Modern Day Friendzone – Anne Rox’s Crossing (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

It often seems that the genres that grew up advocating a biting and raw sound – namely, blues and rock ‘n’ roll – have, in recent times, lost many of the qualities that made them stand out in the first place. Blues seems to be now the realm of sharp-suited guys who are more about showboating guitar work than trying to capture a feeling, and rock has lost its swing and stride, its anger and attitude, swapping them for big, monolithic slabs of music played increasingly by bearded guys in big shorts.

Where is the style? Where is the authenticity? Where is the groove? Where is the space? And perhaps most important of all, where is the emotion?

Well, thank the gods of music for Anne Rox’s Crossing and her latest album, Modern Day Friendzone, an album that feels like someone coming to the same conclusion and giving both those genres the shot in the arm that they have been overdue for a long time.

Take a song like “Sirens in Chrome,” which perfectly blends emotive blues grooves with hard-rock power; there’s even room for a rapped vocal salvo and some cool dynamic breakdowns. And man, what a voice. Anne Rox is able to do justice to those old blues masters at one extreme and kick out the raw, razor-wire rock and roll jams at the other. One helluva range. Perfect.

“Concrete Rails” has one foot on the monitor, one fist-in-the-air and one eye on the big time, “Smoke Over Fire” seems to snake it’s way towards the listener, slinky and seductive and “F’ing Close” reminds us that great rock and roll is great rock and roll in any language, even if you don’t get the lyrics which are in Belgian, you certainly dig the vibe.

Blues and its younger sibling, rock and roll, have always made for great travelling companions. But this is the sound of them crashing headlong into each other. The sound of that collision is the most glorious thing you will have heard in a long time.