Meekos & Me - Anxious Little Turtles

Meekos & Me - Anxious Little Turtles
2011, Invengo Productions

L.A.-based duo Meekos & Me (Joey Colando - guitar/vox and Danny Grab - cello) is set to release the highly anticipated Anxious Little Turtles on June 21, 2011.  Mixing rock, jazz, pop, Americana and folk, Meekos & Me display a reflective songwriting style that is countered by the edgy work of cellist Grab and the introduction of spacey synthesizer and percussion.

Anxious Little Turtles opens with "Entropy", a highly rhythmic arrangement driven by cello and guitar where the chorus plays more like an extended bridge.  Joey Colando has a nice falsetto voice, and switches from head to chest voice flawlessly.  "Grove St." is a bit unfocused and messy.  The haphazard vocal line may fit with the sense of melancholy that pervades the song, but does not present well.  "Animals In My Room" is mildly catchy and fun.  Grab's cello acts as an ideal counter melody to Colando's vocals.

"Bags Of Color" is gorgeous, plain and simple.  Grab is a star on cello here.  "Mountains In the Rearview" falls far short of expectations, playing as bland and uninspired songwriting.  Grab stars again on "Intermezzo", before Meekos & Me break out with the wonderfully written "Steven And Kristen".  There's more of a country/rock vibe this time around, as Meekos & Me explore leaving town as a means to make a relationship break.  "Fantasies And Fairies" shows a decent melodic sensibility, but the rest of the album falls a bit flat.  It's not a question of the material being bad, but listeners may be left with the sense that Meekos & Me had already used up their best material for the album and simply filled in with whatever else was around.

Meekos & Me have some good moments on Anxious Little Turtles, often toiling on the edge of something interesting and falling just short.  Anxious Little Turtles feels a bit rushed, like if Meekos & Me had given the album just a bit more time in the writing process, other things were waiting to burst out.  We'll just have to wait until the next album to hear them.

Rating: 2.5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Meekos & Me at www.meekosandme.com.  Anxious Little Turtles drops on June 21, 2011.  Keep checking the band's website for availability.