I haven’t been able to discover much about The New York Fund after discovering them on e-music, but I think they were signed to a label but refused to become cookie cutter, so now they’re independent again and looking for a contract. Good for them. The theory of the biz has always been that labels get the best artists because they have the most money to spend. Okay, I buy that argument. But then why do the labels sign the same producers on every single artist they sign, so that everyone becomes the same? That’s why they’re not making money like they used to. They hate to admit it, but it’s true. If you look at sales statistics, you won’t see a correlation between people who download music and those same people’s expenditures on music. Those of us who always bought, still buy. Those who illegally download entire records (which I don’t endorse), are unlikely to have bought those records anyway.
But enough about that. The New York Fund’s EP is incredible, fantastic, superb, brilliant . . . I can’t say enough about it. All six tracks are excellent. It’s classic rock/American that doesn’t sound like anyone else.
Singer Joseph McAdam has incredible inflection and range, especially for a male rock and roll type singer: In an instant, he can go from an Oasis yearning high note to a Tom Petty down home baritone. The rhythm section moves every song along steady but unhurried, never missing a beat. And guitarist Adrian Woodward manages to make his mark on every song without being intrusive—this is not cock rock, it’s country rock, and it’s amazing.
You need to hear this band. And if the labels are listening, you need to sign them and them do whatever they want on wax.
For fans of: Albert Hammond, Jr.; The Hold Steady; Tom Petty; Bruce Springsteen; Country Crows; and plain old good music.
