Give Collin Vs. Adam A Dollar

Bloodsucker, Collin vs. Adam’s second album has been a long time coming. More than two years have passed since the band started teasing tracks on its SoundCloud page, compilation albums, and live shows. More than two years have passed, too, since Mason Maudlin, the band’s original bass player, was killed in a plane crash. The album is dedicated to his memory, and his playing can be heard on most of the songs on the album.

There are a lot of different sounds on the record: ambient instrumentals, poppy dance tunes, arena rock anthems, and more. Credit Collin vs. Adam that they are able to take all these different kinds of sounds, dress them up in a little 80’s-pop flourish here and there, and have it all come out sounding like one consistent, unified whole.

My favorite song is “Get Back To You,” a shimmery slice of new wave influenced pop that would have ruled the radio circa 1984. The song catches your ear first with an echoy, staccato guitar hook that’s enough to anchor any one song, then it hits you with a keyboard hook that’s even catchier, and rounds you off with a vocal you’re singing along with before the end of the song. And it does all this while almost totally upending the traditional verse-chorus-verse pop song structure.

Bloodsucker is available to download from iTunes and Amazon. Physical copies are available at the Max Recordings website.