HEAR THIS: Steve Vibes

December 17. 2012 | By Patryk Mrozek

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Stephen Griesgraber’s vibes point toward an evening car ride on the Pacific Coast Highway in the year 1986, but lumping him in with the tail-end of the ’80s rival (or chillwave) would be plain missing the point. On his debut album, self-released on Bandcamp earlier this year, Steve Vibes seems focused entirely on songsmanship. Propelled by ever-developing yet incessantly catchy guitar interplays and saxophone solos (courtesy of Derek Muno), his instrumentals are the pure embodiment of the compositional aspect of music. The clean sound of late-eighties muzak accentuates this impression, letting the songwriting come to the forefront at all times. These are not jams, make no mistake: every single riff in Steve’s songbook could as well serve as a hook for major pop hit. And when Griesgraber realizes that, we might witness the birth of the next Max Martin.

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