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REVIEWS
DOWNTOWN MYSTIC "Read The Signs"
A subtle psychedelic cover with a purple hue is what houses this rocking bit of
post-Flamin' Groovies/Byrds style of brash pop, the authenticity missing from
99% of Tom Petty's releases. "Eyes Of The World"
and
"A Way To Know" contain
no-nonsense pop by the quartet which features Robert Allen,
Bruce Engler,
bassist Paul Page and drummer extraordinaire
Steve Holley. Listen to the wild
guitar lines on "A Way To Know", the kind of core music that's been missing on
the radio waves...Joe Vig
Top40 Blog Spot
DownTown Mystic -
Read The Signs
What turned out as amusing side project for Sha-La Records president
Robert
Allen has turned into a serious venture.
DownTown Mystic produced a demo that
wound up with two different songs getting airplay on KROQ. Ensuing national
airplay convinced Allen it was time turn the demo into a full-length album. The
result, Rock N Roll 4 The Soul, was a strong debut featuring co-songwriting by
Bruce Engler and the rhythm section of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band.
Downtown Mystic returns now with their latest album,
Read The Signs.
featuring a new rhythm section and some serious songwriting.
Read The Signs opens with 1960's Folk/Rock of I Can't Let
Go, a catchy quasi-love song that shows shades of Crosby, Stills & Nash in
the harmonies. Go Back features some nice, lively guitar work but runs
a bit long at five-and-half-minutes. DownTown Mystic is a decent listen; a bit
on the bland side but sonically pretty. From the lyric perspective the song is a
bit awkward, a trait that carries over a bit into One Step Closer. This
is a song that has potential hit written over the music. The highlight of the
album is Read The Signs, which sounds a bit like a Bob Seger tune.
Read The Signs has a strong clear hook and is very catchy.
A close second is Think A Little Louder, which features one of those
choruses that gets stuck in your head and won't leave of its own volition.
DownTown Mystic brings the same feel good, infectious Rock sound to
Test Of
Time, a jubilant love song about marriage and the power of love.
Tomorrow's Clown finds DownTown Mystic entering the California Country
territory trod by The Eagles with much success, before breaking into infectious
Roots Rock on A Way To Know. The last track on the disc, an untitled
song that comes up as "Unknown" if your system displays title
information moves back to the Poppy-Classic Rock sound that seems to be the
middle ground for DownTown Mystic. It's perhaps the most generic of the tracks
on the album; pleasant but not overly impressive.
Read The Signs has its ups and downs, but when they're at their
best, DownTown Mystic is an eminently listenable band. This is feel good music
for folks who miss 1980's Guitar Rock and Adult Contemporary formats (ala
radio's The River). Robert Allen has an exceedingly pleasant voice, and in
general the songs are quite strong in the writing department. Take some time to
Read The Signs.
Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)
Wildy's World Blogspot
1/19/2010
 DOWNTOWN MYSTIC
Rocking the Radio
By
Christa Fletcher/Hear
It Now/ChannelOne.com
Robert Allen,
Sha-La Music, Inc. president, knows it's
tough to keep a band together. Yet, what better way to keep the
creative flow than inspiring musicians to partake in multiple
projects? His latest is DownTown
Mystic.
For Allen,
DownTown Mystic is
not about creating something commercial, a product filled with
forgettable pop hits or a one-hit wonder. He formed the band in
hopes of making music that will mean something to listeners.
"It's more than writing a song and recording it. It's what we
call making a record. It's a whole lot different," Allen
explained. "It's about an energy and a sound that you hope will
get a reaction from the listener."
Originally, he wasn't sure if
DownTown Mystic should be a solo act or group, but after
some recording time in the studio with
Bruce Engler,
Steve Holley and
Paul Page, the band was born. Even
though each member of the band has other things on his plate,
they make time to record radio fare like
"One More Chance."
Allen, who also runs his music publishing and management
company, knows the key to radio success lies in getting one DJ
to play your song to get the rock-a-rolling. Fortunately for
DownTown Mystic, a Florida
radio program director played
"One More Chance." Later, the song spread to stations across
the country including KROQ, a popular
Los Angeles rock station. And with any luck, L.A. music execs
could be calling to add them to a label.
The cyclical nature of the music business and audience
tastes seem to be working in the band's favor. Rock, as a genre
has many fans, young and old, so
DownTown Mystic reels them all in with their tagline:
"Vintage, yet modern."
