Uncle Scam
Fly Free
Self-Released
Street: 03.16
Uncle Scam = Collective Soul + Veruca Salt + Red Hot Chili Peppers
Despite parting ways with their rhythm section in late 2011, the remaining members of Uncle Scam pressed on as a duo, working with session musicians to put together this full-length album one track at a time. Compared to the rest of their catalogue, Fly Free actually takes some risks on the lyrical front, showing frontwoman Ischa B’s talent in hitting the vein of emotional wreckage. Musically, the band hasn’t grown beyond their bar-rock origins, which in many ways turns what would be powerful ballads and rock numbers into dismissible radio jargon you’d find playing on a mid-day shift. Aside from Raffi Shahinian’s experimentation as a guitarist, the band’s sound as a whole hasn’t progressed much beyond emulating mid-’90s beats and riffs. But, if they’re more comfortable playing a genre gone by, let them run with it! For all we know, they’ll help bring it back.