Zachary Campos – “Traffic”
Zachary Campos – “Traffic” – Single Review
Ohhh Zachary…what are we to do with you my friend?
Dude’s like one of those all-in-one vitamins in musical form. You get everything you theoretically need, and not an ounce more. It’s not like you’ll ever read the contents of the bottle and find out that they gave you a hit of zinc for free – you get the exact contents of what they promise and they’re happy to call it a day. With Zach’s music as of late, he’s got me feeling like he’s potentially settling a little bit as opposed to seeking out a way to challenging himself to do the most he can with his material. We just checked out a track called “Scorching” earlier this week, and much the same as “Traffic” here, it ain’t bad – but he’s also revealing a whole lot of space & potential for his music to level-up at the same time.
I’ll give him a quick example of what I’m talking about so that he’ll get precisely what I mean. There’s a description that came along with “Traffic” in my inbox…and right there in the song info, is more detail in his words than you’ll find in the lyrics of the song. You see what I’m saying brother-man? Man I would love to see some of that incredible effort he puts into promoting/describing his tunes go into his actual lyrical content…it would make an enormous difference. It would probably create a bit of a domino effect in the sense that, if he were to use more words, details, and such, he’d likely also have to expand his tracks to being longer than they typically are, which seems to be usually somewhere between one and two minutes tops. Do I think that’d be a bad thing? Of course not. Not for an artist that has got something to say, which I genuinely believe that Campos IS…but I do think he’s gotta break that fourth wall somehow & find the best way to go about it. Right now as it stands, “Traffic” is nearly as mundane as being IN it, you feel me? “Traffic makes me lose my mind. Other drivers not so kind. They’re in a rush to get home…” – I’m not 100% sure what we’re doing here Zachary my man. You’ve got more in the tank than you’re letting us all in on! Your personality is always on-point…and to be completely fair, I’ve found a reason to return to your tunes several times for all kinds of different reasons from the music to the style/sound you’re rockin’ the m-i-c with. But bro – you’ve got to use those words of yours man!
At least to a degree I’d say. Look – again, to be fair to Zachary, “Traffic” is written with more of a Punk-minded attitude and approach to it. Have we heard deadpan Punk songs before? Of course. You can just barely feel Zachary’s pulse in this song, enough to know he’s super unimpressed with being caught in “Traffic.” There’s risk in that kind of accuracy when it comes to a theme…the fact that he sure as hell don’t sound too impressed to be bumper to bumper with someone else…I mean…what’s the selling feature here? Does that sound like a jam you wanna bump time and time again? Maybe when you’re in “Traffic” yourself…I can potentially see that coming in handy…maybe this becomes your anthem to get through it and helps you not kill the person trying the merge piss-poorly in front of you. Okay – cool. But…what about all those moments where you’re not stuck in traffic? As in, hopefully the majority of the rest of your whole damn life? Are you finding yourself that eager to be listening to a song about being stuck in “Traffic” during the time where you’re not? You see what I’m saying Zachary? There’s risk being taken here my guy. I ain’t gonna be the dude to just say you should go out and write happy songs for happy people, but at the same time it’s easy to understand what folks are likely to reach for. Tons of artists and bands out there will write about themes and topics that might not be the safest bet, but they go on to beat the odds by adding in the kind of details in the music/lyrics that’ll bring people back to listen again and again.
It’s never my intention to be discouraging. Challenging yes, discouraging no. Every step taken as an artist is important. Everyone has gotta start somewhere, and in the grand scheme of things, Campos is still waaaaaay on the early side of how far he’ll go with his career in the long run. I’m only expecting more out of him because that’s what he’s already shown us in the past with his previous tunes – more. What he’s got here on this single feels more like an interlude or an intro tune. A song like “Traffic” reaffirms he’s got the right skills it takes to put something together in a way that people will listen to it, now it’s all about building on that and making sure he’s giving them a reason to come back. That’s not always easy to accomplish on the inside of a minute…no joke, by the time you just feel like you’re cracking into “Traffic,” it’s already game over man. The music is in-line though…the performance works…he’s deadpanning it through “Traffic,” so we have to somewhat assume he knows this kind of feedback is coming based on that as well. Right now, he’s got something along the lines of like…what you’d find in between skits on The Kids In The Hall, or a track you’d find on a King Missile album. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve happily listened to both of those things in my lifetime and I’m sure that I’ll continue to as well every once and a while…but I guess that’s the question that Campos has to eventually answer. Does he want to be relegated to the archives of some asshole’s collection like mine? Or does he want to be at the forefront of playlists like yours? Ain’t no harm in taking tiny steps to accomplish a long-term goal in the end…Zachary Campos can definitely build with what he’s got, but the real key is to take the constructive criticism he’ll get, and put it into action. I’m not sure that’ll be in time for his next upcoming record, but with focus, dedication, and determination, I’m still completely confident that a character like this guy will be able to find a solid space of his own to carve out a career.
Find everything you need to stream and purchase “Traffic” online at this link here: https://songwhip.com/zacharycampos/traffic
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