"The music was modeled on 60's and 70's type music,"
commented Allen. "So it was really based around the organic
sound of that time." Despite this distinction, it always comes
down to the music and one man's love for rock - which is neither
young, nor old - simply classic.
 DOWNTOWN MYSTIC - Live Review
Opening Act Duo
DownTown
Mystic Also Gives An Inspired Performance
www.localsource.com
By Jessica Marlowe
Patrons of the Hillside Café have come to know that, at this intimate
little-known coffee house, they will be provided with some of the finest musical
entertainment offered in Essex county. The venue proudly features an eclectic
mix of original live acoustic guitar music the third Saturday of every month.
This past Saturday, June 21, Hillside hosted New York musician,
singer-songwriter Ann Klein along with opening act,
DownTown Mystic.
DownTown Mystic is a 2005 project
conceived by musician Robert Allen, an executive at Sha-La Music who is joined
by another singer-songwriter, Bruce Engler.
The pair has recently released their second collection of songs,
“Read the
Signs”.
Allen had an idea for a studio work that would be an integration of a sound
reminiscent of the music from the late 60s and early 70s with an edge that is
very contemporary. Music that is, in his words, “Vintage, yet modern.”
Years earlier, the two had co-written the song,
“One More
Chance” and, each recorded an
original version of it independent of the other. Then, in 2005, they put their
heads together for a re-make of the tune for their first album,
“Rock ’n’ Roll 4 the Soul”.
The song captured the interest of Florida radio station program director,
G.
Michael Keating who added it immediately to the station’s playlist, thus, giving
the duo coveted commercial triple A station airplay.
In December 2006, Allen and Engler decided to return to the studio together.
This time for something a little different. “For this recording”, explained
Engler, “we ‘raised the bar’ in
terms of the song-writing quality. This new album is a little more organic,
more acoustic, and in
order to strip-down the production the songs needed to be strong.”
The songs are strong and, sadly, as an opening act, their set consisted of only
six of them.
DownTown Mystic
A LBUM:
Rock'n'Roll 4 The Soul
SONG: "One More Chance"
MEMBERS: Robert Allen
(Vocals, Guitars); Bruce Engler (Lead Vocal, Lead Guitar); P.J. Farley (Bass); Tom Mastro (Drums)
PRODUCED BY:
Robert Allen LABEL: Sha-La
"Believe me when I say (as a 33-year vet of rock
radio and a frustrated musician),
One More Chance
is a hit! They don't make 'em like this
anymore...and they should, all day. It has all the ingredients: lyrics,
arrangement, structure, guitar, vocal, length...and not necessarily in that
order! It is a wonderful hit track that feels like a refreshing "throw
back" to the day when bands and producers recorded songs for longevity. This is
Doobie Brothers, or take your pick solid 70s-styled quality adult
rock. It is unlike anything out there now, for a long while"...G.Michael
Keating PD/WBCG
ALBUM:
Rock'n'Roll 4 The Soul
LABEL: Sha-La
ARTIST:
D.M.
& Jessie Thomas (Vocals, Guitar), Steve Brown, Ozzie Caccavelli &
Bruce
Engler (Guitar)P.J. Farley & Eric Hoagland (Bass), Tom Mastro (Drums,
Percussion)
GUEST ARTISTS: Garry Tallent (Bass),
Max
Weinberg (Drums)
PRODUCED BY: DownTown Mystic & Ben Elliott
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW: DownTown
Mystic’s music is inspired by ‘60s pop icons, ‘70s rockers, yet it’s
planted firmly in the here and now. With vocal harmonies reminiscent of Poco and early
Eagles, it’s hard not to sing along with DownTown Mystic’s music. Like
albums from the past, DownTown Mystic is split into three segments
that cover all of life’s basics: doubt, faith and rock’n’roll karma. Their
track "Brian Jones" was released last year to honor the
death of the man who actually started The Rolling Stones, and
guesting as the rhythm section are none other than Springsteen’s E-Street
cronies Mighty Max Weinberg on drums and Garry W. Tallent on bass... Jim
Nelson/A Taste of TripleA
 THE
DISCONTENT w/DownTown
Mystic
SONG:
“Dying Breath”
FROM THE RELEASE:
The Discontent Destination EP
LABEL: Sha-La
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW: Producers
Robert Allen and
Ben Elliott have
brought together two of their most successful Sha-La artists, who have teamed up
on the Alternative single “Dying Breath.” You can find it on
The Discontent Destination EP, as well as the new
VA
cd.
...VirtuallyAlternative
 
©2001-10 Sha-La Music, Inc.
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