Track of the Day: FOLSOM – Old Pop’s Truck (2023)
From Music For All to Send Me Your Ears, Edgar Allan Poets, Less Than 1000 Followers and Metal Crash Radio, French group FOLSOM release a fierce, raw and intoxicating type of rock for the masses. Formed approximately 10 years ago, Peter Cattet (vocals and guitar), Florian Garcin (lead guitar), Theo Defranoux (bass) and Leo Flank (drums) have deemed themselves as “a heavy blues-rock band…rocking it, providing good times and tasty riffs”. The latest addition to their hard-hitting discography is the single ‘Old Pop’s Truck’.
Following the remastered version of Nightmare Before, FOLSOM return to the music scene with the track ‘Old Pop’s Truck’. After two years of silence, the lads are back in a high-voltage way. Bold and rich, ‘Old Pop’s Truck’ has you tapping your toe from the first chord; however, a gruffness slivers through the melody adding a palpable grittiness to the blues-rock tone. Pounding drums combine with dynamic guitars building a harmonic melody. The thing is, while harmony exists in ‘Old Pop’s Truck’, the arrangement ensures we hear each of the instruments in full force before coming together as a united whole in the end.
While contemporary hard rock can be heard in FOLSOM’s music, they retain a nostalgic flair leaning back to the blues-rock bands of the 70s – back when rock was still amazing. I’m not saying there aren’t fantastic rock bands now but something special existed in the sound of yesteryear. One aspect I love about FOLSOM is how they combine retro blues-rock tones with modern-day harshness to create an edgy inimitable sound.
Before you take a listen to ‘Old Pop’s Truck’, I recommend you note that the single has many surprises. Opening with a smoother, soulful sound, you can imagine a blues-rock song; however, mid-single a transition to spoken word vocals is heard followed by a blast of hard rock meets metal. Garcin’s outstanding guitar skills allow for a shredding evolution into something faster, frantic and a bit chaotic.
While the melody has your head spinning, ‘Old Pop’s Truck’ has a sentimental quality in its heartfelt lyricism. FOLSOM explain that ‘Old Pop’s Truck’ is “dedicated to our friend Pop. His truck really exists and his tireless work to keep it running inspired this song. It’s a song about friendship, perseverance to reach your goals and never giving up!”
For more from FOLSOM, check out their Facebook and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
