If you think hard rock is a dead genre, reconsider. Sobak’s A Little More Time will definitely make you rethink such a stance. The Florida-based bandleader Anthony Sobak has been playing music and singing since fifteen years old and the long voyage he’s had to this moment delivers the goods in one of the most inspired hard rock releases I’ve heard in years. Sobak and his fellow musicians breathe new life and verve into a sometimes moribund genre gloriously oblivious to modern music’s relentless adherence to the flavors of the moment. I bought into what Sobak’s doing with the first listen and later plays only reinforced my love for this release.
You know you’re in good hands when the first song is about a woman and the singer even spells her name out for us. It recalls stone-cold rock and roll classics such as Them’s “Gloria” and other songs of that ilk while pushing a balls-to-the-wall musical approach that brokers no compromise. Sobak isn’t bashful about adorning his songs with wailing electric guitar solos and smash-your-face riffing, but I am impressed with how he maintains a firm grip on musicality from beginning to end. It’s never just heavy-handed bash and thud that bludgeons you.
The title song “A Little More Time” shows us his diversity. I’m also taken with its maturity. This isn’t let’s party or get out of my way because I’m a badass music, but instead takes stock and revels in genuine pathos. His target audience will connect with the song’s message just as I did. The diversity comes in the form of significant acoustic guitar work that helps give the song a well-rounded sound. It comes early in the collection and listeners are better off for it.
REVERBNATION: https://www.reverbnation.com/sobak3/song/24052852-a-little-more-time
“Two Souls” has some flash, but its melodic leanings are more important. Those leanings manifest primarily manifest themselves in the climbing guitar line that gives the track an appealing hook. It’s one of the album’s handful of up-tempo numbers, as well, but the band exerts great control and never goes careening outside their lane. “Together We’ll Find” sets a blistering pace as well. Sobak’s singing crackles with a sense of purpose that will have listeners and concertgoers alike pumping their fists while the guitar work has a combustible burst that fills the song with fire.
“Like Heaven’s Wings” is a key track and single on the release. It returns Sobak to the familiar terrain of the earlier title song with the way it mixes electric and acoustic textures. I think he does an even better job here than the aforementioned tune and draws enough distinctions between the two that it doesn’t end up sounding like a sonic retread of the album’s title song. “To Find a Way” illustrates Sobak’s resolve and inner strength in its lyrics and closes the album with hard-hitting riffs that conclude the album on a punchy, yet never overwhelming, note. Sobak’s A Little More Time should expand the band’s already growing profile and promises to make 2023 a year that they won’t soon forget.
Chadwick Easton