AMBROSE — Last Man Standing (review)

AMBROSE — Last Man Standing album cover Album · 2018 · Hard Rock Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
siLLy puPPy
A little known San Francisco Bay Area band, AMBROSE formed in 2010 in the San Jose suburb city of Los Altos but has since relocated to Hollywood. This band remains relatively obscure despite having released its sole album LAST MAN STANDING in 2018. Despite existing in the modern times there’s actually very little to be found about the band. No bio, no story, no nothing. Just a few samples on Soundcloud, Spotify and thankfully the entire album for listening on their YouTube channel.

The band consists of Zak Ambrose (vocals, guitar), Benjamin Sturley (bass), Grant Loosvelt (keyboard) and Mikey Marquart (drums) and the album features eight tracks that are slightly less than 30 minutes. Supposedly a digital file is available for streaming but nowhere to be found. It seems this band got together to record this sole album and then disappeared into the Hollywood hills never to be heard from again. Considering there seems to be little or no interest in what this band has to offer, perhaps the band saw the signs and called it a day.

What we have here is some clear Soundgarden worship as the band has crafted eight tracks that sound like Soundgarden only with a lot of Southern country rock thrown in. Add to that the tracks are super hooky and are really pop-infused hard rock tunes that sound tailor-made for classic rock radio stations. This band would sound equally at home next to Lynyrd Skynyrd as the more melodic 90s grunge bands. Tracks like “Summer’s Sunshine” and “Two Minutes In Paradise” are more in the country rock / honky tonk camp than grunge but the first part of the album reeks of Soundgarden in every way including Zak Ambrose’s vocal style.

Basically this band has delivered some very well constructed tracks. Everything is catchy and radio friendly but in the end it’s all about 25 years too late for the alternative 90s and a little bit inconsistent as these guys aren’t sure if they want to be a hard rock band, grunge or country rock. If you like really catchy music in the vein of Canada’s Monster Truck or a less talented Soundgarden then this is definitely worth checking out but the tracks are just way too safe and way too polished to really appeal to serious hard rock fans who want some grit to their heavy doses of guitar oriented music. A decent album that starts out somewhat strong and then tapers off towards the end.
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