The Treat come from Oxford, England and "Phonography" is their second release. They seem to belong to the same league with The Answer and Voodoo Six in terms of common influences (70s driven hard rock), however they are not as one-dimensional as their colleagues. The classic rock sound of Uriah Heep, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple may be their musical keystone, yet they don't confine themselves to it. The first two tracks is the living proof of how Soundgarden would sound if they were releasing albums in the early seventies and The Byrds would be proud to call them their sons on "Meadowland". There's also some pure blues dose on "Haitian Morning Dress" that's being accompanied by some Cream hints (or Rod Stewart's Maggie May if I dare to say this) on "Too Late", which by the way is certainly one of my favorite songs. Wait, the painting hasn't been completed yet. 60s psychedelic progressive springs from "Effervescence" and "Black Cat Whites", which blends Gong with Zappa, to assure us that The Treat have a treat for all vintage rock fans out there. This fact is proven also by the cover artwork, the booklet (lyrics included) and even by the disc appearance that is very similar to Decca logo used for classical music releases. There is of course an indie direction on a couple of songs, something unnecessary and boring in my opinion.
Overall, seems they have absorbed their influences and, even though this multidimensional sound of theirs might have caused trouble regarding the cohesiveness of the final result, however they managed to avoid the trap. I think that time is on their side and the future prospects are quite promising. |
