REVIEW: Mike Montrey Band — I Can’t Wait Any Longer (SINGLE)
With all of the renewed interest in Americana across the board lately, it’s not surprising that a hybrid work like the Mike Montrey Band’s new single “I Can’t Wait Any Longer” would be getting the kind of attention it is this summer, but I don’t think the secret to its success can be tethered to a trend exclusively. Montrey leads a harmony as potent as the western wind in “I Can’t Wait Any Longer,” and although there’s something to be said about the collective wallop of his supporting players, I think it’s obvious who the real star of this show is. If you’re a fan of easy-going grooves and larger-than-life melodies, this just might be the single you’ve been waiting for this year.
URL: https://mikemontreyband.com/
Right off the bat, I can feel a strong soul influence here, but it’s not exaggerated just for the sake of the lyricism — the opposite, truth be told. These lyrics feel like they’ve been made to suit the tone of the music as opposed to the other way around, which is telling of just how invested in the mood of the melodies these players really are. Montrey could have put more stock into the verses, but he’s instead looking to craft something a bit more immersive and connective in spirit through an elaborate instrumental scheme a lot of artists would have found just a bit too complicated to work into their own material. This sets him apart and only makes his skill as a songwriter all the harder for critics like myself to deny.
There’s a certain buoyancy to the hook in this song that will bode especially well on the radio, where a lot of crossover artists like MMB have been struggling to make as strong an impact as they have on streaming platforms like Spotify and Soundcloud. The affection between the bassline and the groove is impossible for us to evade in this situation, and it’s not because of the arrangement alone — when you’ve mixed a piece as tightly as “I Can’t Wait Any Longer” is, you’re bound to feel the pulse of the instrumentation just a little more than you would in a standardized release, the best of which still can’t keep up with the depth of what we’re hearing in this performance.
The Mike Montrey Band is getting a lot of buzz from smart music observers throughout the American underground this season, and if you’ve been curious as to why this is the case, you really needn’t listen to anything more than “I Can’t Wait Any Longer” to appreciate why the majority of us are quite eager to hear the rest of the album it’s serving as the lead single for. In the realm of Americana that blends the best parts of soul, country, rock n’ roll, and the blues, this is a pastoral effort that can put a little bit of bucolic magic back into the heart of even the most urban city kids. All in all, the title of “I Can’t Wait Any Longer” summarizes how the indie music scene is likely feeling about this act right now.
Colin Jordan
