Music Review: Greta Van Fleet soars on new album, "Starcatcher"

Rockers Greta Van Fleet third studio album “Starcatcher,” is out Friday, July 21, and the band’s natural affinity to the hard rock sounds of the ’70s is on full display

Music Review - Greta Van Fleet

Greta Van Fleet, “Starcatcher” (Lava/Republic Records)

“Starcatcher” is the third studio from Greta Van Fleet, and the latest confirmation that the band’s love affair with the bombast of ’70s-era rock has not grown stagnant.

We’ve come to know Greta Van Fleet from their early and obvious Led Zeppelin comparisons to the Grammy-winning ground they now lay claim to. We now accept this is not merely a trick of mimicry. They’ve grown.

“Starcatcher” offers lofty, searing songs right out of the gate. “Fate of the Faithful” is in immediate overdrive, and “Waited All Your Life” is full of powerful fits and starts, led by Josh Kiszka's soaring vocals. “You’ve come from so far away! / And do you intend to stay? / Swim to shore / If this is what you’re looking for,” Kiszka belts out, his voice the additional instrument that moves the needle for the band's sound.

His brother, bassist Sam Kiszka, said in a press release that the album represents “going back to our roots while moving forward at the same time.” They wanted something raw around the edges and found it. The growling guitar work blends nicely with the fantastical themes and lyrics.

It’s one thing to hear a musician’s work, their offering. It’s quite another to experience a band’s collective vision — in GVF’s case, that means building a sonic universe rooted in fantasy. The band continues to invite us to absorb the evolution of that vision.