For us, the Rock & Roll Rumble is the gift that keeps on giving and does the one thing we feel it was meant to do: Highlight new artists that you may not have heard before! Since we’ve been doing this writing thang for awhile, we’re mostly familiar with many a band entered into the annual sonic sparring match but once in a blue moon there’ll be a few stand outs that we can’t get enough of that we’ll follow forever. Gretchen Shae & The Middle Eight were not only one of those bands for us in their particular class but also one that was a “can’t miss” when figuring out which shows we’d be able to make that year.
And yeah, we don’t get a chance to cover EVERYTHING that we’d like but we make it a point to promote as much as we can regardless and then, if we’re lucky, timing works out and we can bring you some advance coverage like this for the upcoming new EP from GSM8 entitled Inside A Dream!
We don’t want to say that Inside A Dream is a “more mature” release from the Boston-based outfit because that would have unnecessary implications to previous works (Which all collectively rule if you haven’t heard already). That said, the songs here are definitely a step above and, dare we say, a little more straightforward?!?! With vocalist/guitarist Gretchen Shae getting her Goth on regularly with the more Darkwave/Electro-tinged outfit Proles (Also featuring Vampire Werewolf which you can check out here), Inside A Dream seems to be brimming with Rawk anthem after Rawk anthem while slightly shedding all the extra accoutrements that might’ve been associated with the GSM8 sound and that suits us just fine!
“Heroes Shouldn’t Be Villains” is a battle cry beginning with Ronan Fahy’s leads as Marco Salazar’s bass and Nick Mehos’ drums amble in next before Shae’s powerhouse Blues-soaked pipes croon out the first memorable vocal moment of many to come. “Inside A Dream” is all jangly guitar lines that twinkle and triumph (Especially during Fahy’s solo further in) with a subtle percussive intensity driven by Mehos while “Little Armies” gets all acoustical for a few with Salazar’s John Taylor-like bass lines bringing some Funk and Shae and Fahy’s crunchy riffs enhancing the bigger than life sounds the chorus brings capped off by an enchanting call and response moment as the momentum increases and the EP hurtles toward the end.
Inside A Dream drops on November 22nd and you can pre-save/order yours now by heading here. For all the rest of your Gretchen Shae & The Middle Eight needs, including the socials and where to find the band in the wild or stream the rest of their tunes at home, head here.