REVIEW & TRACK PREMIERE: Outsideinside - "Sniff A Hot Rock"

By: Ernesto Aguilar

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 29/09/2017

Label: Machine Age Records |

Sixteentimes Music

"Sniff a Hot Rock" track listing

1. Pretty Thing

2. Shot Me Down

3. Empty Room

4. Misled

5. Can't Say Nothin'

6. Eating Bread

7. Ten Years

8. Say Yeah

The Review:

Hard rock is such a complicated subgenre. It walks that line between metal and mainstream rock, and it is so very easy to flop colossally straight into Creed-ville. Or cover-ville. Neither is particularly pretty.

Pittsburgh group Outsideinside first popped on the musical landscape via a 2013 split EP with “Old Head”. That appearance followed a few years of live shows and studio work. Now, the quartet is out in force with its premiere full length, "Sniff a Hot Rock."

Although billed as a hard rock act, Outsideinside is heavy with the funk, rock and other influences. Singer/guitarist Dave Wheeler flashes some killer blues chops on "Ten Years" and hits a modern rock vibe on "Can't Say Nothin'." Bassist Jim Wilson and drummer Panfilo Dicenzo definitely craft that hard rock edge, but are talented at flirting with other techniques as well. A strong rhythm section with clarity on its sound makes or breaks a hard rock performer. Dicenzo and Wilson pair up well to make Outsideinside's music sound brash, but smart.

"Sniff a Hot Rock" further deserves acknowledgment for when Wheeler and company exhibit a self-awareness enough that the band can meld diverse inspirations. This is critical, but often unnoticed. Hard rock fans can feel a band when it starts losing itself or panders to trends. Outsideinside's full length avoids these traps quite well.

The outfit has some particularly forceful songs. The base of "Empty Room" may remind you a bit of, oddly, early music by Inside Out, the group that would later evolve into Rage Against the Machine. "Pretty Thing" has got a brawny riff that elevates the track, along with some classic elements to top it off. And the same can be said of "Shot Me Down," where the group's harkening to legends like Jimi Hendrix and Humble Pie is most evident.

While doing a yeoman's task to represent its ethos fully on disc, one has to believe the live experience of Outsideinside is particularly excellent. If hard rock is your bag, Outsideinside may well be worth a stream.

"Sniff a Hot Rock" is available here

Band info: facebook