reaLation: Two Song/Video Review

by: Donnie Casto II

There is hope for authentic Gen X music lovers who are tired of reliving the 90’s with the hits of yesteryear syndrome. Sure, we all love the golden age of grunge, but after a listen to the Albany trio known as reaLation a 40 something grunge kid can travel back to when MTV played music with a soul. When you listen to their music you almost expect to turn around and see the vintage Cindy Crawford poster on the wall. 

Vocalist/guitarist Steve Feliciano, bassist/vocalist Vincent Lane, and drummer Matt Loucks take the listener on a trip that is guided by Rod Serling’s creative writing. They tackle relevant issues invoking Cobain’s angst of a world refusing to face the real elephant in the room… humanity being out of touch.

It’s the lyrical path of enlightenment and interconnection that has become evident in the two tracks accompanied with official videos by reaLation, ‘Isabella’ and ‘Not Meant For Me’. ‘Isabella’ might have easily been a throwback video featured on MTV or VH1 at around 4:00pm in most living rooms in 1995. It had a feel of a Soul Asylum video with lyrics regarding the self destruction in our lives that easily could have been written by Maynard and Trent Reznor.

‘Not Meant For Me’ a song for those of us who see ourselves in some aspect as square pegs in round holes are treated to a Seether like sound with lyrics that Layne Staley or Shannon Hoon could’ve made legendary on an episode of Unplugged.

For the modern-day Gen Xer’s, it will be refreshing to hear a crisp fusion of socially relevant lyrics and a Seattle sound that hits your soul as hard as the opening riff of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’. reaLation might be the lost musical prophets speaking revelation to the lost Gen-X generation. 

CLICK HERE to buy!