Abrams: Modern Ways

I don’t know about you, but I am a sucker for a great record that you can sing along to while driving. Modern Ways by Denver, Colorado’s Abrams is one of those records. 

Knowing nothing about Abrams or their history prior to hearing Modern Ways I was blown away by this record. Abrams are one of the few great rock bands of this year, releasing music bursting with melody. Modern Ways contains some exceptional hooks, riffs, and choruses that most bands would cut off their right arm to have written. 

I guess you could put Abrams alongside Mastodon and Baroness in terms of the style of rock music they play. But whereas Mastodon have gone off into the progressive rock multiverse and Baroness are still stuck in the murky swamps of Georgia, Abrams are clearly aiming for the Billboard Top 10.

The record kicks off with the title track ‘Modern Ways’, which leads in with a huge circular riff before the drums join and Taylor Iverson's impressive vocals kick in. The song has the riffs, the vocals and the chorus—and to top it off, it's short and catchy as hell. Second track ‘Poison Bullets’ ramps up the bludgeoning and is probably the most Baroness-sounding song on the album. Wait for the solo to kick in and tell me that doesn’t floor you. Next up is ‘Joshua Tree’ which throws a slight curve ball with its lightly strummed introduction. It reminds me so much of Sparta and Taking Back Sunday in its lighter moments, but then goes straight for the jugular with the best chorus on the album. If this track doesn’t want to make you sing along, you are dead inside! 

The first six songs on this album are as good as you’ll find anywhere and a perfect blueprint for what modern rock ought to sound like in 2020. The second half of Modern Ways does tail off a bit—becoming heavier, sludgier, more progressive, and actually much more like the bands mentioned above. ‘Silence’ is a prime example of how heavy the album gets. The record finishes with the seven-minute closer ‘Marionette’, and it's another fine song with an epic buildup, concluding with crashing and swirling guitar solos that close the album on a high.

Abrams have clearly been influenced by some of the best rock bands of the last 15 years but they don't sound derivative at all. Like any great band, they've taken their influences and mixed them with their own natural songwriting talent. And they've used that talent to craft what is, so far, the rock album of the year. Well done!