Archives For Album Reviews

Stepping Out from Behind the ‘Fourth Wall’

LarryKloess —  April 3, 2012 — Leave a comment

Part of the beauty of any play is the ability for the actors to make the audience believe that they are all on in a little secret. We’ve all been there, perhaps not in a play but a movie, where we are keenly aware of some particularly important piece of information that a character is unaware of. That secret draws us in, makes us feel needed, perhaps even necessary to the development of the plot. In so doing, the actors are able to break down that divide that separates the performers from the spectators, the “fourth wall” as eighteenth-century philosopher Denis Diderot coined it. Speaking directly or acknowledging the audience, therefore, was and has been known as “breaking the fourth wall” in an attempt to connect directly to the audience. With that in mind, The Vespers‘ sophomore release “The Fourth Wall” could not be more aptly named, as it is a record that speaks directly to the audience, making each individual member feel that each note, each lyric and composition is meant specifically for them. It is an album that draws the listener in to the point that they might think the band is in the next room playing for an audience of one.

That feat isn’t really possible without the seamless cohesion of the four members of The Vespers, sisters Callie and Phoebe Cryar and brothers Bruno and Taylor Jones. They create a sound and a richness to their music that belies their young ages (all under 23 currently) and the fact that they have been together as a foursome for only a few years. And perhaps one of the strongest qualities is their effortless ability to blend genres, creating a sound that is uniquely their own. Sure it’s part bluegrass (“Instrument For You”), part folk, rock (“Got No Friends” and the perfectly covered Son House song “Grinnin In Your Face”), pop (“Flower, Flower” and “Jolly Robber”) and sometimes even cajun-infused gospel on the slow-burning “Lawdy”, but each song stands as purely Vespers. In a way, they keep you guessing, just like any good play or narrative, forcing the audience to try to anticipate the next plot twist, looking for nuances that might offer some sign of what’s to come. For The Vespers, “what’s to come” is a whole heck of a lot of buzz, as they seem poised to be the next band that everyone is talking about.

“The Fourth Wall” is a truly ambitious album from a band that is just getting started, and it does a terrific job of capturing their infectious toe-tapping, foot-stomping live sound that is able to put a wide grin on the face of even the most cynical among us. To watch them perform live, you get the sense of the immense joy that the four of them get when they perform in front of an audience, and soon that joy is able to overtake you as well. Beyond that, they happen to be some of the most genuine people you will ever meet, never taking for granted the chance they have to do what they love and share that with everyone around them.

I had the distinct pleasure of hosting The Vespers for a Cause A Scene House Show in mid-March and it left most in attendance slack-jawed in amazement and fully believing that we all were witnessing a band on the cusp of greatness. You could sense their longing to connect with each person in the room, not for selfish ambition, but because they possess stories that bring us all together. That night I was mostly gushing their praises, mentioning more than once that they will “sell out the Ryman one day.” It’s a lofty statement that they all handle with that awe-shucks good-natured humility, hoping to achieve that level of success that every artist esteems towards but at the same time keeping themselves grounded in the reality of the moment. At the moment they are a band with loads of potential and an album worthy of “album of the year” consideration as “The Fourth Wall” is consistently great from start to finish.

The Vespers will be making a few live appearances this week in Nashville to kick off their new release and an upcoming tour throughout the Southeast, two of which are FREE. If you want in on the secret about Nashville’s next great band, you might want to be at one of them. Tonight, they celebrate their release at Trevecca Nazarene University in East Nashville with a free show starting at 8:00pm. Wednesday night they headline Music City Roots at the Loveless Barn, culminating with a live in-store performance Thursday evening at Grimey’s (6:00pm). I plan on being at all three, and if there were any more shows this week where The Vespers were playing, I would put my money on being there too. Hope to see you all there.

In Album Reviews, Causing A Scene, House Shows ,
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keep it alive, keep it moving on

LarryKloess —  March 29, 2012 — Leave a comment

The last few weeks have been super busy, as you may have noticed from the complete dearth of posts over the month of March. Between hosting house shows, setting up a dozen more for the coming months, starting a new job and doing another on the side, the juggling and switching of hats left Cause A Scene on the back burner for a while. An album that has been by my side guiding me along through the ebbs and flows of life, however, has been Deep Sea Diver‘s “History Speaks”. I am constantly moving on from one album to the next, but my favorite-Seattle-band-of-the-moment has grabbed a hold of me and refused to let go.

