Lino Gonzalez - Traffic Jam

Hear The Track Here

One of the most raved about bands of the last couple of years has been the combustible mixture that we know as Those Among Us. Well, if you are still struggling to find why Lino's name is ringing a bell with you, he's a member of that august band, along with John Brandon and Steve Mesropian. I've known John Brandon forever of course and I know his quality of work like the back of my hand. Mez (Steve Mesropian) was a great find as a rock vocalist with a fine sense of style and timing but - for me - one of the biggest surprises in Those Among Us tracks was all the backline duty being performed by Lino as string-meister/electronica wizard/accurate drum machine/engineer/producer and probably makes the tea too. Everyone, or at least every band worth a crap should have a Lino.

So, take it as a given that this Traffic Jam was created by just one man, everything you hear, but that's also the case on a lot of TOU tracks so not much change there innit? Lino's top gig though, is guitarist. No, let me refine that... Lino doesn't just play the guitar, he pounds on it like a man possessed of the spirit of rock music in all it's glory - definitely my kind of belt and braces rock and no fuss roll. There again, rock animal I am and shall remain so and I am only too well aware of the hatred pure rock has in some quarters so if you don't like having hefty rock balls rubbed in your face - stay away from this one.

Over the years, of course, I have developed a kind of immunity from such social embarrassment. These days I just don't give a ****. Traffic Jam essentially shows just how good a hard rock guitarist Lino is, something that isn't immediately evident from Those Among Us tracks although they don't lack in the testicular department either, as any one of their EPs will amply testify. Certainly if you are already a fan of rock and/or Those Among Us this is definitely a track to check out, and I do suggest a download to enjoy its full glory over a very loud system. Now all I have to do is get this annoying whistle in my ears to stop... (Ed: uh oh, how loud exactly?)

First class RAAWWWWKKK and MUST HAVE for machine heads