Released late last year, Spanish outfit Positiva’s sophomore outing for Odio Sonoro, the cleverly-titled Prodigal Songs, is classic riff rock through and through. It’s the kind of record you put on while you’re driving and all of a sudden you instantly know everyone else on the road is a sucker because, whatever they’re listening to, there’s no way it’s possibly as cool as the guitar lick you just heard. It’s the kind of record that turns you into “dude rocking out in his car,” and man, if everyone else had better taste in music, they’d all be rocking out too, so you go ahead and groove as you will. Positiva don’t seem to mind. If they did, they probably wouldn’t rock so damn much.

For the most part, Prodigal Songs stays well within the realm of revivalist ‘70s-style guitar-led rock. Guitarist/vocalist Miguel Moral is a former member of Bilbao crushers Rhino, though if anyone comes into Positiva expecting that same kind of metal destruction, they’re going to be in for a big surprise. The vibes are immediately, well, positive, with opening cuts “Brother Eagle” and “Undying Shore” losing none of their rock edge for the good times they incite. When the band delves into Grand Funkery, they earn a comparison to Blood of the Sun or Firebird, but the double guitars of Moral and guitarist/vocalist Julio Ruiz set them apart from their American and British sonic compatriots. Still, there’s a good amount of rock and roll shuffling going on through “Waiting in Vain,” “Catch the Fire,” and “Groupiedom,” and that’s got to come from somewhere.

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