Straying away from his conventional rock roots, Gary Dranow opens up his latest release ‘Jane’ with an entrancing acoustic section that aims to pull you in as close as possible before exploding right into you with one of the heaviest pieces of driving hard rock I have in recent memory.
Based in Park City, Utah, rock music wizard Gary Dranow is a manic force to be reckoned with. An exceptionally talented songwriter, Dranow’s rock music is not at all -all riff driven. In fact, in each of his songs, next to his very impactful and powerful, largely classic rock, we find interestingly sculpted songs that flow fluidly between different, distinct sections, remaining relevant, fresh, and engaging throughout. It also helps that the man is a singing phenomenon. On ‘Jane’ we have a handful of extremely high yelps that Dranow must have had a hard time with, given that he’s a human and all -but they wind up sound extremely effortless, just shock full of soul and endlessly powerful.
Transitioning from the unaccompanied guitar intro in which Dranow channels an inner Sting, to then wailing on top of this acoustic section in a style akin to INXS or Soundgarden, Dranow then gives us a fulfilling rock section that had an extremely hard time getting into my head with its immediate melodies and pure, infectious power, before abruptly sucking all that energy in the last minute, before pumping it all in again, turned up a notch, for on of the most delightfully raw last minutes I’ve ever experienced.
And for all of that, I find it very easy to call Gary Dranow a songwriting force who is capable of weaving actual spells, with strange ease that can only come from years upon years of honing a beloved craft.
