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With British take on Southern-Rock, Alberta Cross send CMJ back in time

niloayer | November 3, 2011 | 1 Comment

Alberta Cross brought this year’s CMJ Marathon attendees back to the 70′s at Terminal 5. The shoegaze-ish, alt-country 5 piece outfit played a solid show, setting the mood for follow-ups Portugal.The Man. The quintet flowed through a rich setlist ranging from very emotional guitar solos to groovy percussion breaks.

However new to many eyes and ears at the Marathon, the band is well experienced and its members are high quality performers – that being the result of extensive touring and their diverse backgrounds. Formed about 5 years ago by Swedish expatriated Petter Ericson Stakee (vocals, guitar) and London-raised Terry Wolfers (bass), the international hints on their sound are as clear as European summers , yet still complex enough to increase the quality of their musical ventures.

Once called revivalists of early-seventies hippie/stoner sounds, there’s more to it than just psychedelia, freedom-love and flower power. Alberta Cross blend southern-rock, country and blues to beautiful-sounding distortion and great lyrics in a rather outstanding fashion. Petters voice is the special touch, though. In a nutshell, his vocal character is somewhere between Neil Young and My Morning Jacket’s Jim James.Although their sound is nowhere near innovation, their take on it sure is special. The heavy, dirty modernity they put together with those raw, honest and somewhat romantic songs make this breaking band sound like good old timers with a lot of tales o tell. Alberta Cross is a safe step into a path that leads out of New York’s current music scene.