Alex Lynch
One Glimpse Away
Self-Released, 2010

Reviewed by Kent Manthie
Talk about hitting the jackpot with a DIY project: Alex Lynch, a native Russian who seems to have a pretty damn good grasp of English, has just put out one of two releases he currently has on the market. One Glimpse Away is a 6-song EP that just rocks. Listening to it, the CD sounds like a cross between Metallica, after they cut their hair and went “mainstream” (Fuel, etc.) and some of the underground LA bands. I thought I heard a tiny bit of Emo in there, but I’m sure that it was only a coincidence. The music just has to much of a punch to write it off as “Emo” – but there is a vague LA feel to it, like a late-night drive down Santa Monica Blvd or the Sunset Strip, but without the glitter and disco.
The first track, “H.E.I.L.E.” is a great opener. It’s ballsy hard-rock jars the senses and comes out sounding fresh and pure. “Here For Us” and “Memories” are two other tracks that stand out and deserve a mention here. This is the first time I’ve heard Russian artists who are, presumably, very influenced by American rock, especially LA and Seattle rock and the really great thing about it is that it doesn’t come across as forced or some kind of foreign knock-off, like a cheap counterfeit Prada bag you find in Dubai or some Eastern metropolis. This is the real thing – just as good, if not better than his peers who are living it up in the Hollywood hills, getting told what to play by some jerk A & R guy from some major-label (trust me, you don’t want to sign any contracts with anyone who’s with any label owned by Warner Bros., EMI, Bertelsmann or Sony. You may like the money at first, but it’s like selling your soul – later on down the road you’re going to be unhappy at what their minions try and make you turn into. The best thing is to keep at the DIY thing until you find a comfortable relationship with an independent label, one that will give you complete control over your artistic product. -KM

Allusions of Lynch
Bloom Again
Self-Released
Reviewed by Kent Manthie

This, the second of two self-released CDs by Alex Lynch, this one being under the name Allusions of Lynch, giving it a patina of a band effort, Bloom Again is, unlike his other DIY solo effort, released under the name Alex Lynch, One Glimpse Away, is not the same in terms of style, sound and instrumentation: Bloom Again is a spare, electric-acoustic guitar-driven album, just Alex and a plugged-in acoustic playing ten tunes that, besides the sparseness, have an edge that really cuts like a razor. It has the same attitude, the laconic, laid-back L.A.-style rock that belies his being a native Russian. For one thing his English is flawless, I haven’t heard him speak, but in his singing, at least, you can’t hear a trace of an accent.
Bloom Again does remind one of the EP that Alice in Chains released in about 1993, Jar of Flies, wherein they took a similar tack: they played plaintive, edgy songs in the same stripped down “acoustic” setting, albeit with drums and an acoustic bass as well, but it’s the sound of the “picked-up” acoustic guitar Lynch plays on Bloom Again that evokes that memory; that as well as the same edginess, minus the dead-on two-part harmony that the late Layne Staley did so well with guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell.
Of the 10 tracks that grace Bloom Again, songs that make this CD such a captivating album include: “Like Feathers”, “She’s Mine” and “ Void”, a song with some great guitar licks to it. Another stand-out is the quiet storm that is the title track; it’s a slowed-down, introspective song that could be thought of as the ugly, cold, dead world of winter giving way to the rebirth that is spring, bringing back to life new blooms, hence the title. Also worth mentioning is “Haunting”, a song which is self-descriptive: another introspective, slow song that doesn’t bring one down, but rather makes you think or at least stop and think about nothing.
Another outstanding feature of Lynch’s is his guttural, but graceful singing voice, one that can metamorphose from a silent scream to a plaintive wail that complements the edgier licks and hooks.
With this sort of variation that Lynch can do and the versatility that is evident in his songwriting and style of music it’s obvious that he is no one-note Charlie, no he definitely has something special about his musical sense. I hope that he catches on quickly enough to a cult-following in America, where his music should be most appreciated, since the analogues that follow are all American bands as influences. -KM

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