def Leppard clone though – yes they have a strong Def Leppard feel, but there are other elements added in to make it subtly different.

The vocals are excellent, and the music is fantastic – smooth and polished, but not to the extent that it starts to become bland – it’s still got more than enough of a rock sound to stop that.  The songs are great too with a really catchy feel and big choruses – It’s the sort of sound that would have made them a massive hit in the late ’80s, and which these days is bound to get them plenty of fans.

One song that deserves special mention is their tribute to Phil Lynott, ‘Rock machine’ where the Def Leppard influence is mixed with a Thin Lizzy sound.  It’s a great track, in praise of a true rock legend.

Ok lets get on to what I consider the only bad part of the album – the lyrics.  While there are some great songs on here, there are a couple whose lyrics make me wonder if they were written by an egomaniac thirteen year old. ‘Superhero’ and ‘Girls’ have lyrics which really irritate me I’m afraid.  As an example, the chorus in ‘Superhero’ includes the line “What every girl wants, what every girl needs, what everyone loves, is a piece of me” – sounds like a rampant ego at work.  The line “All you wanna talk about is wedding bells, all I want to do is do it” just sounds like something from an immature teenager.  Sorry, but these songs struck me as below Steel Panther lyrically (at least they have humour as a saving grace).  Admittedly you don’t expect the standard of Shakespeare in song lyrics, but equally you don’t expect stuff as bad as this.  Happily though these two songs are not representative of the rest of the album – if you exlude these two songs, the rest of the album is great lyrically.

The music here is so good that it’s hard to believe it’s the band’s debut album – this is excellent stuff and is highly recommended.

‘364’ is available now.

Track listing:

1. Shot in the dark
2. Superhero
3. Girls
4. Too late
5. Sometimes
6. Steal away
7. Let’s make love
8. Billy
9. Let’s go around
10. Told you so
11. Terminator
12. Rock machine

Summers are:

Crash Summers – Lead vocals
Ricky Summers – Bass & vocals
Jason Sepala – Guitars & vocals
Joedy Rose – Guitars & vocals
Andy Pope – Drums & vocals