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It could seriously hurt your head to try and wrap it around the concept of "new classic rock." After all, "classic rock" typically refers to the cross-product of a style and an era. It's not just power chords, thundering drums, theatrical vocals, catchy melodies and a sprinkling of prog-rock chords. And it's not just well-groomed post-hippie long hair, bellbottoms, or the dispersion of drugs to the suburbs. It's all of that in a giant melting pot that begat Queen, Boston, and Journey, and retroactively attached the "classic" tag to The Beatles, Doors, Creedence, Cream, et al. Classic Rock is an intersection that defined the transition from the `60s into the `70s, the evolution from the free-form of The Fillmore and underground radio to arena shows and tightly controlled consultant-bred playlists.

So what's one to make of this Port Angeles, Washington quintet, fresh out of high-school and making music firmly rooted in the rock sounds of the late `60s and early `70s? It's not that their second album was created in a vacuum untouched by the past 30 years of rock (basically since punk confronted stadium rock's overblown apotheosis), but the group's songs leapfrog the occasional hints of `80s grunge, `90s Britpop and `00s garage, and deliver the listener back to the heavy, dramatic, arranged, guitar-and-drums sound of classic classic rock. The modern production will keep you from being fooled into thinking this is a long-lost relic of 1973, so perhaps this is best labeled "modern classic rock."

You can easily find riffs, instrumental choices and vocal arrangements that echo Queen, Led Zeppelin, Yes, Kinks, and others, but none of the band's work is mindless imitation or even purposely retro constructions. Instead, The Lonely H has absorbed its influences sufficiently to have them seep out in new and interesting ways. The Left Banke's baroque `n' roll, for example, tempers "The Drought" and "It's Not Right," but with neither sounding as if they were plucked from the `60s. The group's vocals shade equally to the multi-voice arrangements of the Beach Boys and 10cc, the dramatic flair of Freddy Mercury and Bryan Ferry, and the fluid blues-rock of Savoy Brown's Chris Youlden. The guitar-bass-and-drums range from the heaviness of mid-period Zeppelin, the punchy pub rock of Thin Lizzy, and the rootsy sounds of The Band. But, even with the group's surprisingly young years, they turned these into influences rather than totems.

The Lonely H sits on the cusp where classic rock shone brightly just before losing itself to farcical self seriousness. Their music is filled with the adolescent joy of getting a cassette deck in your first car and heading out to lay on the grass of a stadium "Day on the Green" show as six bands wash over you. Their music is a ticket back to a time when heavy riff-rock was a dominant element of top-40 radio, and music hadn't yet been fully diced, chopped, digested and partitioned by Clear Channel and its corporate brethren. Born in the late-80s, the members of The Lonely H can't really know the social context communicated by their musical revival, but anyone who lived through the first rise of classic rock will find themselves smiling and nodding their head. [©2008 hyperbolium dot com]

I first saw these guys playing side stage at the gorge amphitheater in WA. They were the preshow entertainment for the Doobie Bros. Allman Bros and The Dead. They rocked so hard, their riffs blew me away, it was one of the best musical experiences i've had, topped only by the performance later that day by The Dead.

The Lonely H has incredible trumpet work on the "Captain Merrywell" cut. Definitely worth a listen for that and the sax.

Listening to this CD reminded me of hearing a mediocre band on one of those "battle of the bands" reality TV shows. Perhaps they play a killer rendition of "Whole Lotta Love," but when they start playing their own music the quality drops dramatically. These Lonely H boys just aren't very good songwriters. Nothing on this CD will stand the test of time. But my major problem is with singer Mark Fredson. He slurs and mumbles the lyrics, often making it impossible to make out the words he is singing. The band did not include printed lyrics with the CD, so I guess I'll never know what the heck he is singing about. Not that I'm willing to try again - Fredson is also off-key in several spots, particularly on "The Drought." If he was that bad in the studio, I hate to think how awful he must be live in concert. This disc was a waste of my money.