Tag: monoblogue music

If you recall last week’s review, I mentioned Heather Powell did a remake of Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s Relax for “Fully Re-Covered.” It’s not featured on this set of ten original tunes, but her version of the ’80s hit would fit well into her newest album, which came out last month.

If you are looking for a performer who squarely inhabits the adult contemporary mode, you needn’t go much farther than Heather Powell. Her most recent release reflects well on her background as a theater major at the College of William and Mary. While that’s nothing particularly unusual, the fact she also was in ROTC and served overseas in the Army’s Medical Services Corp before becoming the commander of their inaugural theater company makes her more unique than most. (Thus, in the military her theater WAS the theater.)

Simply put, she’s at home on the stage, as this video of Awaken shows.

“Haze” is Heather’s second album, following a 2012 release “Believe It To Life.” Now as part of the True Groove family, she’s the beneficiary of their instrumental and production talent – so how did it translate on this effort?

From the opening notes of the upbeat first track, Unexpected, she sets an expectation that this will be an album with a touch of the romantic. In particular, Unexpected is a song which could cross over into a more mainstream rock format thanks to a nice bit of guitar work. While it’s only a 3 1/2 minute song, it seems quite a bit longer – in this case, that is a good thing. Wishing is another song which could be considered among the most radio-friendly.

As I noted above, having a stable of studio artists (and being in the New York market in general) means that almost any musical element is at a performer’s beck and call. True Groove uses several of these talents, and in the case of Heather’s album it’s nice to have the background vocals of Kevin Jenkins available for the wistful ballad Remember The Love, the horn section employed on Awaken, or the string section on the last song See Me.

However, I found the string section a little too cloying on Falling, which weakens the song somewhat. It also sounded to me that Heather’s vocals were just a little below par on Black And White Thinking, as it seemed to me she strained to reach the high notes.  Along with a somewhat forgettable song called Blue Light, they are the weakest efforts on the ten-song compilation. These aren’t bad, but they could be better.

Toward the end of the CD are two better songs: Distance, which lends a touch of jazz and has a nice slow fade, and the reminiscent Unstoppable, where Heather thinks back to her youth and wonders, “when did I lose my spark?” It’s a little strange because she doesn’t seem old, and certainly has the resume to make one believe she’s a ball of energy.

“A Haze Of Grays And Blue” exudes the type of vibe one would expect to feel on a romantic evening with a glass of wine and willing partner. Maybe it’s because that, for some reason, I could easily imagine Heather playing at our Autumn Wine Festival – I suppose that’s because it’s the type of music I could envision that crowd getting into.

While it’s by no means a perfect album, the nice thing about it is that you can listen for yourself and be the judge.

Once again, the stable of performers that make up the New York-based True Groove Records are featured on monoblogue music. This time, it’s a 13-song compilation of cover songs that comes out at the end of this month; however, the lead single Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick is already available.

The thirteen tracks selected run the gamut of nearly a half-century of popular music from a variety of artists and genres – it’s a set that includes songs from Nine Inch Nails (Hurt) and Glen Campbell (Wichita Lineman) as consecutive songs, for an extreme example. These songs are covered by a number of the artists in the True Groove family, which includes familiar names whose work I’ve reviewed such as Tomas Doncker, Lael Summer, and Marla Mase but others as well: Kevin Jenkins, Heather Powell, Charlie Funk, Touchy Feely, Samuel Claiborne, and James Chance are also featured artists.

While I was familiar with some of the tracks, I wanted to go back and hear some of them I wasn’t familiar with in order to help me review this release. So it was I listened to the aforementioned lead single Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick – originally done by the late Ian Dury and the Blockheads and reworked by Marla Mase. It’s quite the unusual song, but Mase does this fairly faithfully to the original as the song is almost spoken rather than sung. Hearing the original made me realize the song works well for Mase as opposed to others in the True Groove lineup. It’s more like an order to hit her with the rhythm stick rather than a request, but I still think it was an odd selection to introduce the release.

