Review: Tonight We Ride - Of The West

Tonight We Ride - Of The West
2009, Tonight We Ride

Small markets sometimes hold big surprises, musically. So it is with Helena, Montana and Tonight We Ride. Originally a collaboration of Dustin "Dub" Campbell (guitars, vox) and Greg Vivrette (bass, backing vox), the duo became a post-Punk power trio with the addition of drummer Adam McDonald after gigging for a while and realizing they needed a solid core to keep their sound developing. Tonight We Ride write about three subjects: Friends, drinking and the prophesied the end of the world in 2012. These are the building blocks of Tonight We Ride's debut album, Of The West.

Of The West opens with Cain Station, an energetic number about friendships and personal connections. It's a strong opener with a distinct Lo-Fi feel that works for Tonight We Ride. Duke Of New York A#1 was inspired by the Isaac Hayes character from Escape From New York but parodies the life and times of Amy Winehouse. It's a mid-tempo song with a dark feel; humorous yet respectful at the same time. Drink Myself Into Oblivion is just what it sounds like; a fun drinking song that pulls absolutely no punches. The language is a bit gratuitous (as it is throughout much of the album), but the effect is entertaining. Prelude To Hell On Earth takes on the upcoming annihilation of existence in 2012 in a funky instrumental that's among the finest playing on Of The West. Vivrette makes his bass get up and walk around the room while Campbell riffs off of the magic he creates.

The Other Side Of The Wall marks a real change of pace for Tonight We Ride, with an all-acoustic number that sounds more singer-songwriter than Post-Punk acoustica. The edges are rough, but the core is excellent. Heaven Can Wait finds Tonight We Ride taking listeners on a honky-tonk romp in a ferociously brief bit of fun. For Richie Rowe opens with a guitar progression that sounds like it wants to turn into Queen's Crazy Little Thing Called Love before Vivrette's walking bass line carries the band off on a highly energetic Acoustic Punk romp. It's a song about living in the moment, sucking the marrow out of life and all that. Parker's Got A Brand New Bag keeps the energy high with a more Pop oriented yet Lo-Fi gem, leading into the closer, Cash Money. Cash Money is a decent tune, but seems a bit out of place on Of The West, particularly so as a closing tune.

Tonight We Ride manages to bring a live feel to Of The West; I can only imagine how much a live show with these guys would be. Some will chafe at the gratuitous language, but one gets the sense this isn't so much pose as prose. In spite of the rough edges, there's real pop sensibility running through the veins of Tonight We Ridge. The songs on Of The West (most of them) could be played as Pop tunes (although part of what makes them work is the "in your face" approach of the band. Make sure you get to know Tonight We Ride. They're better than I expected.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Tonight We Ride at http://www.tonightweride.net/ or www.myspace.com/twrmt. You can purchase Of The West on CD from CDBaby.com, or as a Download from Amazon.com.

Review: Gemma Ray - Lights Out Zoltar!

Gemma Ray - Lights Out Zoltar!
2009, Bronzerat Records

Gemma Ray is a sensation in her native England, writing dark and emotive songs in styles that range from Americana to 1950's and 1960's pop. If you find musical embodiment to Quentin Tarrantino's psyche it might just be a Gemma Ray album. Comparisons have included Lee Hazelwood, Nina Simone, Isobel Campbell and Norah Jones on Amy Winehouse's drugs, but it's clear that Gemma Ray has struck a chord so vital in UK fans that she's become something of a phenomenon. Ray's US debut, Lights Out Zoltar! drops on October 26, 2009, and has few peers stylistically. Fans of Canadian singer/songwriter Sarah Slean will be highly intrigued, and the comparisons to Tori Amos, Milla Jovovich and Bjork will be made, but Gemma Ray is no one if she's not herself.

Traditional instrumentation isn't an issue for Ray, who uses whatever sounds right to her irrespective of whether it's conventional. The opening track, 100 mph (in 2nd gear) is beaten out on a hollow body guitar with a kitchen knife while a toy piano tinkles in the background. Ethereal backing vocals and a gothic European cabaret pathos fills out the sonic landscape in support of Ray's entrancing vocal. Snuck A Peak sounds a bit like a Fiona Apple song played at the wrong speed on a phonograph. The surreal effects applied here make the song sound like it's in dimensional limbo with Ray's voice acting as the focus point. The song is beautiful in bleak fashion. 1952 takes an almost Surf sound and turns it into music noir with lyrics in both English and French. Death Roll is one of the more unusual tracks on the disc. Death Roll sounds like French Cabaret in a mad house; highly entertaining yet disturbing all at once.

