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7:45 · 1,132 words of transcript · watch on YouTube
- The resemblance is not only vocal. The video points to near-identical singing, the same model of drum kit John Bonham used, and comparable riffs.
▶ 00:00:01
- The band are three Kiszka brothers plus a drummer, from a small town in Michigan, raised on a limited record collection their blues-rock-obsessed father kept.
▶ 00:01:12
- The frontman role was discovered by accident, when Josh let out a howl trying to be heard over the instruments and his brothers realised what his register could do.
▶ 00:01:36
- The guitarist had studied Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton and Pete Townshend growing up, so the influences were already in place before any comparison was made.
▶ 00:01:57
- Their demos reached Jason Flom, the executive behind signings from Twisted Sister to Lorde, who signed them to Republic on the spot.
▶ 00:02:34
- The scale of the early rise is the detail that lands: the youngest members skipped their prom to go out on a completely sold-out North American tour.
▶ 00:02:52
- The accusation is a recurring genre event. Rush were called the Canadian Led Zeppelin in 1974, Billy Squier drew the comparison in 1981, and Jimmy Page himself criticised Kingdom Come in 1988.
▶ 00:03:38
- Robert Plant has given the singer his approval, and the video argues the voice is natural rather than imitated, closer to Geddy Lee at moments.
▶ 00:04:41
- The fairness argument cuts both ways, since Led Zeppelin took lyrics and figures from earlier blues artists and gave them their own twist without always crediting them.
▶ 00:05:17
- The conclusion is about timing rather than talent: a band under 22 still wearing their influences openly, filling a gap for a generation that cannot see the original live.
▶ 00:06:40