Probably the better choice as a lead single would have been the newest song, Wires. Originally done by The Neighbourhood a few years ago, Lael Summer adds a little bit of smoky soul to a song which already had a good urban feel.

In fact, the tendency on many of these songs is one of adding a different element to them – a good example is the leadoff song originally composed by Elvis Costello, (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding. That straight-ahead rock song gets a dose of blues from Tomas Doncker in his rendition. It also works well on both Heather Powell’s take of Relax, as she re-imagines Frankie Goes to Hollywood as a slow dance, and the similar treatment Touchy Feely gives to The Psychedelic Furs’ Love My Way.

Yet different elements and tempos aren’t always the answer. The “Jesus and Moses, Mohammed and Krishna” background chant utilized by Kevin Jenkins in his effort at Spirit In The Sky, the old familiar Norman Greenbaum tune, fell flat with me and did little to help a pedestrian remaking. Similarly, while Charlie Funk makes a slower run at the Tom Jones chestnut It’s Not Unusual, he doesn’t have the dynamic vocal Jones carries in his song.

And I couldn’t understand why Doncker and Josh David wanted to extend the opening of Why Me Black Brother Why when The Mighty Diamonds put together a fine message and reggae song in the first place. It came across as mere filler.

Some songs, though, stay rather true to the originals. Lael Summer added a previously-released rendition of Hall and Oates’ Do What You Want, Be What You Are from her debut album last year which maintains their style and tempo. And while he missed with redoing Spirit In The Sky, the version of Wichita Lineman Kevin Jenkins adds would do the middle-of-the-road styling of Glenn Campbell proud, with additional harmonies.

And there are those which fit right in with the True Groove vibe. such as James Chance evoking James Brown on the motivating I Don’t Want Nobody To Give Me Nothin’ or the closing song, We’re A Winner, made famous by Curtis Mayfield but shared in this case by Doncker, Jenkins, and Summer.

Lastly, though, I wanted to talk about a song which blew me away. Perhaps it’s my musical roots in heavier rock, but Samuel Claiborne’s rendition of Hurt (made famous by Nine Inch Nails and later by Johnny Cash) has a much more menacing feel in its guitar work. It may be one of the best songs I’ll hear this year.

Taken as a whole, the Fully Re-Covered compilation has more ups than downs, and that’s to be expected when so many influences and directions are involved. Once it comes out on March 31, it will be worth a listen.

As a single release, you would think that Liz Graham’s song Damaged would get a brief review, and it will.

But if you consider it a stepping stone on a long, winding path toward redemption of a musical career it hopefully makes for a more interesting review. And it will.

Liz Graham was once a up-and-coming name to be reckoned with in the musical world. In the mid 1990s she appeared at Lilith Fair, won several local awards in the New York area, and released an album that she says sold over 100,000 copies “with virtually no promotion behind it.” Had this all happened 15 years later, it would be considered a huge success but this was a time before the internet and social media helped define our culture. So with the turn of the millennium, Liz was more or less forgotten.

Yet for some reason this year of reviews has featured a number of performers who have been on the shelf for a long time, even some who released material recorded decades ago. In Liz’s case, though, Damaged is actually the second in a series of singles I’m presuming will be featured on a follow-up to her self-titled album she released last year. This single is actually scheduled for release on April 10, following another single called Charcoal On A Canvas she put out earlier this month. But the Damaged video is already out on YouTube so here’s your shot to listen for yourself.

Indeed, the song is firmly placed in the adult contemporary ranks she’s aiming herself toward. But after listening to some of her other songs on her ReverbNation site and home website, I’m convinced Damaged is just a little bit of a weaker track than the others – in particular, Charcoal On A Canvas and Climb On My Walls (from her first CD) are better songs. Musically it’s fine but I’m just not feeling the lyrical angst from Damaged.

