In my mind, one of the hardest things to do in music is to follow up a fantastic album and not disappoint. On 2024's Little Miss Lost, the long-running New York/New Jersey—based band The Cynz absolutely wowed me. This was a proper rock band playing splendidly crafted pop songs and doing it with honesty and heart. I was reminded of a whole bunch of later '80s/early '90s bands that were cool enough to be college radio darlings but accessible enough to get played on album rock radio formats. The album set an extremely high bar for the follow-up to clear. But sure enough, the new album Confess finds The Cynz knocking another one out of the park. This is the band's sixth album and second on JEM Records. Once again, the musical and songwriting partnership between Cyndi Dawson and Henry Seiz has produced a stellar set of tunes that will go over well with just about any fan of melody-driven rock 'n' roll that's packed with lyrical substance.
Produced by the ever-dependable Kurt Reil, Confess finds The Cynz confronting (in their own words) "trauma and losses." That's some pretty heavy stuff, but that's certainly where this band thrives — harnessing darker, deeply personal subject matter into relatable and ultimately empowering songs. While the title of the record is certainly a play on the band name, it's also an accurate description of the songs themselves. The band's mix of crunching '80s guitars and '60s-inspired psych-tinged jangle could not be any more in Reil's lane, and he ably captures the band's sound in all its multifaceted glory. Confess's track listing includes a couple of fantastic previously released singles ("Woman Child' and "Heartbreak Time") along with a splendidly rocking cover of Tom Petty's "You Wreck Me." These songs blend seamlessly with the new material, which is marvelous in its own right. "My Father's Gun" marries the band's roots in punk rock with a modern and thunderous rock 'n' roll edge. With its soaring hooks and impassioned vocals, "Ghost Rider" sounds like it could have been a staple of later '80s rock radio. "Light the Sky" is the kind of finely crafted classic rock that many people assume doesn't exist anymore. On the more melodic side, "Impossible Ending" and "Don't Give Up" are elegantly bittersweet pop gems — the work of a confident songwriting duo at the top of its game.
The Cynz are a fine example of a rock 'n' roll band aging like fine wine. Confess demonstrates that maturity and musical growth don't have to equate with losing your edge or going soft. If not a "power pop" record per se, this album does represent what powerful pop music ought to be. It brings together elements of rock, pop, and punk in a way that's reminiscent of the past yet also very "now." From start to finish, this album delivers the goods. Confession is certainly good for the soul, and it's also fertile ground for songwriting inspiration!
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