Meet Mike A & The Prisoners of Routine: A rockin’ group of musicians known for their unapologetically raw and anthemic sound.
Their newest EP begins with “Walk Away” a burning punk-ock opener which features a flaming distorted solo, and drums with a quick forward-moving impetus. The first track ends on the five-chord, and we are left hanging…this segways into “Never Free” where we take off the mask of pretense alongside Mike A and his prisoners.
A Hidden Place asks the questions we don’t usually say out loud:
What if we followed our dreams, no matter how the struggle gets?
How do we become liberated?
“Let’s see the world for what it is and live a life in our dreams”
A Hidden Place is a zen disguised as a rock. “Jading the Heart” for example, appears to be a hefty boom-boom chick type of tune. However, once you dive into the words you realize that it is actually much, much more. Track 2 is about the dynamic we tell in relationships over and over again…But isn’t that madness, doing the same thing over and over again (and expecting a different result)? When will we walk away?
“He wants the passion and she needs his heart…He’s addicted to desire, she’s addicted to the pain”
A Hidden Place features bridges that have melodic rocking solos that are reminiscent of older Greenday. However, many of the heavier sections remind us of the Offspring or even the instrumental rawness found in Black Flag…
The tenacity of the vocals in the EP is rivaled only by that of the guitars: Together, the two musical elements push and tug against one another, representing the chaos of life. Throughout the 5 tracks, there is a common theme of pushing through or breaking through this veil of habit energy and taking matters into your own hands.
Sonically, A Hidden Place has vocals nestled inside of the music rather than on top, a sound that’s difficult to find in modern music. It’s grungy, it’s real. Finally, we close with a parred-down acoustic track “How Long” which showcases the musician’s breadth of sound.
In the end, perhaps the biggest takeaway from this 5-song EP is that we all should be as unrelenting in life as a rock band is in their music: staying strong right until the last note.
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