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From the opening of “Black Taxi Car”, there is a fair amount of “real American” inflections of Brett Newski’s music – a little Springsteen, a little Mellencamp, a little Fogerty.  Cleanly strummed guitars, neat twanging riffs underlying on the verses and harmonica make this first entry on Newski’s newest E.P., Hi-Fi D.I.Y. a very worthwhile and impressive listen.  With its harmonies, crisp drums and overall feel, this is a fully realized track that makes it very easy to want to listen all the way through.

So with the brushed percussion, the low-key opening verse and then the kick-it-into-high-gear chorus, “Move To Berlin” has an equally great punch; “Cigaretiquette” has a lot of interesting nuances with its off-kilter guitar interplay and breakneck pace but then pulls back into a poppy “woo-hoo” refrain and “This Will Destroy Me” turns it all around with an deft acoustic piece where vocally, he veers into Dylanisms, but not in a bad way and the melody is enhanced with some very sweet slide figures.

All in all, a very satisfying and enjoyable listen.  And because I enjoyed it, I now want to hear more from this young talent.

RECOMMENDED

Hi-Fi D.I.Y. is available now

http://brettnewski.com/

EP Reviews, Music

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About the Author

Rob Ross

Rob Ross has been, for good, bad or indifferent, involved in the music industry for over 30 years - first as guitarist/singer/songwriter with The Punch Line, then as freelance journalist, producer and manager to working for independent and major record labels. He resides in Staten Island, New York with his wife and cats; he works out a lot, reads voraciously, loves Big Star and his orange Gretsch. Doesn't that make him neat?

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