Even if you don’t remember the seventies, one associates a certain vibe with that decade, and a certain sound. It’s not the pop-rock of the sixties, or the synth-rock of the eighties, but a largely upbeat and relaxed country-rock that runs the gamut from too simple to too complex, as well as that sweet spot in between. Canada’s Zeus reach for that sweet seventies on Credo.
At times, Zeus hit that sweet spot sweetly, starting with the pressing country-rock love of “Air I Walk” opener, not to mention the hopeful “Kickin’ Up the Dust” and easy, catchy heartbreak of “Why You Wanna Break Me”. On the other hand, the band does less well when they range, such as the throwback effects of “Candy” & “Protection” (also hurt by being back-to-back on the album), though the evening drive of “Throwdown” and slightly funkier “Wanna Know Why” do better.
It’s kind of hard to imagine for millennials & Gen X (to say nothing of Boomers…), but the seventies was fifty years ago this decade, its vaunted centrality in music a thing of the past (despite rock attaining “perfection in 1974 – that’s a scientific fact…”). But everything old is new again in this century.
