Today’s music scene can be disheartening. It’s often populated by electronica, DJs, and overproduced pop. If you’ve ever felt nostalgic for the good ol’ days of rock ‘n’ roll, when bands played self-written songs with real instruments, Night Plane’s recent re-release of their 1982 album (Night Plane) is just the cure (as is their upcoming show Saturday, June 8th, as part of Glenwood Caverns Adventure Parks’ Music on the Mountain concert series).
The album included a whopping ten musicians, and the resulting tunes are robust, diverse, and plain old fun. The title track, “Night Plane” is straight up rock, with Haden Gregg and Jim Dykann’s powerful vocals and bittersweet lyrics (“At the station, feeling all alone/this is the time for another home”) complemented by vibrant electric guitar and piano.
Night Plane explores other genres too, with the reggae-inspired track “Tried Too Hard” and the bluesy tune “Line of Fire”(highlighting Bryan Savage’s saxaphone).
Where the album really shines, though, is in the last four bonus tracks, recordings from live performances. Mainly acoustic, the master guitar work on songs like “She’s a Runaway” is beautiful. Gregg and Dykann’s voices have aged well; they sound grittier and more soulful than in the earlier recordings. Their live performances showcase the band in their element–and the results are well worth a listen.
Be sure to catch Night Plane this Saturday at Music on the Mountain!
