Simon RushworthThe Switch — No Way Out (Frontiers)
Anytime we see the names of the Martin brothers attached to a brand new melodic rock project our interest’s well and truly piqued.
Like latter day Desmond Childs, the prolific pair know every trick in the rock and roll rulebook when it comes to penning deeply affecting AOR.
And if either Tom or James had been around at the height of 80s hair metal excess then they’d be sunning themselves in the Caribbean by now — after banking millions in recurring royalties.
On that note, No Way Out is an unashamed nostalgia trip described by bassist Dennis Butabi Borg (Cruzh) as ‘like steering a Testarossa in the Outrun arcade machine while chewing Juicy Fruits and cranking music on your Walkman’.
Honestly, we couldn’t have put it better ourselves.
Sure, there’ll be those who find this synth-fuelled blast from the past utterly nauseating.
Then again, fans of power ballad-fuelled 80s blockbusters will be all over No Way Out like Marty McFly’s mother the ‘first time’ she meets her teenage son.
Every one of the 10 tracks here could find a home in Top Gun, Back To The Future or Footloose.
Sometimes it sounds like they already did.
The Martins have tapped into every last trope and cliché associated with entertainment’s finest decade to deliver a veritable buffet of reassuringly mild soft rock cheese.
Tom Martin adds: “No Way Out has been a labour of love — listeners are gonna get zapped back to the mid 80s for a nostalgic trip back to the sound we all fell in love with.”
And he’s not lying.
Sit back, close your eyes, turn the volume up to 10, crack open that bottle of Babycham and enter a dream state of retro-fuelled delirium.
No Way Out? No matter. Seriously, who’d want to escape this?
Bobby dazzler shines for The Switch
Canadian crooner Bobby John is descended from a long line of saccharine-sweet AOR frontmen blessed with a huge scoop of honey-tongued talent.
Skip to Search For Love and it’s clear why the Martins believed they’d met their match in melodic rock heaven.
Bands just don’t make ballads like this any more and The Switch’s Bobby dazzler has found the perfect home for his pitch perfect vocals.
According to Tom Martin it’s ‘the best work we’ve ever been part of’.
Given that the siblings were central to Vega’s early success and they’ve since gone on to write a series of Frontiers-backed bangers that’s some statement.
But give Hangin’ On To 17, Danger On The Loose and Strangers Eyes a whirl and it’s difficult to disagree.
That The Switch based their name on a fictional 80s flick — very much in the mould of Back To The Future — only adds to the appeal.
No Way Out might sound remarkably similar to just about every cassette you owned between 1984 and 1988 but this isn’t lazy repetition on the Martins’ part.
They’re far too good for that.
What this record represents is a joyous and authentic take on a genre that flatly refuses to die.
Turn on The Switch and prepare to be dazzled by 2025’s newest record of the year contender.
