The rocking 4 piece Gas Station Pizza was formed when Jason Banning (vocals/guitars/synths) decided to mix his punk roots with his diverse influences, he teamed up with Javier Perez (guitar), Cody Nordine (bass), and Elden Santos (drums) writing and releasing their debut album “Outside Of The Box” that’ll be out September 23rd, 2022 via Indian River Music Company. Gas Station Pizza decided to record and mix at high sample rates to get as close as possible to the old-school analog feel giving their fans a glimpse of how things sounded back then, let’s see how this went.
Starting the record with the raw and heavy “Space Coast” says a lot about what we’re about to experience and prepares us for what’s coming next. “Gas Station Pizza” hits next with rollercoaster riffs and intense drumming, it’s an energetic straight-to-point headbanger with powerful raw vocals and a massive groove. “Imprisoned” has an old school doomy vibes, the dark fluid guitar riffs and keyboard melodies remind me of lots of doom metal classics. I loved the smooth riffs flow and relentless drumming of “Punk Rock Alarm”. Its big sound and smooth progression made me want it to last longer to see where they can take this but, from my POV, I felt those beeping sounds were a bit odd and didn’t match the song’s dark sound. They keep on progressing into a bigger sound on “Murder Hornets”, starting from the intro’s simple orchestration to its flowing melodic riffs that mix perfectly with the ambient keyboards and extremely enjoyable drumline. “A Road Called Life” introduces a new approach, showing another musical side of Gas Station Pizza without breaking off the record’s mood. It sounds like it’s asking a lot of questions with a progressive mood and a structure that builds up and takes its time with dark mysterious vibes before smoothly mixing them with some bright melodies in a well-layered and arranged flow. They get back to their signature intensity and rawness with the fast thrashing “Get Out of My Coffin”, I loved the cool tempo shifts and how brief and straightforward it was. “The Fuggit Switch” picks up the energy and builds on it with heavy melodic riffs, unstoppable grooves, enjoyable singalong fun vocal melodies, and irresistible breakdowns. They revisit their doom influences on “Failiens (Slava Ukraini) before closing the record with another stormy headbanger. “10 I – 4 The Haunted Highway” sums up this raw fast trip that does not lack melody and emotions, it’ll simply make you play the record once again from the top.
“Outside of the Box” is a debut that’s full of surprises. It mixes diverse influences and moods all within the Gas Station Pizza approach putting them all in perfect harmony. It is heavy and old school with a sound that’ll sync with any heavy music lover. Looking forward to more from Gas Station Pizza, cheers guys!
