Dave Abbruzzese has been lurking in the shadows of a drum set for a very long time, but that hasn’t stopped him from still making incredible music. Lately, the famous drummer has taken on a new project which calls back to the dark and grungy Pearl Jam era, but with a brand new twist.
Enter the band known as Pseutopia. The band are truly one of the best newer alternative bands out there if you are looking for a classic sound made current. The drum work is just incredible as always by Dave, and the band members, Laji George (vocals), Shyam Narayan (bass), and Mithun Raju (guitar), have truly made an impact, as well as amazing music together.
The band have a lot of themes going on in the songs and they almost evolve their influences through the run-time of a song.
The first song that I heard from the band was ‘Brother’. The song starts out in a very Tool-like manner from the guitars and bass work. In fact, this track could have easily been on the Undertow album by the band. The vocals sit incredibly well in the mix and really pop out in a great way. The vocal tones are expertly used as are everything else in the band. The guitar and bass just gel together so well. Of course, Dave’s drumming is unmistakable here. Towards the end of the song, in the outro, the Tool sound becomes more of a Pearl Jam outro that could be found on albums such as Ten.
The next song that I heard from the band was Crooked Nose. This one starts out with some early 2000s post-grunge vibes. This could be found on any band’s albums from that era. It’s mainstream and great. The vocal work is much different than the song previously which really showcases the range. The guitar and bass work is much more laid back as well. Most of the work here is coming from the acoustic guitar. This song overall is great and a solid listen. It’s a song that is more-so geared to cause some reflection rather than a song that you put on and jam out to.
Lastly, we have the song, ‘Seasons’. This song brings Dave back in as well as having a photo of Chris Cornell as the main focal point in the thumbnail of the YouTube video. As it should as well as it’s a cover of the Soundgarden song, ‘Seasons’. The cover is true to form here. The guitar work, the vocal work, the drumming, the bass, everything here checks out and is one of the best Soundgarden covers out there that I have seen.
I implore anyone to give the band a listen as I truly believe that any fan of the grunge and post-grunge era will be fans of the band through and through.
