Once again the internet has shrunk my world and I have been introduced to some interesting music from a town I have heard of but never really knew of any music to come out of there. How could I have found a band from Missoula, Montana without the power of email and the web. Personally I have no idea what the scene is like in Missoula but from what I hear from High Voltage, there may be some gold in them there hills.
Admittedly when I first saw the band name High Voltage, a cheesy cover band came to mind from my early days in the scene, so I was a little prejudice. This High Voltage is nothing to snear at though. They are a mix of hard alternative rock with impressive metal style guitar solos and sultry female vocals with occasional synth thrown in to mad it a little different. Just upon hearing a few songs it is obvious that there is a lot of energy in the band members ready to be shared with a reactive crowd. The picture I paint is a packed club in the middle of nowhere with sound blasting out of the doors as the crowd bounces to the band’s performance.
High Voltage is now in the process of finishing up their second album tentatively titled Colors. We were able to get a little preview of a couple of songs. The first ‘Given Up’ is an in your face guitar rock track smoothed out with singer Erin Schneider’s sexy vocals. Guitarist Josh Rhines really shows off his guitar chops throughout especially in the impressive solos. There are not enough guitar solos in today’s music so I am glad to hear a good one here. The next track ‘Shakedown’ is a little more power rock and features some interesting sounds created by the full band. The vocals stand out again reminiscent of the great female rock voices of the classic rock era. Everyone in this band is a pro with their instrument and it shows. From just this little snippet, I am very excited to hear the rest of Colors when it is released.
Go get a taste for yourself at:
www.highvoltagemontana.com