Robert Allen doesn’t mess around. His DownTown Mystic project has racked up placements in over 250 TV shows and films, which tells you something important: this isn’t some basement hobbyist making rock and roll for the sake of it. Allen’s got a clear mission: drag rock and roll into the 21st century without stripping away everything that made it great in the first place.
“Six songs deep, the highway stretches long enough to remember why we started driving.”
The “Mystic Highway” EP packs six rock and roll tracks. Allen’s obsession with analog recording and vintage gear isn’t some hipster affectation. Allen’s vocals sit comfortably in that classic rock pocket. The songwriting follows that great American tradition of narrative rock: verses that go somewhere, choruses you can sing along to by the second listen, and bridges that actually earn their place in the song.
The bonus track “Somebody’s Always Doin’ Something 2 Somebody” brings in Jeff Levine on keyboards (Moog, piano, organ, pick your poison), and it adds another layer to the proceedings without cluttering things up. Levine’s no stranger to great records, having worked with Joe Cocker and Hall & Oates, and he knows exactly when to step forward and when to stay back.
Allen reminds us that rock and roll doesn’t need reinventing every five minutes. Sometimes it just needs people who can actually play their instruments and songs that don’t insult your intelligence. Songs like “Lost and Found” could slot into a playlist next to classics from the ’70s or current alternative rock.
Allen’s strategy of surrounding himself with elite players and letting them do what they do best is paying off. Too many artists in the indie world try to do everything themselves and wonder why it sounds thin. “Mystic Highway” is a six well-crafted rock and roll album. Give it a spin. And if you’ve been wondering whether rock and roll still has anything left in the tank, Allen and his crew have an answer: plenty, as long as you’re willing to do it right.
Muse Chronicle 
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