JC Satellite

I used to say that mainstream rock needed to take lesssons from the past and the bands that have paved the way for their success. Now after hearing bands like "JC Satellite" I would rephrase my statement and say they need to look over their shoulder at the bands sneaking up behind them. The fact is that JC Satellite play a style of Rock that has never and never will go away. They base their sound in the late 70's and 80's rock, big hooks, loud guitars and thundering drums.

Here's the kicker, these guys aren't even out of High School yet! Singer/Guitarist Jake Cimbalista is 12 years old!! His voice has a nice scratch to it already that reminds me a bit of early Stephan Pearcy of Ratt. Yes, at times you can tell he's younger, but it wouldn't be a distraction if I hadn't TOLD you how old he was! The rest of the band is equally as talented, his brothers John and Jeff are the bass guitarist and drummer. One thing I noticed from the album and the live footage is that these guys can really hold a beat, a weakness you often hear from younger players is their "feel" for the music. Rounding out the band is Sebastian Baltes, the son of Accept Bassist Peter Baltes, so obviously he grew up in an atomosphere that exposed him to music at an early age.

So, taking out the fact that it's impressive enough that they're so young, and that Peter Baltes produced the album, how does the music stand up? Well, I hear a LOT of music and I can honestly say that these guys "get it". They seem completely honest about being rockers and are part of the next generation of rock. Songs like "Thrill To Kill", "Vicious Company" and the title track are very solid catchy rockers. You might ask how a 12 year old can sing about more advanced topics, but I remember a young lad from my hometown named Johnny Lang that turned a lot of heads in the blues work when he was just a teenager. I think we need to realize that there are some people just born with the skills to rock, and these kids have it. We all know that Rock is sometimes more about the live show and the sound, don't try to read so much into the lyrics, if you're looking for some deep meaning shit go listen to Radiohead or Coldplay!

Bottom line is that this is a well-produced, well-written and kick-ass rock release (I almost said "album" again!). If you like Hard Rock you can start looking to the future instead of the past because I'm seeing more and more younger bands get back into REAL rock again, and I personally love the fact that I can listen to JC Satellite while I'm sitting in a retirement home. I might not know where I am, but at least I'll be rockin'!
- Torch