Album review by Colleen Goyer
Los Angeles based Alt-Folk band Sci-Fi Romance’s latest release, Dreamers and Runaways, offers 10 tracks with a mix of sounds from Americana to rock, some quiet songs and some with a sound similar to the alternative music of the early 90’s.
Vance Kotrla along with musical collaborators offer some unique sounds on this album. The collection utilizes a range of guitars, drums/percussion, fiddle/violin, cello, piano and even some use of a theremin.
Kotrla’s vocals have a deep, somewhat raspy quality, which provide a haunting mood to many of the songs. This along with the mix of instruments listed above sets Dreamers and Runaways apart from much of the music out today.
The title track, Dreamers and Runaways has a sound similar to that of alternative rock of the early 90’s, a good tune that has been added to my playlist. Sunrise has a more rock sound with some driving rhythms. The War in Me is probably the most folk sounding song on the album along with A Beautiful Prison fill the slow/chill portion of the offering. Voices falls between the genres with prominent piano but building to a more rock sound reminiscent of something like Peter Gabriel.
This latest release by the band leans a little more towards the alternative sound than some of the previous albums but still holds true to the alt-folk classification. Definitely worth checking out and should be good to see live performances of the music on this album when the band tours next.
Dreamers and Runaways is available on Spotify, the band’s website (along with a sample track), and other outlets.