Fronting the band is a name you might not be familiar with but who has played alongside some of the biggest names in indie music: Jessica Dobson. Throughout the years she’s played with Conor Oberst, The Shins, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Beck (need I say more?) and you can catch just a little bit of their influences throughout the album, but Deep Sea Diver and this album are far from copycats. This is an album that stands completely on its own and separates itself from the crowd, mostly because of the sheer magnetism of Dobson’s voice that is an instrument all its own.

Just like my life has been lately, there is quite a bit going on throughout the course of the album’s nine tracks, but it’s Dobson’s voice that carries each track along and is able to cut through all the background noise like a knife through a perfectly-cooked filet. As another blog put it, Dobson is a “mega-talented, guitar shredding, key pounding badass chick.”

She is all those things and more and through touring with several hugely influential artists, you get a sense of true professionalism on this album. It doesn’t really feel like a debut at all. It feels like a masterpiece that has been incubating for years, only to reach its prime value now that it’s been released.

Whether it’s on ballads like “Tracks of the Green Line” and “The Watchmen” or hard-charging punch-to-the-gut songs like “Ships” or “You Go Running”, Dobson and her backing band consisting of her husband Peter Mansen and John Raines pull off a sound that feels completely effortless. Each song has somewhat of a menacing, almost haunting feel to it, but at the same time pulls of a surreal beauty that brings light and textures to each composition. For years, Dobson has been in the background of great bands, waiting her turn, keeping her dream alive, keeping it moving along (to paraphrase and recontextualize her song “Keep It Moving”), and with this release, I think it is safe to say that Dobson and Deep Sea Diver has stepped out from the shadows and is poised to be a breakthrough band in 2012.

“History Speaks” is available on the band’s Bandcamp page as a digital download for only $10. It will be the best Hamilton you spend for a while.

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A black wave is comin’/A black wave will fall

LarryKloess —  March 6, 2012 — 3 Comments

It is always a bit intimidating to be asked to write on a favorite artist, to try to bring to light to brilliance of an artist who seems to escape definition, who balances on the edge of heartbreak and hope so precariously, who is able to pen songs that seem to sprout legs and create a life all their own. But when asked to write on the criminally underrated Doug Burr, I had to hide my gleeful enthusiasm to bring such an unique talent to light.

The more I listen to Doug Burr, the more everything else around his music seems to fade to black. His songs give the sense of being tethered to this world, of having something substantial tying you down to the world spinning madly around you, of somehow bringing peace in a moment where the storm is brewing right outside your window. Simply put, his music is such that it demands your attention. It requires you to switch the shuffle button to the off position and be completely immersed in the narratives that his songs bring to life so eloquently.

I have thought a lot about the dichotomy of hope and despair and of joy and sorrow lately, in many ways spurred on by Damien Jurado’s heartbreakingly gorgeous Maraqopa, and in most ways influenced by my own personal quest to more fully understand my relationship to the world. Burr’s music straddles that line as well, allowing just enough darkness to creep in before the light answers back, offering a glimmer of hope in the midst of the unknown. I can’t help but shake the feeling that Burr isn’t just concerned about telling the stories in his songs, but that he’s also asking the listener to start asking themselves the key questions that help make sense of their own stories. Just try listening to his Trembling Lips and Pale Fingertips 7″ (released today on vinyl and as a 4-song download card via Velvet Blue Music/Spune), and not be affected. Both of these songs have the capacity to chill you to your core, but provide just enough warmth to keep you coming back for more.

The first track, an alternate version of “A Black Wave is Comin'”, the lead track from his critically-acclaimed 2010 release O Ye Devastator, sounds like a song Burr would sing if he was told he only had one song left to sing again. It is immediate, and it feels like Burr himself is sitting in the same room with you from the first few notes of the piano. The “black wave” that is comin’ in the song nearly swallows the listener whole with just Burr’s voice and the piano to provide comfort. Throughout it all, his voice disguises the bleakness of the lyrics with a reassuring, even optimistic, tone. By the time the guitar enters in halfway through the song, you’re left with the feeling that come what way, it will all turn out all right in the end. The black wave may be coming, but we will not be overcome as somewhat alluded to in his last repeated refrain of “I can’t sing, but I hear a little hymn“. Everything about this version of the song feels intimate, like Burr is telling the listener, “come in close, I am about to bear my soul to you.” It is gorgeous, and it gets better with each repeated listen.

