Chicago’s Molehill rose to the Top 10 and Final Round of the Global Battle of the Bands ‘Hard Rock Rising’ 2012. A competition that saw the entry of over 12,000 bands worldwide.
Since 2009 Molehill have performed throughout the Midwest and East Coast and along the way has opened for major and indie label acts Bret Michaels, Blind Melon, Royal Bliss, The Elms, and Jesse Malin.
Molehill also showcased at the Millennium Music Conference in Harrisburg, PA and was featured twice in the Red Eye (Chicago Tribune Pop Publication) along with features in numerous local print and online publications. On March 6th, 2012 Molehill’s new album ‘Equinox’ was released. The release was coupled with a sold out show in Chicago. ‘Equinox’ was produced by Manny Sanchez and Molehill.
The songs on ‘Equinox’ are so insanely good, so packed with pleasurable hooks and grooves, so smart, so delicious, so intricately designed and performed, that I predict, it could quite possibly achieve the rank of an indie rock classic before long.
The album is full of puzzle box lyrics, full powered guitar riffs, slick bass lines, ominous piano and synth chords played over slick, monolithic drum beats and garnished with intense vocal arrangements in the best retro rock tradition.
Peter Manhart (guitar, vox), Trevor Jones (bass), Greg Van Zuiden (keyboards and vox) and Devin Staples (drums) are perfectly adept at drastically switching their sound up or down between bars, and keeping everything sonically catchy.
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In my opinion, there really isn’t an unworthy track on this album. Each song lays bare the energy and the intensity of the music. The absolute highlights include, the funky piano-driven groove of “I Hope You’re Happy,” “Crystalline,” “February,” “Almost Broken (Heroes)” and the powerful radio ready sound of “No Reprieve.” But the master ingredient of this album is that the songs invite you in, instead of just playing at you. Once this feeling hits, you’ll realize that this is what modern rock and roll is all about.
For old-school rock fans like myself, who believe there’s very little good recorded music getting airplay these days, Molehill is truly a breath of fresh air and radio programmers should sit up and take notice. This band are stars in the making. All they need is a chance to be heard, where it matters most.
‘Equinox’ is a very strong and eclectic album spanning a variety of moods and styles. It brims with invention, conviction, and dare I say it, swagger! The five times I’ve listened to it, it has yielded three undeniable effects. A smile, a twitch of pleasure and the need to hear it again.
Molehill have crafted a catchy mid-tempo album for people who have given up on the idea of true pop-rock music in a world where pop-rock means inane and mid-tempo means boring.
Pick this up before Molehill go big time and you’re stuck wondering where they’ve been all your life. Plus you know you just wanna have “I Hope You’re Happy,” stuck in you head for days on end.
Molehill…live!
OFFICIAL WEBSITES:
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