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Surefire: Surefire

Indie Melodic Rock

Rating: 4.5/5.0

Newkirk Records
www.myspace.com/surefireband
www.surefireofficial.com
Review: Craig Hartranft,  10.31.2009

I'm not sure what decade singer/songwriter Ben Rice is living in; maybe he doesn't know either. It could be any time from the 1960's to the present. Surefire is Rice's musical vehicle for a diverse and expertly crafted album of creative melodic rock sounds. You might hear anything from Beach Boys to Beatles, from REM to Alice in Chains and from Manic Street Preachers to Oasis. But it's all quite distinctive making Surefire what any aspiring artists wants: a purely personal musical reflection.

Besides his superb songwriting skills, Rice is a versatile vocalist whose tone can both mesmerize and transcend, even within the same song as on The New Standard or Lucy. But Surefire is not all pure alt and indie artist spreading his wings. Rice Surefire can rock with vigor as on The Mountain and Comeback Kid. Equally impressive is the musicianship of guitarists Rice and Emiliano Ortiz who deliver everything from trippy 70's psychedelic to crunchy modern rock riffs. Rice and company are helped along by veteran producer Eddie Kramer which makes Surefire a solid, well composed, entertaining ride, and possibly the next big thing in alt music circles. Don't miss this one.

Rice and company are helped along by veteran producer Eddie Kramer which makes Surefire a solid, well composed, entertaining ride, and possibly the next big thing in alt music circles. Don't miss this one.

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The Powell Payne project, created in 2022 is the collaboration of Mark "Penfold Powell (ex-drummer of Psycho Kiss) and Adam Payne (former vocalist of Airrace). With guitarist Adam Davies and keyboard player ... [ Read More ]