Music In Review: Orange Blossom Special - Cocktails and Treasure Maps

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Written by Sara Ferrer

Friday, 24 September 2010 03:03

Hailing from our own beloved OC, band Orange Blossom Special have sunk their taproot in the midst of multiple rock subgenres with EP Cocktails and Treasure Maps, resulting in a listening experience that is catchy and radio-friendly yet stirring and cathartic enough for disconsolate angst and breakneck speed road warriors both young and old.

Paying homage to the pre-grunge golden age by interspersing rousing electric guitar solos with smooth and expressive yet husky vocals, Orange Blossom Special’s sound has plenty of heart and can guarantee a good time. This succinct set of tracks is reminiscent of merrymaking with good friends and interesting strangers, clinking beer bottles, the occasional bar brawl and long-awaited Friday nights.

With the first song titled as the name of the album (perhaps because it could easily be crowned the best out of all six tunes) “Cocktails and Treasure Maps” induces a jonesing to hit the open road. It could easily be played in conjunction with the exhaust rumble of a motorcycle and the deafening roar of wind tunneling through one’s ears as a metaphor for the brooding restlessness of youth; it is also the most melodically variable of all the tracks.

Along the same vein, song “Past Few Years” is equally as stimulating and rebellious. “I know one day I’ll have to make amends, but now I’m flying by the seat of my pants,” croons our frontman, which seems to be the underlying theme upon which the album is based.

Middle track “Better Off” is tunefully distinctive in the sense that it has hints of bluesy-country twang as subtle as floral notes in a fine wine while singing about mismatched love.

More alternative sounding “Romancing Disaster” and hard rock-esque tracks “Wishful Thinking” and “Shooting Daggers” cap off this ode to rock ensemble, all of which echo the helter-skelter experiences many can commiserate with or remember in the heyday of juvenescence.

Overall, with their universal musical appeal and non-esoteric lyrics, Orange Blossom Special has the potential to blossom into something special with time and experience, the necessary ingredients to flavor a unique career trajectory in the music world.

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