Rhodesbros : Pop Meets Rock Again

I came across this wonderful band this evening while scanning the Youtube "skyline" for great artists. Somehow I found myself watching a cover of Pearl Jam's "Porch" by the very talented Gareth Rhodes. I admit I wasn't sure how great the cover was going to be, because I was focusing on a strange little doll at the beginning of the video. I was pleasantly surprised that the cover was great and Gareth really poured his heart into it. His vocals didn't remind me of Eddie Vedder at all, but sort of reminded me of Andrew Wood, who was of course the frontman of Mother Love Bone, which later evolved into Pearl Jam. So, overall, a great cover with a very interesting feel to it. Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwKbF8jLpKA

Brilliant! I have a feeling that Gareth's vocal style is rooted in Axl Rose's vocal style but I could mistaken. I personally got a real sense of Andrew Wood, who was a short lived star in the Seattle scene. Great stuff, and aside from the brilliant cover and great sound quality, I really dug the fact that Gareth uses the same earphones I use (Seinheiser HD 205). I'd recommend them to anyone who wants a really clear, strong sound for a great price. I've been blasting my head off with them for about a year and a half now and love them.

Moving on, I discovered Matthew Rhodes, through Gareth Rhodes. Making up the core of Rhodesbros, which I'll get to later, Matthew and Gareth have got a bunch of covers uploaded to Matthew's Youtube channel. One that jumped out at me immediately was a cover of Two Princes (Spin Doctors). It's such a great song, that really deserves to be covered more often. The two Rhodes cover this one in such a funky, smooth way that it's just irresistible. They've obviously got a great chemistry going with their vocals and rhythmic guitar playing. Have a listen to this one!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOeejelXmUA

Now, if you listened to that one to the end you probably caught the beautiful timing on the ending. I'm guessing these guys sit around for hours playing to each other and bouncing off each others ideas. It's every artist's dream to do that, so I must say I'm jealous they've got something so great going, but all will come in due time. Hopefully, these two will continue working together and making great music!

Which brings us to...Rhodesbros. Rhodesbros is a band consisting of Gareth Rhodes on lead/rhythm guitar and backing vocals, Matthew Rhodes on lead vocals and rhythm guitar accompanied by the very talented Thomas Rhodes on bass and backing vocals. The band quite recently set up a fresh Youtube channel, with one video of an original song. The video and the song are brilliant and I really dig it! I could use a whole album of songs like this one. It's sort of like modern pop met up with psychedelic sounds of the sixties and seventies. I love it! Guitarists, look out for Gareth Rhodes, this guy's got a tone that any one of us could drool over. I got a real feel of David Gilmour, Jimmy Page and Santana in there. And as for Matthew, he's definitely got a modern sound that a lot of people will be after. Check out their song "Who We Are", subscribe to their channel and make sure to check them out on Facebook for updates. Check back tomorrow for another fantastic artist!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfRyP0Lt38o

Alex Hamel