On April 2 local band Jackson Road released its self-titled debut album.

The band hails from right here in Sacramento. It is made up of Nate Weldon (vocals, rhythm guitar), Ted Weldon (lead guitar), Christian Peters (drums), and Nathan Gonzales (bass). It’s a fairly simple setup but it works well enough.

There is a very professional feeling to this music. This CD sounds like it was recorded professionally in a nice record label’s studio. For most of the songs on this record you’ll want the volume up when you play it, just like it says on the actual CD itself, “Best when played at loud volumes.”

Surely that is a joke encouraging fans to enjoy the music, but it is true. The quality is very good here. By sound alone this could easily be a nationally recognized band that has been around for several years. There are other things still holding them back, but more on that in a minute.

The band’s overall sound is a semi-smooth alternative rock vibe. They have a lot of evenly paced songs that are easy to get into. It’s not hard to start swaying when listening to something like “Drive to the Sun.” The even and somewhat soft tone is good for mainstream rock, but it is also not very exciting. I definitely feel like there is a lot of exploring this band can do to really flesh out their sound.

For some reason I want to compare this band to Maroon 5, but they don’t really sound like that. They evoke the same feeling as some of the songs off of Maroon 5’s “Songs About Jane” but the vocals from Nate Weldon are deeper than those of Maroon 5’s Adam Levine.

Jackson Road also sounds a bit like Lenny Kravitz musically but not vocally. The heavy riffing on “Speakeasy” is reminiscent of Kravitz’s “Fly Away” and “American Woman.”

But on other songs like “Chemical Woman” they have a subdued tone that is more appropriate for something like sitting with a beer in the backyard.

The band has some good songs worth listening too but there are several issues here.

One of the biggest problems with this album is that it is very short. There are just ten tracks and two of them are under 2 minutes long. If a band is trying to get bigger it doesn’t help to just have ten songs that clock in at just over a half hour. Most legitimate rock albums have 12 or 13 songs at least and end up being 40 or 50 minutes.

Another problem is inconsistency between songs. Most of the songs sound like they came from the same group, but there are a couple songs like “Song of the Sierras” and “One Hundred Years” that sound completely off from the vibe of the rest of the record.

Those two songs sound more like something “The Fray” would make. They do not fit with the other more party-like songs.

When I say party-like I picture a bar with a bunch of thirty-somethings all having a nice time. This is not a college party album. The album feels like it fits with older more mature people. Though that isn’t to say college students aren’t always mature. It just says the subdued tone will be easier on the ears of those who have ten years on someone who would do a keg stand.

Even if you love to support local music, this record is not a buy, it is a partial download. If you like subdued alternative rock, you should pick up “Speakeasy” for sure. Then if you like that song, take a sample listen of the rest and choose from those. My recommendations are “Hippi Chick” and “Drive to the Sun.”

Luke Soin can be reached at [email protected]