Glenn Morrow’s Cry For Help – Our Final Album Vol. 1
The band is in its 12th year & has quite a history, but I picked up Glenn Morrow decades ago when I picked up his 1986 band Rage To Live’s self-titled album. In all honesty, I got it for a few dollars at the Princeton Record Exchange & liked the album cover art, then Anne Richmond Boston’s (Swimming Pool Q’s) name & that was like an endorsement.
Some indie bands are remarkably talented with catchy melodies & superb playing. This is no exception. “Autumn Leaves” starts the LP with a gourmet blend of ’80s Americana-rock intact. Glenn’s vocals are incisive & sound excellent. The groove is also aligned with the performance. While “Boom Boom” has that quality. The age of the musicians has crept into the arrangement since it’s a little old-fogey in style. Can’t fool Mother Music. Well, we’re not teenagers anymore.
No worries, “That’s That” revives the edgy rock n’ roll dynamic & we are young at heart. The Ramones may be no more, but the Question Mark & the Mysterions aesthetic floats around in Morrow’s voice & the band has instrumental fire. This doesn’t smoke; it seethes with heat. Can this be called Jersey rock? It certainly supersedes anything Springsteen has done. This Hoboken, NJ-based band’s showcase features 11 pieces considered Our Final Album Vol. 1 (Drops July 17/Bar/None Records/44:26) recorded in Montclair, New Jersey & produced by Ray Ketchem (percussion).
Morrow’s voice is still quite good after all these years & that becomes evident on the slow ballad “In Love With Love,” with no incendiary moments, but its grip is in the sincerity displayed. Morrow’s vocals & the musicians navigate the romantic radiance of the music. Even the more silent passages are as gripping as their more bristling moments. Quite impressive.
There is a Jersey touch to some of the tunes; the humor in “Sweater Weather”- a typical Jersey phrase. Despite the funny stuff, the song has its strengths. Linked to an undefinable quality of ’60s pop, Glenn has spit-polished its feel to a clever 2026 association with that era. It doesn’t have the retro sound despite those ingredients. But it’s “Into Something New” & “Begin Again” that are the stranglehold tunes. Part Duke & the Drivers, J. Geils Band, Eddie & the Tide, & Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes. Great stuff.
These have a stirring Jersey feel channeled through every note with ingenuity. Almost makes me wish Maxwell’s in Hoboken were still there to discover people like this.
Highlights – “Autumn Leaves,” “That’s That,” “In Love With Love,” “Into Something New,” “Ophelia (at the Five & Dime),” & “Begin Again.”
Musicians – Glenn Morrow (guitar/lead vocals), Ric Sherman (lead guitar/vocals), Mike Rosenberg (bass/vocals) & Ron Metz (drums/percussion) with Andrew Burton (keyboards) & add’l percussion (Renee LoBue).
Color image courtesy of Mike Sansevere. CD @ Bandcamp & https://rhyme-reason.com/glenn-morrows-cry-for-help