Tracklist:

1. I Don't Worry
2. Tell Me
3. Crazy for Leaving
4. All I Need is You
5. Down by Your Fire
6. Another Late Night
7. If I Was Right
8. Grey Skies
9. Let It Go (Got to Grow)
10. This Time

After the promising release of their debut EP Please Come Back, this Chicago trio has come back with their proper full length, Tell Me, introducing even more soul and gospel elements into their sound, and even a little horn.

The album’s loose, jam session type feel is evident from the very get go as the 2 minute 15 second opener “I Don’t Worry” shows. Its shuffling melody is turned up a notch at the very end and together with the backing vocals the track ends up feeling like a Sunday at the church of Catfish Haven.

This looser feel makes the music easily accessible and perhaps even easier to appreciate. When it sounds like three guys are just jamming in their garage on a studio recording it creates the idea that they really love playing music. And they probably do.

“Crazy for Leaving” has a funky bass line and some shiny acoustic guitar that provides an upbeat feel on what turns out to be one of the more refreshing tracks on the album. It goes a little ways in proving that the trio doesn’t need pure passion and volume to be successful.

Unfortunately “Down by Your Fire” says otherwise. A slower number with sparse instrumentation, the track relies on George Hunter’s voice as its driving force. At the start of the album, Hunter’s voice feels fresh and interesting, especially on the more energetic songs, but his gravelly scowl just isn’t as effective on “Down by Your Fire”. His is the type of voice that needs that extra energy backing it. Not to mention the stepwise acoustic guitar is more annoying than anything.

The band is working within a very narrow parameter of sound and some of the time they rely solely on pure energy to keep them afloat. When that energy is killed between tracks, such as with the aforementioned song, the effect on the album’s flow and feel can be almost devastating. And while it’s not devastating here per se, it definitely hurts the album.

Still, Tell Me is a solid, albeit short, piece of work that is just bogged down a little by its slower numbers and narrow scope. With a little broader sound this talented trio could be on to something great, but for now go see them live. The grapevine says good things.

MP3:
Crazy For Leaving
Good Friends of Mine (unreleased)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 20th, 2006 at 10:00 am and is filed under Record Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Edit this entry.