Given the regeneration of progressive music over recent years, you might assume that all the genre boundaries have been pushed and true originality is becoming a scarce commodity. Mercifully, that doesn’t seem to be the case, and this North Carolinean/Georgian band are yet another example of an act presenting their own highly innovative strain of prog rock. Their mix of southern rock with transitory flashes of 70s prog is one classy concoction, curious and commercially minded. Extending to over eight minutes, Going To Dublin somehow manages to cram all those varied influences into a single track, and the result is utterly captivating.
Such a transition through boogie rock, early Rush with a David Gilmour-style guitar solo on top should sound like a clumsy, musical cut ‘n’ paste job; in these hands it’s unexpectedly smooth. New World also steers away from such complex interplay, with songs like Time Slides Onward and Blue Highway (which even contains a nod to Jessica by The Allman Brothers) having the kind of wilful, progressive accessibility, that the Von Hertzen Brothers and their like are so adept at. If yours is a wide musical taste, step into The Raptor Trail’s new world.
