SOLID FLOW - Was It Something I Said (digital)

Sometimes it’s really a pity that some albums just remain unreleased. In those cases it’s a great thing we have Spitify and CDBaby.com. Solid Flow is one of those cases. The band features former Locomotive Breath bassist Ulf Kronsell, former Locomotive Breath drummer Jimmy Lexe, now found in Unfaithful, former T For Trouble/Seven guitarist Magnus Ölander, singer extraordinaires Mija Holmquist and Daniel Frank. In opening track Change Mija reminds me a bit Alanis Morisette gone hard rock. The style is here a bit similar to Freak Kitchen, but without the craziness. Ölander is a great guitarist, shamelessly underrated and underexposed. This is however not a streamlined album (which may be the reason a label hasn’t picked it up), which shows already in the second track which draws more towards southern hard rock, but with a heavy and detuned edge. Next up, the music takes a more funky turn, reminding me a bit of Sass Jordan in her Rats era. Besides Mija, the band also has a male singer/guitarist who sounds killer as well, Daniel Frank, a guy who recently received the prestigious Birgit Nilsson scholarship. Yes, he’s actually in the opera, which definitely doesn’t show here. The dude rocks! Revenge is a great up-tempo rocker with Mija and Daniel sharing the vocals. In I Know we return to the Freak Kitchen oriented riffing, here adding a really cool melodic chorus. One of my favourites is the quirky Silence Is Broken which made me think of a Swedish sadly forgotten band Red Rocket in the verse in the aforementioned Freak Kitchen in the chorus. I realize I’ve mentioned Freak Kitchen a couple of times, but still, Solid Flow are by no means any copy cats. Hey, labels, it still isn’t too late to get this out on CD! If you’re into bands like Shiva, Red Rocket, Freak Kitchen, check this out!
Janne Stark
Label: private
Country: Sweden
Year: 2012
Link: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/solidflow