It takes a lot to impress me musically. Simple Like You succeeded with flying colors with their latest release, A Place For Me. The band sounds a lot like Collective Soul but has a more youthful, raw, and, pardon the pun, simple approach to their music.

The album opens with "Raise Up", and, believe me, this song is fitting. The guitars are clever and loud and the drums sound great. Jason Wyner's vocals are just a tad strained, but, while this is a negative attribute to a lot of albums, it sounds real nice here. "Raise Up" is a bona fide head-banger, and, personally, I miss songs like these. Another menacing tune on the album is "DMF".

While the band has definite talent at muffler-dragging melodies, their real talent lies with more mellow tunes. I found "Marigold" to be a very pleasant and even sweet song. The opening is almost haunting and Anna Gore's bass flows perfectly with Steve Gore's percussion. This design element is found throughout the album but stands prominently in this particular song. Another more relaxed song, the one I am most fond of, "The End", opens with a very healthy acoustic guitar and the song as a whole sounds very smart, and observant.

The guitars throughout this album are extremely powerful. I know I've been extolling upon this a lot but they seem integral. Of course Clay Baucom and Wyner could not stand on their own, but they would certainly stand out. As I said before, I miss music like this: no-frills, honest-to-God rock and roll. There's not much left.