Adventures in New Music Pt 1-Greta Van Fleet

Rather than endlessly drone on about what I'm up to musically, which isn't always wall to wall good times, I thought it would be fun to go on about other things such as the state of music, the biz, and of course, new music, as in do you, Dave, listen to any new music?
I do.
Not as much as I used to because like all dinosaurs  my mind is filled and befuddled by the sublime to the dross of nearly 60 years of listening. But I do try to check out new stuff, at least to me; there will be established bands or performers I didn't know about so in truth I'm simply acquainting myself with their catalogs, like I did with Ms. Swift late last year.
With that said, let's start with the band, Greta Van Fleet, rock and rollers from Michigan whose sound either charmingly or alarmingly evokes one of the titans of the 70's, Led Zeppelin. I first came across the band in Guitar World magazine, as they made reference to the Zep in their short blurb introducing the up and coming band, while again asking the proverbial question of whether this augured the return of Rock 'n Roll. I won't go into that subject too much other than to restate my belief that the golden age of Rock has passed and is as likely to regain its place in our greater culture as Jazz is.
Having read about them, I then got into their 8 song EP; an album is due this year, and upon hearing the singer, Josh Kiszka, the first thought I had was,

What would Robert Plant think?

To say the kid sounds like Plant is like noting an orange is orange; it's eerie to say the least. That the band sound very much like early Zeppelin is, of course, its selling point because anyone who hears these guys for the first time will wonder out loud if this is a long lost Zep album.
It's not.
Now, if you step back and just listen to it, it's a fun EP, lots of energy, the songs are fun, the mix or variety of songs is good-young bands sometimes have the habit of regurgitating the same song over and over, and the musicianship is good and appropriate for the genre of rock their investing in. The guitarist, Jake Kiszka, twin of Josh, admits he has been studying Jimmy Page, though he hasn't reached the depth of Page's understanding of the blues and the traditional English sounds that Page grew up with. The production certainly mimics the sound of the early Zeppelin album, which I don't think is necessarily a bad thing if that's what you're shooting for. Sam Kiszka is the John Paul Jones of the group playing bass and keys, but the EP doesn't shine too bright a light on whether Sam is quite in Jones' league, but then again he's only 18; there's plenty of time for that. Danny Wagner is the drummer who smartly does not try to prove he's John Bonham, a path only fools tend to tread.
Would I recommend a listen? Absolutely. Like I said, it's a a lot of fun.
The bigger question is where they intend, or where their management intend to take them. Sounding like Led Zeppelin is fun in small chunks, but as a career path it's a dead end, not least because Jimmy Page is a jealous guardian of all things Zeppelin and would not be amused by any real attempts to ride his coattails. So we'll see.
You can find them at gretavanfleet.com.

This week's song is as you might expect from the recently released album, Life Without Chickens.

Leftside,Rightside is a Jazz influenced song about image, about how we long to see ourself, our relationships in the context of the society we live in. Look at us versus them; see how we are different, special; how we stand out against all the millions of others crowding the street. It was my critique of all the commercials meant to lead us to one look or another and the attitudes that go with a particular look. The production is simple, guitar, bass, drums, and voice.
You can listen to it at www.mrprimitivemusic.com.