Chicago’s Dan Rico hits the streets today with his self-produced debut LP, Endless Love out in the states on Maximum Pelt Records and on France’s Shit In Can Records in Europe. The album is a grainy, glammy throwback to a time of rock clubs filled with cigarette smoke and whiskey soaked rock and roll. Equal parts T. Rex and Television, the Kinks and the Replacements, Springsteen and the Stones, the Clash and the Ramones, with a bit of Motown and Liverpool thrown in for good measure, Rico’s debut is an eclectic mix of pop and rock’s past, present, and future.
Endless Love opens with “Soft Feeling”, a roots rock garage barnburner of a track that is followed by the album’s title track, a skittering punk dance party that sees Rico shed the distortion on his vocals as heard on the opener. This variation on vocals is something that spans the album to great effect as it gives each song a powerful distinction while still retaining it as a cohesive part of the collection. Background vocals are also a strong runner through the record, at times harkening back to doo-wop or the spiraling classic rock of “Smoking Curls”.
While the list of comparisons laid out above is a lot for Endless Love to live up to, it is something the album accomplishes remarkably. From the ballads “Don’t Look Back” and “Cool Cold Heart” to the New Wave experimentation on pop sounds and structure that is the album’s closer “After All”, Endless Love continues to push genres further while staying true to classic pop and rock structure in a daringly traditional way.
Dan Rico’s Endless Love is available on Maximum Pelt and Shit In Can Records.. You can follow Dan Rico on Facebook, Twitter, SoundCloud, Bandcamp, and on his website at www.danrico.com.
