Review: Teak – Teak 0801

Teak – Teak 0801
2008, Teak

Melbourne, Australia's Teak is a veteran 4-piece rock outfit with a penchant for well-honed, pleasant sounding music that carries a fair amount of emotional weight and turmoil beneath the surface. With comparisons ranging from Something For Kate and Hunters & Collectors to Powderfinger and The Church, Teak has a low-key approach with the potential for mass appeal. After listening to their debut EP, Teak 0801, I'd place them somewhere between R.E.M. and Dire Straits stylistically.

Teak 0801 opens with Where Have You Been?, confronting a wayward lover in no uncertain terms. The sparse arrangement reflects the raw emotional state that underlies the song; while the vocal line perhaps doesn't reflect the intensity one might expect in such a song, the dark nature of the song carries a lot of weight, like someone trying hard not to explode. Looking For You is a reserved, up-tempo song that will definitely catch hold of you as a listener. Think the Gin Blossoms but a little darker. Can't Understand revels a while longer in deep-seated emotional turmoil wrapped up in a catchy, dark rocker that's very catchy. Teak closes with Loaded, a mildly catchy, mildly bland rocker that's a pleasant listen but perhaps not quite to the level of the other three songs presented here.

Teak sounds like a career bar band with serious aspirations. The smooth sound of a group that's played together for a while is there, but there's also a creative spark in the band that makes them more than just a Saturday Night cover band. Teak has real potential to catch on with fans of Americana and Classic Rock. While Teak has great energy inside the songs presented on their Teak 0801 EP, some modulation on the surface would keep things more lively and drawn in more listeners. Barring that, they're still a very good listen.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Teak at www.myspace.com/teakmusic. You can download Teak 0801 from Amazon.com.