One thing I can say about her prospects, though, is that she has a unique way of promoting herself, even promising online concerts streamed from her kitchen (“coming soon.”) Obviously she has her own way of doing things and that may have led to a self-imposed obscurity.

But as she tries to work her way back she will need a little bit stronger material than this single. To get to the level of success she had, you know she was capable of better so I look forward to seeing if her upcoming songs meet that expectation.

If you happen to have the money and a free evening – assuming you read this on the date I put it up – it’s possible to hop on a plane to SoCal and check out the release party for this 10-song compilation by California-based Echo Sparks, a group which describes itself as a “mashup of folk, rockabilly, old Mexico, blues and 1930s jazz.”

The group’s newest release is, at its heart, a relatively simple composition. The trio doesn’t rely on heavy instrumentation; for the most part the songs are done with two guitars and an old-fashioned double bass that creates a relatively unique bottom end with much more of an acoustic echo (almost a beatbox-style thump) which you wouldn’t get with an electric bass without resorting to lots of fancy effects. This video of the title track gives you an idea of how “Ghost Town Girl” essentially works – although there are drum parts added on the actual recording, they aren’t very complex.

What I noticed most about this album is the vocals. Echo Sparks is a band which relies heavily on harmonies to carry their songs. With the exception of the bluesy Torch Song, where the harmonies are held in check until the latter part of the song, the tracks work within the parameters of the interplay between their two vocalists, guitarists CC Kinnick and DA Valdez. Generally this works well, although I found it was a little bit weaker on Rolling 60s and End of the Line than some of the other songs, such as the knockout Mexican Moon, leadoff track Broken Arrow, and Small Change.

That’s not to say all the songs sound just the same, though. A little flavor is added to Shallow Water (the one song written by bassist Cindy Ballreich) with the inclusion of piano, and I found the guitar work on the final track I Think It’s You to be a highlight as well. The lyrics of Princess of Fresno made me smile – it’s one of many songs with California references, whether in place names or items associated with the state. In that respect, the band pays a great deal of homage to their roots.

I noted above that, at times, the band sounds a little uneven with its harmonies. But this also gave me the thought that it may best reflect how Echo Sparks would sound live. Certainly they don’t have thousands of dollars to spend on making sure everything sounds just so with nary a note or pitch out of place, but having that sterile studio sound may make one wonder what happened when you see the band live. With a steady schedule of shows around their SoCal base, I’m betting this album sounds quite a bit like they would sound live if they had a drummer for those shows.

All in all, “Ghost Town Girl” conveys the fact that Echo Sparks occupies a rather unique niche. Perhaps it won’t lead to overwhelming commercial success, but you almost have to think they may not mind so much if it means they can stay true to themselves. Don’t take my word for it, though: go ahead and listen for yourself. If you move quickly enough you can still catch that release party.

If life had gone according to plan, this review would have coincided with the February 14 release date of Arthur Fowler’s latest album. But it didn’t, so as I was being snowed in earlier this week I finally took an initial listen to the Tokyo-based and Milwaukee-born singer and songwriter whose style is described as “acid folk.”

Admittedly, his album’s been out over a year now, but like another CD I recently reviewed by Dave Plaehn, Fowler’s “What’s Keeping Me Going” has been a long time in the making as Fowler has a career outside music. As I said in reviewing Plaehn’s work, though, artistry delayed is not artistry denied and Fowler plays regularly around the Tokyo area with occasional gigs back in his home region in the States.

Yet rather than folk music, I detected more of a jazz influence on this release; in fact it’s one of the more variable collections I’ve heard in awhile. After all, how many artists these days place two full-length instrumentals on their playlists? Fowler takes the middle and final tracks of his 11-song release and puts up the well-played and improvisational jazzy instrumentals Twilight Breeze and On The Verge.

The album starts out, though, with a mellow acoustic title track which invokes a natural setting before breaking out the harmonica and harmonies on the most accessible track, Please Try. Its lyrical stylings should make this a live favorite, as should the next song called Love The Music. I was impressed with its simplicity and the idea of the enjoyment of playing all night is well-expressed in the song.