No Water is an allegory for being caught in the emotional wastelands that we all find ourselves in from time to time. Considering the darkness of the subject matter, the chorus is bright and full of warm vocal harmonies. Ray eschews the gothic feel that pervades the album for gentle pop that runs entirely counter to the neurosis it envelopes. If You Want To Rock N Roll is bleak with depressive overtones and kind of gets stuck in itself, but Ray returns strong with Something Shifted, returning to the Americana style she started out with. The song represents a coming-to-terms with change even if it never really defines what's changed. Ray closes out with So Do I, a return to Carol King-style songwriting with a melody you could hear a group like the Chiffons Doo-Dooing along to.

Gemma Ray is unique and interesting as a songwriter, opting for an almost Madrigal Rock built on a wide range of traditional and toy instruments, all wrapped around the highly textured and beautiful voice she possesses. Lights Out Zoltar! is a dynamic Cabaret/Lounge trip you don't want to miss.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Gemma Ray at www.myspace.com/gemmaraymusic. Lights Out, Zoltar! will be released in the US on October 26, 2009. If you can’t wait, the UK release will drop on September 7, 2009. You can purchase a copy of UK release of Lights Out Zoltar! At BronzeRat.com. Digital copies will be available through BronzeRat on the date of release.

Review: Kirsten Price - Guts & Garbage

Kirsten Price - Guts & Garbage
2008, KPI

Female vocalists who can sing soul music are all the rage again. Names like Christina Aguilera, Amy Winehouse, Macy Gray and Joss Stone sell CDs, MP3s and concert tickets by the boatload, but all have surrendered something of themselves to the music industry and its producers. London born and New York City based Kirsten Price brings the same kind of presence and big voice to the table, but Price eschewed the major label path to maintain total creative control over her material. Her debut album, Guts & Garbage is the true test of whether it's worked. Early returns suggest Price did the right thing.

Price worked with producers Frederick Sargolini, Raphael Saadiq (Tony! Toni! Tone!) and Danny Saber (David Bowie, Madonna, Seal) in the process of creating Guts & Garbage, but all on her terms and in her own way. The end result is one of the most daring and hottest records to be released in 2008. Price mixes Soul, R&B and Rock with ambition and raw sexuality that will melt speaker wires, warp amplifiers and probably require a cold shower when you're done listening. Opening with Magic Tree, Price sets to tone quickly with a sultry vocal against minimal instrumentation just to show she's got the vocal goods. Pop and R&B music hasn't seen an opening so sultry in a generation, and Price is just getting warmed up.

All Right dances on a reggae beat and Price's meaty alto sound. Price will remind folks of Fiona Apple right off the bat, but Price can sing rings around Apple. She's got that low, husky alto that turns heads but she can also break out into an upper register with complete clarity and a glorious sound. Fall mixes spoken word French and sung English in a dark and mysterious love song that resonates in transformation through the major chord chorus. Crazy Beautiful is set to be a major pop and dance hit for Kirsten Price. It has the same infectious energy as Lou Bega's Mambo #5 but with real attitude. Don't be surprised if Crazy Beautiful is a major international hit. Ten years ago it would have been guaranteed. With today's fractious music business and one-note radio wasteland it might take a bit longer, but this song is huge.

Let Me Go opens with a gorgeous orchestral prologue that morphs into an electronic play land in which Kirsten Price can let her voice play. Price makes the most of it here in a piece that is vaguely reminiscent of Milla Jovovich's esoteric The Divine Comedy. Let Me Go mixes elements of R&B, rock and electronic ambience into a rough and beautiful soliloquy that is absolutely unforgettable. Possibilities allows Price one more opportunity to turn your speakers to mush with a vibrant and sensuous performance that will leave listeners more than a little unsettled. Other highlights include 5 Days Old, Freedom and Red Hot.

Kirsten Price isn't the next in a line of Soul/Pop vixens; she's the new face of Soul influenced rock music. Guts & Garbage is more than its name, offering one of the most moving most exciting musical performances I've heard in some time. Kirsten Price is the sort of iconic voice and character the music industry's been waiting for. It's easy to imagine her, twenty years from now as the new Queen of Soul Music. For right now, she's creating on the most vibrant and exciting mixes of Soul, R&B and Rock we've heard in many years. If you don't believe us, consider that some of her tracks have been featured on The L-Word, CSI and Cashmere Mafia even before the album came out! Guts & Garbage is a Wildy's World Certified Desert Island Disc; an instant classic.

Rating: 5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Kirsten Price at http://www.kirstenprice.com/ or www.myspace.com/kirstenpricemusic. You can buy a copy of Guts & Garbage at StretchTheSkies.com or at Amazon.com.