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“That’s What You Want” is a transcendental piece of real, road-worn rock n’ roll. There’s knowledge of truth, and some of it from the root. I get the sense of an axe to grind, wheels to grease, and a sound just coming straight and true. The arrangement is sparse and urgent with dirty throbbing guitars, banging drums, and Nick Duane’s voice crooning with a certain contempt: “When confusion gets in the way, clouds the truth in what we see today. That’s what you want, that’s all that matters.” What a treat … that is if you’re already been riding the back-roads with Nick Duane and his brand of alternative rock. If not, then you still have the pleasure of discovering him and his music for the first time here.

Nick Duane’s songs have a brilliant raw rock feel, creating a classic sound, nodding to his influences, all the while creating his own original sound. Nick has a close association with rock bands and artists from more interesting eras of the genre, but don’t go thinking for one moment that his music is derived from any of those groups, he’s an artist who stands his ground, and owns every square foot of it. His vocals and lyrics are placed front and center, with the guitar, and driving rhythm evoking tales of a man with a crystal clear eye on the hazards of life.

In a world of over-produced formulaic rock, “That’s What You Want” is a breath of fresh air. A really great track from a singer-songwriter who has probably lived a life full of experiences and is using those experiences to inform his music and lyrics.

This is indie-rock with enough of a rough edge to keep it interesting all the way through. More than anything else Duane has achieved a sound that is distinctive in the current scenario. I cannot think of one artist, out now, who vaguely sounds like Nick Duane.

The first thing that strikes you about “That’s What You Want”, is Nick Duane’s world weary voice, which takes full advantage of its mellifluous edginess.

Throughout the song, Duane’s lyrics document a restless search for the truth: “This world keeps spinning so we need to focus. With all your lies and the hocus pocus. That’s what you want, that’s all that matters.” His tone lends an authenticity to his words, while the texture of resonant voice keeps those familiar words from sounding like retreads.

Nick Duane started making records a few years ago, and if all things were equal, he should have achieved household name status in his field by now. These days, in an ever changing music scenario, the artists who reside in Duane’s end of the rock spectrum tend to be rewarded with niche-level popularity.

Nick Duane is a singer with a deceptive amount of depth, and he can deliver a rocker with intense, swaggering hooks. He has determinedly proved with each release, that every song is a snapshot along the journey of an artist who’s fought for his right to take his sound in whichever direction he likes.

Duane a songwriter, a performer and an artist who has blazed his own independent trail. “That’s What You Want” is a rare treat in a world of corporate and pseudo rockers.

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By staff

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