Fortune - Jamaica

Hear The Track Here

Soundclick is suffering an embarrassment of rock riches lately. A couple of years ago, good rock bands were very thin on the ground, these days you can't turn around without tripping over one. Mind you, GREAT rock bands, now that's another story. For the longest time Avalanche have been my staple, with the odd aside from other bands, but a couple of months ago I had the good fortune (Ed: DOH!) to run across Fortune, a six piece, gigging band working out of Boston MA. All Sold Out (December 2008) absolutely BLEW me away, as indeed did When The Time Is Right (February 2009) and showed that not only did Fortune have some great music, but also some of the most varied styles I have ever heard; real life or otherwise. Admittedly, I became a fan immediately because I do recognise gold when I see it and Fortune presses all the right buttons for me, and many others too I am glad to see.

Seasoned Soundclick regulars will testify to anyone who will listen that this site is awash with great music, and indeed that would be true. However, there are very, very few Soundclick artists that I - or any other reviewer - would consider perfect in every way. Skilled, adept musicians, outstanding production qualities and intelligent, interesting arrangements mean nothing without the magic ingredient; top class songwriting skills. Fortune seems to have all of that wrapped up because - try as I might - I cannot get over how polished and professional this outfit is. At this stage of the game, if I was asked to choose which of their tracks shows them best, I couldn't answer. Now I've reviewed three Fortune tracks, each one has been markedly different; in feel, tone and structural arrangement.

As many of you know, reggae and its numerous offshoots, is my own favourite musical ground and - consequently - I tend to be rather harsh when I feel not enough deference is being paid to the style. Given that Fortune are six white guys, their version obviously reflects [i]their[/i] roots so it's a rockier skank than what I consider real reggae. Nonetheless, this is a VERY hard genre to nail, and to their eternal credit, Fortune pull it off in great style. Musically, the performance of this track is absolutely breathtaking; from the close harmony vocals to the wild instrumental solos that pepper this track, it shouts out quality with every note. Underneath all of that though, is a wicked song of praise to my favourite island in the sun, and I absolutely love it. Sure, it's undoubtedly rock based but hey, grab a rum, a big fat one and you'll never know the difference.

State-of-the-art song of love for Jamaica. MUST HAVE.