Fort Wayne’s Horizon Arcs seem to be tapping into the alternative 90s on their debut record, Anybody Listening. Within the tracks on this CD is a musical smorgasbord of alternative rock’s past, present and what’s to come. Listening to the 12 tracks, I’m taken back to mid 90s, driving around in my little Nissan pickup with Fort Wayne’s 96.3 blasting through my Pioneer speakers. Working on tinnitus, I’d blast Foo Fighters, Stone Temple Pilots, Bush, Garbage and did I mention Foo Fighters? Anybody Listening captures the spirit of those 90s summer jams quite nicely. Horizon Arcs are Brody Eastep (lead vocals, guitar), Tim Tilbury (lead guitar, backing vocals), Aaron Steele (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Austin Snyder (drums, backing vocals.) The band has been around since 2014 and started out as a 90s cover band, playing songs from some of the bands that influenced them to play in the first place.

When you hit play on Anybody Listening, you will definitely hear those influences; Foo Fighters, Weezer, Bush, Nirvana and Sublime all sneak into the grooves and guitar crunch on tracks like “Saving Face,” “Damn Those Girls” and “The Power.” Eastep’s voice puts him right into the Dave Grohl zone. I could see Horizon Arcs doing a mean cover of “Monkey Wrench,” folks. But these Fort Wayne rockers twist and turn their own sound into the tracks, giving the songs equal parts nostalgia and something new. 

“Would It Kill You?” has a modern feel to it with some great vocal harmonies thrown in, while “Bad Radio” floats along nicely with chiming guitars, big vocals harmonies and fist-pumping fervor. “Vagabond” even works in some reggae/ska vibes, showing off some serious Sublime love.

The guys recorded Anybody Listening at Digitracks Studio in Fort Wayne, and it shows. These songs sound sonically rich and tight. Every snare hit snaps and every guitar note chimes, giving these tracks more urgency and presence.

Horizon Arcs’ Anybody Listening will resonate with anyone that grew up in the post-grunge world of the 90s – a time when it was okay to show your influences proudly while still retaining a sense of music individuality. Where metal, blues, alternative and reggae songs could sit side by side on the same album and no one thought anything of it. If this is you, Horizon Arcs have got you covered.