These three opening songs have already exhibited a good range of influences, but Fowler’s not done yet. He puts his stamp on the psychedelic Jimi Hendrix song Room Full Of Mirrors by adding accordion to the repertoire. Obviously Fowler fits the song to his own style, but the touch of accordion makes it a unique version. On the other hand, the version of Neil Young’s For The Turnstiles that comes later is a little more true to the original.

Yet the selection of these more or less forgotten covers (as opposed to the hits by both men) tells me that Fowler likes a good song regardless of the public perception and acceptance of it upon original release.

Once we get through the solid classical-style guitar-based ballad of HU and the aforementioned Twilight Breeze, you come to a track called The New York Song that almost sounds like a continuation of Twilight Breeze until it livens up and adds in the element of call-and-response. But I had to look in the first few seconds of The New York Song to make sure I didn’t inadvertently repeat the previous song.

Perhaps the best song on the album is one buried toward the back end. I enjoyed the more upbeat Here I Am, which led into the Neil Young cover. It also brings me to the unique and slow-developing penultimate song called Splash, which at times seemed to me like it belonged in a spaghetti western. There was just something about it that evoked that thought in me.

I generally close my reviews by encouraging readers to listen for themselves; after all, each one has different tastes and what I like may not tickle your fancy. In this case, though, I was given access to a private playlist – but you can listen to five of the tracks on Fowler’s public Soundcloud page. These hit a lot of the highlights so if you think the quintet is worthy you’ll probably like the whole enchilada.

Dan Greenwald describes his work as “the Talking Heads meets Frank Zappa.” I will be the first to admit I’m not much more than a casual fan of the former and really never got into the latter. Then when you add the hint of country you’ll find on this latest EP from Greenwald’s band of gypsies called The Workers you might think I would be turned off – but strangely enough, it works and I thought it was pretty good.

There are only three songs on the EP: first up is Death Race, a midtempo song with intriguing lyrics about the commute I’m sure many in his New York home face on a daily basis. As he laments, “Death race on the road today/Hope I see another day.”

The middle song, Boomerang, is more of a ballad but shows many of the same tendencies as the opening song. Lyrically, it’s an ode to freedom, even as one grows older and hopefully wiser. But the song I liked best was Big Time, which is more of a rock song. There are parts of it which are kind of strange, particularly the title bridge, but on the whole it’s the best of the trio.

Something I found quite intriguing upon looking into the recording and production of the album is the fact that it’s credited to seven different musicians with a varied repertoire (vocals, electric and acoustic rhythm, electric lead, and pedal steel guitars – that’s where the country influence I hear comes from – bass, drums, keys, and male and female backup vocals.) These seven musicians recorded in five different venues, so it’s a testament to the production work that “Totem” sounds as seamless as it does. It actually has an almost unbelievable backstory to how it all came together over the course of several months.

Not being familiar with the group’s earlier work (and cognizant that the roster of musicians has changed for each of Greenwald’s releases under The Workers name anyway), I can’t say whether this is an evolving sound or just a phase he’s going through. I suppose the “alternative” label he bills himself under is the best fit, and perhaps knowing a little of the story behind the music makes me appreciate his efforts a little more. You can be the judge as well and listen for yourself.

I sort of wish I had learned about this a little earlier because Dan was in the region over the summer, playing one of his three non-NYC shows as a solo performer in Wilmington (the other two were in North Carolina.) But hope springs eternal on his part – after all, he’s humble enough to be excited about being a top 20 ReverbNation artist in New York, which is probably more lucrative than being number one in Salisbury, Maryland.

Wow, I'm #23 on the NYC ReverbNation rock charts. Closing in on my record of #18. I never stay in the top 20 too long http://t.co/o9bxDlNKfm

— Daniel Greenwald (@DanielGreenwal1) January 13, 2015

So if you like something a little bit out of the ordinary and have about 10 minutes to fill, this may be the EP for you. It’s short, relatively sweet, and should hold your interest.

