{"id":49796,"date":"2015-07-05T07:43:58","date_gmt":"2015-07-05T12:43:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=49796"},"modified":"2015-07-05T07:45:27","modified_gmt":"2015-07-05T12:45:27","slug":"santa-cruz-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2015\/santa-cruz-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Santa Cruz | Santa Cruz<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"SantaFinnish melodic\/glam\/sleaze\/party (take your pick) rockers Santa Cruz are back with a new album, their third overall. It\u2019s a self-titled release, which typically means a band is: a) redefining their sound or b) going back to their roots after an earlier departure. In Santa Cruz\u2019s case, they\u2019re redefining their sound \u2026 but not too drastically.<\/p>\n

Santa Cruz has always been about \u201880s-inspired, high-octane party rock that\u2019s extremely catchy and melodic, and that much hasn\u2019t changed. They band just has a more modern rock edge on this one, perhaps in an attempt to get some attention outside of Europe. You can still hear the Crashdiet and Hardcore Superstar influence, but there\u2019s a brasher, in your face approach that\u2019s more like the rock bands you hear on American radio (and at your local Hot Topic). That, and a hefty dose of profanity. Enough to make one suspect that the symbols on the front cover stand for a very particular expletive.<\/p>\n

Santa Cruz is rude, crude and insanely fun to listen to. The hooks are incredibly catchy and the vocals, especially when the whole band is shouting along, are beyond infectious. Aside from the closing ballad \u201cCan You Feel the Rain,\u201d this whole album is a non-stop rock n\u2019 roll party. \u201cMy Remedy,\u201d \u201cBye Bye Babylon\u201d and \u201cVagabonds (Sing With Me)\u201d are just a few examples of this album\u2019s energy and attitude.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve been a Santa Crus fan from the start, this more modern vibe may not be what you want to hear. The band is certainly moving away from the more polished Reckless Love kind of sound. Still, this is really fun stuff and if the reaction from the American audiences on the band\u2019s recent tour with Amaranthe and I Prevail is any indication, the new direction is winning them some new fans. If you thought the days of brash, young, party rock bands ended in 1992, it\u2019s time to discover Santa Cruz!<\/p>\n

Genre: Melodic Rock, Hard Rock<\/p>\n

Lineup:
\nArchie Cruz (v) (g)
\nJohnny Cruz (g) (v) (k)
\nMiddy (b) (v)
\nTaz (d) (v)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tBona Fide Hero
\n2.\tVelvet Rope
\n3.\tMy Remedy
\n4.\t(66)6 Feet Under
\n5.\tBye Bye Babylon
\n6.\tWe Are the Ones to Fall
\n7.\tWasted n\u2019 Wounded
\n8.\tLet Them Burn
\n9.\tVagabonds (Sing With Me)
\n10.\tCan You Feel the Rain<\/p>\n

Label: Spinefarm Records<\/p>\n

Website: www.facebook.com\/santacruzband<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven Rating: 7.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines – Senior Columnist — Finnish melodic\/glam\/sleaze\/party (take your pick) rockers Santa Cruz are back with a new album, their third overall. It\u2019s a self-titled release, which typically means a band is: a) […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":49797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12394],"tags":[2317,1103,2901,11028,3875],"class_list":{"0":"post-49796","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2015","8":"tag-cd-review","9":"tag-hard-rock","10":"tag-melodic-rock","11":"tag-santa-cruz","12":"tag-spinefarm-records"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}