Band: PHIL VARCA & THE SLAMJAMMERS
2 Singles: Come Get It, Struttin’
Official URL: https://www.philvarcaandtheslamjammers.com/
Over the years we’ve seen rock, pop, and even hard rock slowly erode into over-commercialized, corporate puppet shows providing music that is extremely sing songy, predictable, popish and highly corporate. I hereby call this new breed of music “Poser Rock” and I want to personally thank all the corporate giants for successfully transforming “Sex Drugs & Rock n’ Roll” into “Yoga, Vitamins and Nikelback” Of course millions of musical lemmings don’t know the difference and trust me when I say not everyone is entertained. Talking to many music fans out there the response is overwhelming. Give me something new, something fresh, and something real.
So across my desk slides the 2 hot new tracks by Long Island trio Phil Varca & the Slamjammers. who will be celebrating 25 years together as a hard working Long Island band. During my initial research there was a few lines from their bio that I liked: “There’s nothin’ I like more than opening for an act and playing to a crowd that is there to see someone else. Their people don’t know you & they don’t owe you! We only get one chance to make a first impression…so I love. This quote says it all. Throughout their 25 year history, Phil Varca & The SlamJammers has enjoyed many notable performances, including shared bills with: Buddy Guy, Joe Bonamassa, Foghat, Dave Mason, Bo Diddley, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, NRBQ, Double Trouble, Shemekia Copeland, Chris Duarte, Popa Chubby & John Cafferty.
Varca who probably considers himself a blues player at heart, writes songs of such sincerity that they easily lend themselves to the common population. My response to this last sentence: you might be able to take the player out of the blues, but you’ll never take the blues out of the player. No matter how hard Varca tries to be a quintessential blues-rock artist like the last sentence reads, it’s obvious to me he’s a core blues player. For the record Varca’s playing made my head spin. He reminds me of Stevie Ray Vaughn, Albert King, Buddy Guy and Tab Benoit on steroids. Both tracks” Come Get It, Struttin’ deliver solid songwriting with a nice bluesy-rock feel to them.
“Come and Get it” pulls out the stops with slamming rhythm section, nitty gritty vocals and guitar chops that will make your lounge hit the ground. In some aspects on this track they remind me of a combination of Thin Lizzy and ZZ Top. Strittin’ delivers a cool instrumental and is very is invigorating in the sense that it will lift your spirits, and give you a sense of hope that good playing has not officially died yet. These 2 tracks are both solid releases providing 2 feel good grooves with a blues-rock guitar driven sound and entertaining vibe.
Phil Varca & the Slamjammers even at times remind me of a modern day Allman Brothers Band yet with a modern-day sound. You will also hear a side of Blues and Alternative Rock and even Classic Rock along the way. If you like the above bands and musical styles you should definitely check out the band. Once again Varca can play the guitar and he’s got a red hot band backing him up. In the end Phil Varca & the Slamjammers give us a fresh glimpse at an amazing artist and takes us back a few years – before everything started sounding like – well like NIKELBACK.
REVERBNATION: https://www.reverbnation.com/philvarca
Anthony Parkins