This forthcoming release may be one of the more unusual I’ve reviewed so far – not because it breaks any really unique ground, but it is one of the more varied albums I’ve heard in some time.

CommonUnion59 is essentially the San Farancisco-based duo of Steve McKenzie and Laura Malazig. Although they use the talents of drummer Kevin Hayes and bassist Jake Leckie on this ten-track collection, the bulk of the musicianship and all of the vocals come from this duo. Most of the songs have some element of harmony to them, but Malazig handles the lead on seven of the ten songs – the title song Heartbeat Serenade and Today are two of the exceptions where McKenzie is the lead. Both sing in harmony on It’s Alright, the opening song.

It’s Alright begins this second album from the duo, following the 2012 album “Magnolia Waltz” with a country-rock sound that could be the most radio-friendly one. They return to their folk roots on the next song, American Dream, but change direction once again for the haunting The River Song. There is a definite lack of predictability in these first few songs.

They return to a little familiar territory with From Where We Are, which echoes the opening track by pushing back into that harmonious country-rock genre, but then the tragic story of Little White House grabs the listener in a very simple manner.

Tracks six and seven of the ten-song set are the two where McKenzie sings lead, and I found Heartbeat Serenade evoked a psychedelic 1960s feel to it, sort of Beatlesque in a way hard to describe. Today also felt as if it was taken from a bygone era.

The duo returns to its folk roots in the relatively brief ballad Catch The Wind before the piano-based Not Dead Inside opens up toward the end to be a more mainstream song. I think that would be a crowd favorite as a live song. But I wasn’t quite sure what to think of the closing song This Universe.

As a whole, this fairly short (it comes in just a few ticks over 30 minutes) collection could be attractive to those who like any number of genres. While CommonUnion59 identifies itself most as a folk group, there are songs which could attract them to fans of country, country-rock, and acoustic music. The whole album wouldn’t necessarily be their cup of tea overall, but it would expand their musical universe.

When this pair describes themselves and their music, they say, “Rooted in emotion and experience, their music is a story telling journey of life and love that transcends all through eloquent simplicity.” In those terms, the album is generally a success and it will be worth watching to see how the public reacts when the album drops on February 11. The duo is also planning a tour in support of the release, although to what extent that trek will venture away from their California roots remains to be seen.

Normally this is the point where I tell you to listen for yourself, but since I accessed a private copy of unreleased material for review purposes, the next best suggestion might be their website where they have the teaser tracks It’s Alright and Not Dead Inside. (See if I’m not right about that being a good potential live song.) I know I have a lot of fans who tend toward country and bluegrass in my home area, so this may be something for those who are into that stuff to keep in mind when it comes out next month.

My first review of the new year brings back my monoblogue music series from a holiday hiatus and features an artist who released his work at the tail end of 2014. As I found out upon deeper research, though, “Radio Sister” is a project over thirty years in the making from a veteran of the music business, one who’s made a more recent living touring with a blues band called (naturally) the Plaehn-Hino Blues Band.

In listening to this album, I noticed a tendency with several songs. I found the musicianship was excellent, but if there was one fault I would speak to among several of the songs it’s the tendency to meander off a little bit in the middle. “Radio Sister” has an unusual mix of quite long songs through most of its first half and somewhat shorter tunes on the back side, as it were. It’s different to hear the longest song first, but I Want Love is a nearly six-minute number with somewhat of a reggae feel.

Now this is a preference and taste quibble, because many may enjoy the different directions Plaehn and his varied group of players and background singers take songs like Nothing’s Got A Hold On You, Is Anybody Listening?, or the title track. Radio Sister could arguably be the most radio-friendly song of the set, while Is Anybody Listening? does have an upbeat feel to it, just like a later song called Soda Fountain.

