Chris Cummings and The Way – Chris Cummings & the Way (EP Review)

Chris Cummings and the Way is the new EP from the band of the same name. The EP also came with a short documentary about the concept behind each songs, which I found to be pretty cool and insightful. It’s always great to hear someone put in that much effort into not only their craft, but into explaining what their craft means to them and how they plan on sharing it with the world.

That being said, let’s get into it!

The record starts with “Dreams”, a very 70’s inspired rock song. In fact, I would say it reeks of that particular decade, though I’m not complaining. The vocals are good for what they are, and the guitar solo is pretty decent. In all, there isn’t much about this song that catches my attention, but it is catchy nonetheless. It’s generic, sure, but it’s a fun listen nonetheless.

“Romantic Fantasist” might be my favorite track here. Those slick guitar riffs and grooves have a late-90’s/early-2000’s feel to them, which I kinda dig. It’s wildly different than the rest of the songs on the EP, though not to the point where it sticks out like a sore thumb. I also noticed what I perceive to be a hint of a Blue Oyster Cult sound, but that’s probably me projecting that onto the song. I will say that the bluesy piano work is what sells this song and ties everything together.

“I’m Still Alive” seems to have been created with the idea of it being an anthem. Chris himself implies this in the documentary, being a reaction to the social atmosphere of America. The song itself is quite good, being catchy and having some good guitar work. That being said, I find the bridge to be atrocious, sounding very disjointed in a melodic sense. I also find the lyrics to be a tad amateurish, trying to make a bold statement when there is very little to be found.

The band introduces us to another bluesy track, being “Cliche”. Like the last song, I do find some of the lyrics to be corny, but I will respect the band for taking shots at several directions, hitting their mark on some well-known stereotypes of American society. Musically though, the song is way more catchy than it has any right to be. It does come close to be very generic, but it towed the line well, especially with that rockin’ guitar work.

Read Chris Cummings and The Way – I’m Still Alive (Single Review)

“Anxiety”…that piano…. Sorry, the keyboardist inside me was screaming and kicking its legs during the duration of this song. It really does remind me of how Steve Winwood would play in his Traffic years. Overall though, this is a very nice, moody, and soothing blues song. It really is hard to resist, sounding like something I would enjoy listening to at a jazz bar, which is where I would definitely go to cure my anxiety.

Regarding the documentary, there are some things I need to say. Similar to the band I spoke about in my last review, the music videos that accompanied the documentary were very lackluster, to put it lightly. I found the excessive and abusive use of stock footage to be very cheap and lazy; I’m sure making a music video is expensive, but there have to be more creative avenues available. It should be said that I will not take the videos into account, since I am only critiquing the music, but I feel obligated to at least give my thoughts on it.

All songs ranked on a scale of 0-4:

1. Dreams – 3
2. Romantic Fantasist – 4
3. I’m Still Alive – 3
4. Cliche – 3
5. Anxiety – 4

SCORE/Excellent: A very well done to Chris Cummings and his band. This project may not have been the most interesting of listens, nor the most innovative, though I don’t believe it was the band’s intention to begin with. I’m sure Chris Cummings wanted to make a fun blues-rock record, filled with songs that came right from the heart. Sure, there were times in which the band was trying to be introspective, though they weren’t trying to re-invent the wheel either, so to speak. The songs were produced and composed well, and each band member sounded great; what more can I ask for? My advice to the band would be to keep going this route, as I’m sure the song writing will improve. I would also reiterate that, if they are going down the music video route, then they need to be much more creative, as that would make a hell of a difference.

[We rank singles, EPs, and albums on a scale of Poor, Mediocre, Good, Excellent, and Outstanding]

Visit Chris Cummings’ website
Follow him on Instagram
Follow him on Tiktok