The second outing from Austin, Texas-based heartland rockers
Alpha Rev is also their Kirtland Records debut. The ten-track
Bloom starts out on a tear with the lush and expansive "Lexington," the first of a few cuts, including "Highways" and "Sing Loud," that sound like they accidently fell off of
the Killers'
Sam's Town on the way to the pressing plant. Bursting with big, propulsive choruses, soulful nods to
Springsteen,
Crooked Fingers, and
Summerteeth-era
Wilco, and measured, contemplative moments that still manage to convey the vastness of the West,
Alpha Rev's soulful tales of love won and lost can be a tad obvious and overbearing at times, but so can matters of the heart. ~ James Christopher Monger