| CD REVIEW The Head And The Heart |
|
|
Band : The Head And The Heart Coming from a variety of walks in life (leaving day jobs and academic pursuits) THATH came together during 2009 through frequent visits to the open mic nights at Conor Byrne in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood [their line-up currently comprising singers/ guitarists/ percussionists Josiah Johnson (originally from California) & Jonathan Russel (he from Virginia of all places; and one of the two the lead male singer of the band), backing singer/ violinist/ percussionist Charity Rose Thielen (had just returned from a year's study in Paris; adds weird female vocals to the whole, occasionally in a semi-lead role), pianist Kenny Hensley (also from California, where he left to pursue a career in score music writing), bassist Chris Zasche (a bar tender at Colin Byrne, whom joined the band after expressing his willingness to play with the band about to be born), and drummer Tyler Williams (whom left a reasonably Virginia band after Jonathan had sent his an early demo of the band)]. We're told to imagine a “Folksy Beatles”, or a “Crosly, Stills, Nash & Young with more instrumental force” and, forgive me for having had those thoughts even before reading up on the info I checked on the band (you can easily check the correctness of those words by listening to the band's music). From the band's facebook I quote (simply because it expresses what I feel about the band's music perfectly) “Catchy piano melodies stand side by side with a tight trio of harmonies, and solid minimalist drums, groovin' bass, and plenty of hand percussion and foot stomps make the live show inspiring and really goddamn fun”. Not that I can actually clearly make out any foot stamping on the album...but I can imagine 'em being very present at live appearances indeed, my own two feet having had trouble to stay in place while listening to the band's debut album, which was originally released in June of 2010. I'm making an educated guess that that's the date of the self-release, because afterward the band got signed to Sub Pop (something possibly brought forth by the excellent local reviews the band got for both their shows and the album), and I'm sure they re-released the album and arranged for it to get a European release thanks to the connections they built up over the years. Lyrically, the band deals with the ghosts of what's left behind while taking a move forward to a fresh start, but the music's uplifting melodies, the vocal harmonies, and expressions of hope for better days give it all a positive vibe. A lot of the songs being acoustic, one doés however get some etherical electric guitar worked in here and there. In essence, if you're suffering from Winter's depressive aftermath, the calm songs of THATH may be quite exactly what you need to wake up and realize that Spring is about by now! Wanna hear some of the band's music before deciding to possibly buy the album, and get acquainted with the “weird” voice of the band's female singer? Well, in that case surf either to the band's facebook or MySpace pages (the latter also has some videos worth viewing). For even more samples of the album's 10 tracks, check the album's page at one of the trusted online sales outlets (Amazon, etc...). 90/100 Tony. |