The songs that are somewhat shorter tend to have a little more musical discipline, which makes the heart of the album a highlight. Comin’ To You and Hello, Melinda have the feel of a bygone era to them, more reminiscent of something out of the late 1970s – the featured marimba, in particular, give the brief Hello, Melinda a tropical feel without overdoing it. They lead into the song which I considered the best on the collection, a lyrically whimsical rocker called Better Things To Do.

The album continues with the desperate pleading of Give Me Lovin before departing from the sound of the first nine songs and taking a slower, more acoustic turn. That final trio of songs begins with the organ-based ballad Love And Truth before highlighting Plaehn’s rhythmic and vocal skills on the Leadbelly Medley, which features short takes on Looky, Looky Yonder, Linin’ Track, and Black Betty. Yes, it’s that Black Betty but performed in a unique fashion not generally heard until now.

“Radio Sister” closes by Plaehn featuring his harmonica chops on the final track, Stranger Blues. With the exception of a short bit of stomp box accompaniment toward the end, it features just harmonica and vocals.

Now I listened to the collection and wrote my notes, all the while thinking that these songs were just a little out of place in the modern era. I know some artists have tried to recreate that retro feel with varying success, but then I read the liner note from Plaehn’s CD:

Eight songs were recorded in 1983 and 1984 at Catamount Recording, Cedar Falls, Iowa, under the working title of “Pancakes.” Stranger Blues and the Leadbelly Medley were recorded for the EP “Mouth Full of Blues” in 1981 but were not used. Love And Truth and Give Me Lovin were recorded around 1982 as “sketches” or demos.

The sound of this CD then made a lot more sense to me. The good thing is that Plaehn added bass and drums to Love and Truth and drums to Give Me Lovin while making the song feel like it was all done at once. Several other songs received additional backing vocals as well.

One could ask what the point is of releasing songs which have been on the back burner for better than thirty years, but ask yourself: if a new Led Zeppelin or Beatles song was found in some dusty archive people would treat it as relevant and make it popular despite being rejected initially by the artists. So by the same token, artistry delayed in Dave’s case is not artistry denied.

“Radio Sister” is something I consider a little bit of an uneven effort, although the cover art is quite intriguing and appealing. But if you liked the sort of jazzy, melodic soulful songs of the 1970s (think, for example, of James Taylor) you may find this effort worth the long wait. As always, I invite the reader to listen for yourself.

Out of all the music I’ve reviewed in the several months I’ve been regularly reviewing albums, this is perhaps the best example of straight-ahead rock and roll I’ve come across. There aren’t a lot of studio tricks, thumping bass and drums, or any of the other fluff which seems to define rock these days. “Diamonds & Demons” is pretty much simple and no-frills for most of its 16 songs, a number which clocks the collection in at about an hour.

Based out of the New York area, at certain times Maged’s vocals and the fact he plays piano and keyboard throughout the album can elicit thoughts of another New York-based piano man named Billy Joel. But this compilation is much more guitar-based, with keyboards playing a secondary role.

To use an example of this, here is the leadoff song and first single, Look At Me. The video has Maged simply as singer, with a slightly different backup band than the group credited on the album. Featured in the video is Maged’s touring band, if you will, called The Strangers.

Overall, the song has a great hook, witty vocals, and plenty of appeal. It could be on your local rock station tomorrow and many would want more. Images, Last Days, and the title track also share many of those same characteristics, with overdubbed background vocals adding a different touch on Images and I’m Okay, while Paul gets a little more political on the third track, Cause & Effect. So where is peace anyway? (It’s on the 45-second outro, which I believe was added at the end of the last track.)

The first six songs are a sextet of hook-heavy rockers throughout but track seven, Blind Faith, starts in a different direction as the keyboards take over on the intro, returning in different form on the bridge and resuming for the closing bars. It’s just enough variety to make the listener perk up, and smooths the transition so that Annastasia, with its added accordion, isn’t as jarring. After all, life is what you do with it, as Paul sings.

