More than three decades in the making, Heal, the debut record from A Picture Made, though ridiculously long overdue, manages to have been worth the wait.
The Midwest kids (though long past being kids) came together in the 1980s and managed to open for some of the best college rock bands at the time, from The Call and The Connells to The Replacements. It’s not clear if it was a case of severe procrastination or life getting in the way, but it took 35 years for Heal to come about (Guns N Roses could have made Chinese Democracy three times over in that time frame). But it’s hard to argue with the results, a baker’s dozen of straight ahead rock songs that manage to take inspiration from some of the underground greats from the ‘80s and ‘90s without coming off like a glorified cover band. The band slips seamlessly from a laid back mellow jam like “Come To Me” to loud power chords on a song like “Locomo Mexico.”
It may have taken awhile, but A Picture Made have turned in a pretty compelling reason for listeners to come back for more.
A Picture Made – Heal/Gooodspeeed Records/13 tracks/2019 / Instagram / Domain /