Austin Meade

Abstract Art Of An Unstable Mind

SNAKEFARM Second album from the Texan up-and-comer is big on ambition and low on subtlety.

Austin Meade – a man with a name as straight-up Texan as guns, God and guacamole – is still pretty new to the world stage, yet this second album displays the strutting confidence of someone who’s been playing to thousands for decades.

There is a lot of ambition and a clear appetite for fame on display here, with Late Night Letdown in particular begging for crossover success with its rolling melody, cheesy actedout phone conversations and clap-along ending.

The touch points range from Queens Of The Stone Age in the brash spoof radio inserts, and Pearl Jam in Meade’s deep, post-Vedder vocal tremble, while Violation Delight, with its howling classic-rock solo and all-round-the-mic vocal harmonies, is almost enviable in its lack of subtlety. But while those bands are steeped in authenticity, Meade has no such qualms – this is pop in CSN&Y’s clothing (and facial hair), a thoroughly millennial idea of 70s North American rock’n’roll. It’s perfectly pitched for US rock radio airplay, but whether it translates beyond those borders remains to be seen.