The vivid specter of Notre Dame Cathedral ablaze fills the cover of The Splitz’s Invicta. That dramatic image and gravity of its title (“Invincible” in Latin) signal a heavy, portentous ride from the Milwaukee studio act led by John Jaco.
Gone from the band’s previous long-player, 2018’s Mortality Curve, are most any trace of the giddy power pop with which they balanced the grander pretentions of progressive rock. Making up for that absence is a full-on move toward the kind of prog pop once proffered by Styx and Kansas and English new wave/art rock cross-breeders The Fixx. That high gloss, melodically ambitious approach works to enhance Jaco’s arch, Dennis DeYoung-like vocals.
Invicta’s song cycle he builds around the impermanence of humanity amid history’s inexorable march and the darker motives and emotions in our hearts. Jaco’s penchant for circuitous hooks and peculiar lyrical rhymes well complete a package that few others might have the chutzpah to make in 2020. For listeners hankering for a certain style that was once ubiquitous over airwaves and in arenas, The Splitz offer an enthusiastic, respectful continuation of that oft forgotten legacy.
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