By JOHN DALY

The album “Like My Life Depends on It” is a strange one that works extremely well.

The music is the creation of one person, Liam Marcus Torres, known as Alien Country

And guess what? Alien Country is exactly what this music sounds like: Jazzy punk alien and Country music. Picture Martians having a ho-down, if you can.

In addition to a great new sound the record has excellent production, and the writing is clever and poignant despite the bizarre alien-country genre. The music is simply excellent.

One interesting song is “Desire,” it has a syncopated 1-2 beat that is unusual, which is certainly not common in country. It’s almost a country-rap song, as it’s rapid-fire. Then the chorus mellows and is smoother. The song puts the listener in another world with floating tones, great bluesy guitar with a cool hip ’50s western feel.

 

 

“Forced Game” blends an Irish-Western genre with a Dropkick Murphy chorus of all the guys singing.

The songs have a country music meets swingin’ Joe Satriani vibe and it’s extremely compelling, noted for its undercurrent of steady guitar work. The vocals and some odd effects project this genre into the future.

There is a real Louisiana feel to this record whether the musicians are from there or not. It’s not hard to imagine a puffy-sleeved bow in the hair gal doing a two-step with a cowboy in this music. But you could also picture jazz lovers enjoying it as well.

Just when you settle into the peculiar genre that works, the listener is thrown into Remedy, which is more like a Van Halen rock song because of the guitar, blended with a dancy ballad. There is plenty of energy to this music regardless.

But one track that we can all relate to tells us “How It Could Have Been” and one that plays up the punk percussion with classic violin is “Tell Me So.”

This music is not done by an amateur. It has a homey style to it, but the production value, the great songs and the most interesting combination of styles makes this a favorite of our 2018.

Artist Name: Alien Country

Location: Tampa Florida USA

Release Name: Like My Life Depends On it

Release Date: Jul 11, 2018

Label: Independent

Producer: Self

Track List:

1. So Called Friends

2. Reality Check

3. Forced Game

4. Desire

5. Tell Me So

6. I Can’t Say I Blame You

7. Mommy Dearest

8. Remedy

9. Going to Enjoy This

10. Hold Me

11. How It Could Have Been

12. No One Is Coming for You Tonight

13. Remedy Remix

Musicians:

Liam Marcus Torres: Solo artist, multi-instrumentalist