Maged gets a little bit of an attitude on Human Warfare, one of the hardest rockers on the album. It’s tempered a little with some slower sections but as a whole it’s quite heavy, just like the next song Love & Loss In The Western World. The latter slows down briefly in the middle, but cranks back up in time.

Toward the end we get more of a musical grab bag. Lyrically My Dear Love is quite well-constructed, but may have worked better in the acoustic manner in which it began. It would be interesting to hear an unplugged version to match up with the lyrics better, much as the piano-based Somber Song was done. I’m Gone is the one which comes closest to the sound exhibited on the album’s opening half-dozen songs.

One thing I gleaned from reading up on Maged’s band is that there were originally going to be 14 songs on the CD, but last summer “a new punk rocker has been born” which I’m guessing was Not Complicated. The sixteenth song, properly described by Maged as a “bittersweet ballad,” turned out to be the closing track 64th & 1st.

With 16 songs, there’s always at least one which doesn’t work that well. Going for the tropical vibe on Paradise Island makes it the weakest link as the parrothead trend is somewhat played out. But Maged limits the damage to just that one song, making the collection one worth having.

It’s getting to the time of year where annual Top 10 lists begin to be created. Since I don’t have monoblogue music every week (and only started in March) ten may be a little much, but certainly a top five is in order. And unless something comes and blows me away in the last two months, I would put this album squarely in that top five. Despite a couple weaknesses, this is the type of album which could push Maged and his band from being a local New York City act to at least a good regional status. All they need is the wherewithal to make a tour of it and hit some clubs along the East Coast, and the music can do the rest.

While I had access to a private review copy, those who want to check out a few sample tracks can go to Maged’s website and listen to four songs. That way you don’t quite have to just take my word for it; instead you can listen for yourself.

For the most part, popular music in this day and age has devolved to a beat-heavy marriage between rap and hip-hop. In this genre-bending era where rock has become rap and country edges closer to rock, it’s refreshing to hear a group which takes a more analog approach to instrumentation and songwriting while firmly placing themselves in that pop category.

The Great Escape is a three-piece band of transplants to the Los Angeles area, either by way of Germany or the East Coast. Their bio states they met while songwriting for other artists, and that wide circle of influence shows on the album as their standard three pieces of guitar (Malte Hagemeister), drums (Kristian Nord), and vocals (Amie Miriello) have been augmented by a number of studio musicians providing instrumentation like the blues harp, keyboards, and a horn section along with backing vocals. All these elements and even some good old-fashioned hand clapping are sprinkled among the nine tracks on this debut release.

So which ones are the most catchy? The early votes would favor the rhythmic opening tracks All I Think About and Rebel, or the harmonic The Secret Song. This trio opens the compilation by setting it in a retro pop direction, borrowing from the classics but with a fresher approach.

Yet you can tell the band has fun – as they recount it, many songs were one take and done. While the unusual progression and almost annoying ending chorus of It’s Getting Better can be a little much, they can’t even keep a straight face in the fade. Similarly, the upbeat Let’s Go emotes a good time.

All is not straightforward retro-style pop with The Great Escape, though. Closing the album is a heartfelt acoustic-based song called I Just Can’t Help Myself. It’s quite intriguing because the track before it, Put It On Ice, shows off their attempt at a more urban, funky vibe – even with the deep harmony vocals. They make a good run at it, but just can’t pull that sound off.

Instead, I thought the album’s best song was the middle one called Don’t Wake Me Up. It’s a bluesy track, but well-sung and with just the right touches throughout leading up to a dreamlike ending. As The Great Escape’s longest song, it’s worth a listen if you like a nod to something more traditional.

As a self-produced first effort, The Great Escape has more hits than misses. There were a few opportunities for improvement on various songs left on the table – for example, why not more horns on Put It on Ice – but if you’re looking for something different in the modern pop world The Great Escape comes up with a solid debut. But don’t just take my word for it – listen for yourself and see if this is an L.A. sound worthy of succession to the various musical waves which have come from there in the past.