Steve Wynn
Static Transmission

It takes a confident songwriter to open an album (or a concert, for that matter) with a slow-paced ballad instead of a driving rocker. Most believe that the best way to grab an audience’s attention is to rip into a song with a vengeance, but on his latest solo outing Static Transmission, veteran artist Steve Wynn opts to take the road less traveled by launching into the soaring strains of What Comes After. It’s a bold move, and it’s also one that works well as the listener immediately is drawn into the grand, sweeping, Pink Floyd-infused anthem. In fact, classic rock influences pervade much of the album, from the punked-up, Rolling Stones-rock of Hollywood to the Beatle-esque psychedelic guitar that swirls through the crunchy Candy Machine. The best tracks, however, are the blissful, adrenaline-soaked meltdown of Amphetamine and the slinky pop groove of The Ambassador of Soul, both of which take the circular path of sounding like Wynn covering Luna covering Wynn’s former band Dream Syndicate. As a result, like much of his work over the past few years, Static Transmission is a solid affair that finds Wynn once again reinvigorated and engaged.