The Rocket Summer
Hello, Good Friend

Damn this is a happy album! I don’t think that I’ve ever heard a record so poppy. One-man-band Bryce Avary, a.ka.. The Rocket Summer has used his immense talent to write, sing and play every instrument on this album which explodes at the seams with fast, upbeat, happy, passionate ultra-pop songs that will force you to get off your ass and “get on the floor and dance til you got no more.”

Avary’s songs range from passionate love, to passionate friends. He seems to be a good ol’ God fearing Texas boy but his religion doesn’t come forced through his music. He sings about love and the listener can determine for themselves whether the song is about God, Jesus a wife or girlfriend. The album cover really displays what to expect in this CD: Bryce Avary putting himself out without anything to hide behind.

I think a lot of people are going to look at the piano-based rock of Hello, Good Friend and refer to it as Something Corporate-lite, but in my opinion it definitely comes close to Ted Leo-ultralite. The aspect of The Rocket Summer’s music that truly sets it apart is Bryce Avary’s high pitched vocals which switch from a growl to a falsetto within a beat.

Buy this album for the passion, for the talent and for the pop. But mostly just buy it for fun. It’ll make you happy on a cloudy day.