Despite what some may think these days, musicians don’t simply write a super-hit on their first album and launch into international success. Only in rare cases, say, the wealthy born in West Reading, Pennsylvania have some help to propel an artificial and inexplicable rise to being idolized by those who can’t let go of high school. For most, it takes years of playing small venues and experimenting. For Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s The Beautiful Mistakes, it has taken a great deal of leg work.

The brainchild of Jimmy Marino (who has been making music for nearly three decades) now including Cory Derringer (bass), Ben Skinner (drums), and Rick Manassa (keys), go by the moniker The Beautiful Mistakes and have released their six-track EP Love’s Never Wasted. The EP is half of the 2022 album Burn It Down, yet feels as though these six should have stood alone all along. From the attention-grabbing drums leading into opener “Find My Freedom” to the rounding “Road to Eden,” The Beautiful Mistakes’ EP feels purposefully raw and captivatingly talented. The guitar work alone is sure to turn heads. The record begins to truly take shape by the second track, “Be Here With You,” where the band comes together, vocally and instrumentally, with the right chemistry to show just how they works so well. The entire EP feels like it builds to “Burn it Down” and “Slow Train” where The Beautiful Mistakes shed hesitation and lean into what, simply, feels right; especially with Maevon Gumble’s vocals. It isn’t a peak, but a gradual ascent.

Rooted in Blues, but unavoidably rock at heart, The Beautiful Mistakes frame their sound on their own terms. The band is instrument-forward, rightfully so, as there are some serious chops stretching rhythm, chord, and solos throughout. Collectively, it is a style of rock that is all too uncommon these days. It’s the roots American rock style that was once around every corner, inspiring many a musician, but today is hard to find. It is the quasi-experimentation in The Beautiful Mistakes that lends itself to an impassioned sense of rock. Their ethos opens The Beautiful Mistakes to push a sound without remaining confined to a singular, repetitive style. While the originality isn’t mainstream, it is certainly worth checking out.