motorway heads straight into the land of rock

The members of motorway have all traveled considerable miles. Bassist Peter Winkler and drummer Eric Padua logged time with modern rock trio Of Human Bondage. Guitarist Colin Brown made a single album with the short-lived  Blue Plate. And guitarist Michael Blum supplied many a local musician with an axe at the guitar store that bears his name.

   They came together as Tin Star two years ago: after a British band asserted a previous claim to that moniker, they changed their name to Motorway. They then set out to do the near impossible: Hit the road and make a go of it as a rock band from the roots music mecca that is New  Orleans.

   To that end, they enlisted Better Than Ezra bassist Tom Drummond-- who knows his way around a guitar-pop song- to produce their new " Underwater Demolition CD. Together, Drummond and the band spit shined 10 tracks and four additional unlisted cuts, honing the musicians' New Wave and modern rock influences into something all their own.

   Throughout, the four band members alternate lead vocals against a backdrop of interwoven acoustic and electric guitars that is at the core of their sound.

Those guitars flash a bit of brawn in "Caroline": in "Little Pills" they peel off a trippy electric guitar solo set against distorted vocals and the chimes of an acoustic (another version is included with the bonus tracks at the end of the CD).

  Harmonies and an acoustic guitar combine on the ballad "Everafter"; echoes of the Smashing Pumpkins ring in "Satellite." Taken as a whole, "Underwater Demolition" is a promising debut, bristling with smart arrangements and solid musicianship.