Tony Molina
In The Fade
Summer Shade/Run For Cover Records [2022]
Hands down, veteran Bay Area talent Tony Molina writes some of the best under two-minute song bursts you will hear on the indie scene. His solo work released under his own name, since his pinnacle release Dissed And Dismissed (2013), has always been top notch and showcased varied styles of lo-fi, electric rockers and fragile acoustic arrangements. Depending on the release, the style stayed in the same lane on each previous record but here on In The Fade, Molina mixes it up so that the electric meets the acoustic and the rock meets the ballad for a fantastic 19 minutes of music.
You get to hear this transition immediately as the quiet opening 35 second instrumental intro track, “Aye Aye My My (Into The Fade),” sets up the electric lo-fi rock on “The Last Time.” It is a near perfect rocker that front loads four catchy lines of lyrics before its second half turns up the amps until its conclusion. In other places, Molina’s Elliott Smith meets Beatles delivery returns on songs like “Years Ago, Pt. 2”, that has a very “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” hum to it. “Fuck Off Now” has a classic Weezer style guitar vibe while “Burn Everyone” is a mid-tempo Teenage Fanclub floater that sticks with you well after its conclusion. Track after track, the hooks embedded on In The Fade will keep you hitting replay.
Everything on In The Fade feels in place yet carefree as Molina sounds like an artist enjoying playing the music with his friends. The record closes with a cover of “Fluff”, one of Tony Iommi’s acoustic guitar instrumentals for Black Sabbath, that almost seems poetic. Such a simple tune from one of the pioneers of heavy metal. It’s a sendoff for In The Fade that highlights not to judge Tony Molina by one track or one album as this record perfectly conjoins all of his talents!
KEY TRACKS
“The Last Time” / “Leave This Town” / “Burn Everyone”
ARTISTS WITH SIMILAR FIRE
Eliott Smith / Dinosaur Jr. / Robert Pollard
TONY MOLINA REVIEW HISTORY
Songs From San Mateo County Smoking Room (2019) / Kill The Lights (2018) / Confront The Truth (2016) / Dissed And Dismissed (2013)
TONY MOLINA LINKS
Bandcamp | Run For Cover Records
- Ekko Astral: pink balloons [Album Review] - April 24, 2024
- METZ: Up On Gravity Hill [Album Review] - April 18, 2024
- The Libertines: All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade [Album Review] - April 17, 2024