The B-side of the 7″, “Chief of Police in Chicago”, resonates in much the same way as the first, with the piano being much more prevalent in the alternate version than the original, and its sparseness pushes Burr’s voice and lyrics to the forefront. It tells the story of a police officer in Chicago, speaking apparently to the mother of a young murderer. The instrumentation on this version balances out the dark, bleak future that is pervasive throughout the lyrics (“Oh I have seen the thing you cannot see/And my team and I are just a little shaken/We’ve discovered  the gene“). The listener has to use his or her own imagination to figure out exactly what has left the team distraught about the future, but you get the sense that the chief of police is not shying away from combatting the impending darkness.

Everything about the “Trembling Lips and Pale Fingertips 7″” is worth listening to over and over again, and these new, stripped-down versions, for me, are full of wide-eyed wonder and hope despite their gloom. I highly recommend buying or downloading the 7″, and for anyone who is just hearing about Doug Burr for the first time, I would encourage you to buy the rest of Burr’s music immediately. The purchase will be worth every penny.

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all i want is to be what you cannot live without

LarryKloess —  February 14, 2012 — Leave a comment

We all have those songs that get stuck in our heads that we just cannot seem to release ourselves from the stranglehold of. In the same respect, we tend to have songs that get thrown into a category known simply as our “guilty pleasures”. Just in time for St. Valentine’s Day is a song that fits both criteria by the magnificent Jenny Owen Youngs with the song “Your Apartment” off her recently released An Unwavering Band of Light.

So why is this song worthy of being put into your mixtape for your significant other? First, because it is about the catchiest song to come out this year so far. And secondly, because it nearly perfectly encapsulates the feelings we all have when we are finding the delicate balance in a relationship where we aren’t sure exactly how the other person feels about us and we know full well of the feelings we have toward them. I mean, with the lyrics “why is it so hard to stay in love?/I just want to be good enough for you” it’s easy to find ourselves in that exact situation, left with the feeling that somehow this other person is going to complete us. And how about this doozy of an opening verse:

Take me back to your apartment so I’ll see if I’m correct 
About where you keep your heart, love, cause I’m starting to suspect 
That it’s chained up in your basement inside an oaken chest 
That’s padlocked up to heaven to keep out what comes next

There is such a pleading in Youngs’ lyrics that the listener is left desiring the same thing she is if they don’t already have that relationship in their life. It’s an aching, really, putting your heart on the line just hoping the other person responds in kind. On this Valentine’s Day, I hope each of you finds that love to be of the requited variety. It’s a special day for many and a nauseating one for others, but all in all it’s an excellent reminder to love the people in our lives deeply. “Your Apartment” is no exception as it celebrates that yearning for another so very eloquently.

Jenny Owen Youngs plays in Nashville at The Rutledge on Monday, March 12. If you want to see a woman put on one heck of a rock show, I recommend being there with bells on.

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All In The ‘Family’

LarryKloess —  February 6, 2012 — Leave a comment

Much is made these days of the ‘immediacy’ of an artist. Perhaps it’s the raw power of their voice. Maybe it’s the way their lyrics make you feel like you’re peering into their soul. Sometimes it’s the interplay between the various instruments that take repeat listens to unravel each nook and cranny of their sound. Rare is the artist who is able to bring all of these variables together and snatch your attention away from whatever you were working on at the moment.

Seattle, Washington’s Noah Gundersen is just that artist. His music surprises with each track on his most recent release, the ‘Family’ EP, moving seamlessly between a visceral earnestness as evidenced in the hard-charging “Fire” to an open letter to “the ones we love” on the ballad “Garden”. Where Gundersen really stands out is on the angst-ridden opening track of “David”, where he seems to plead for something more with the lyrics “I wanna hunt like David/I wanna kill me a giant man/I wanna slay my demons/But I’ve got lots of them, I’ve got lots of them.” The hauntingly beautiful track moves along at a locomotive’s pace, forcing the listener to find their inner David to go and slay the Goliaths of the world.

As you might imagine, Biblical imagery abound throughout the seven tracks of the EP. Gundersen takes you on a journey that reaches a fitting conclusion along the way that “heaven is where we make it.” And with sister Abby in tow throughout the album on violin and providing vocal harmonies, Noah’s description of the music being about how family “lives with us, for better or worse” seems to err on the side of this pairing being very much for the better.

Noah and Abby will be joining the fantastic William Fitzsimmons on the Southeast and Southwest legs of his tour, making a stop in Nashville’s very own 3rd and Lindsley on Tuesday, February 28. I’ll be there, and I highly recommend you attend as well. In the meantime check out the lead track, “David” below.

In Album Reviews, Causing A Scene
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