Hi-Stone Social – All Up (Single Review)

At the helm of Hi-Stone Social is Don Kushon, the frontman of this revival project that involves the genres: rock, pop, folk rock, blues, spoken word, and so much more. Kushon also lends his expertise on guitar, harmonica, and ukulele. The rest of the crew consists of Paul Shannon on lead guitar and backing vocals, Frank Innamorato on drums, and JT on bass. Session musicians like Joe Paglia on keyboard also help flesh out the recording.

Their newly released single, “All Up,” starts out with some jangly guitars that immediately give off a bluesy vibe. Organs make this recording sound fresh as well. Once Kushon’s gritty vocals enter, the music really comes together. Right off the bat, I was impressed by Kushon’s singing, which was packed to the brim with attitude and sass. The bluesy appeal spoke to me right away.

I was reminded of bands like Cage the Elephant and Kings of Leon here. The wall of guitar toward the 1:56 mark really pushed things forward for me as the band jams to their heart’s content. The organ solo around 3:25 also sounded great. However, toward the 2:56 mark, I wasn’t quite as taken by Kushon’s distorted vocals here. The distortion made his voice sound warbly, and I felt the recording could’ve done without it.

All in all, I felt this was a low-fidelity song. It didn’t come out quite as polished as some of the radio-ready songs out there. While that was the case, this didn’t affect Hi-Stone Social’s sound too much. As a jam band, the group’s execution of this track felt raw and gritty enough to draw me in. The thing is, this type of music doesn’t need to be polished. It is precisely because of its not overly glossy vibe that makes it so appealing and resonant.

SCORE/Good: The jangly beats and soaring guitar licks on Hi-Stone Social’s latest single, “All Up”, show a lot of promise, but the release could use more fidelity. The distorted vocals toward the latter half could also do with some reworking. However, Hi-Stone Social shows that as a jam band, they meet all the right marks, taking the bluesy, folk-rock genres by the reins and adding something extra with their signature sound.

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