A good heavy riff to not only start a song but an album is a great way to grab my attention, and ZOLI BAND's Santa Monica did just that with "Angel Wings". Heavy and slow, it seemed to lighten just enough in a vocal harmony laden chorus. That is a feature found throughout this CD. "A Separate Peace" has many different transitions, but beautifully executed, thanks in part to the excellent talent he recruited to record this record. The title track "Santa Monica" seemed a little too formulaic, very old school 80's as well as "Budapest My Love", but still performed to perfection, with soaring vocals, beautiful guitar and keyboards, and a rhythm section that seemed in lockstep while supporting the main melody. I got to admit, "Hold Me" might be cheesy on the surface, but the band is pulling off some amazing music to back up Zoli Teglas' almost limitless vocal ability.

Hats off to bassist Brett Rasmussen  for pulling out the fretless on "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out", having tried myself, that is not as easy as it sounds. Unfortunately, by the time "Dead Dog" comes around you start to wonder why so many ballad like songs. I want to hear more thundering drum fills from Mark Hine, by the way, great tone, one of the best drum mixes I've heard lately. With the exception of the last half of "Like a Lady" the rest of the album is, as my good friend Murderin' Murray would say, girlfriend friendly. That is rather disappointing after such a heavy opening. Kevin Kilkenny still shines with his guitar, with near perfect tones for whatever he's playing, but it's not quite enough to elevate this album above the formula so many bands followed throughout the ages. My final thoughts are this album is mixed to near perfection and the performances by everyone involved are worthy of such quality. Too bad the songs weren't equally as worthy.