Never Shout Never - Time Travel

Never Shout Never - Time Travel
2011, Loveway/Reprise

Joplin, Missouri rockers Never Shout Never leap forth in 2009 with their first self-produced album, Time Travel. After several efforts at conforming their sound to the wishes of others, Never Shout Never speak fully in their own voices on Time Travel. The seismic shift in sound and style is a far cry from their previous effort, Harmony. Fans will either love or hate the new sound, but the change also opens the door to an entire demographic of new fans who enjoy modern rock deeply influenced by the sounds of the psychedelic 60's.

"Time Travel" is ethereal, synth-based anti-pop that sounds like a blend of Alan Parsons and Coldplay. The sound is intriguing, if a bit discommoding, "Awful" is anachronistically catchy, like a blend of The Beatles and ELO dressed in diatonics and fleshed out on the shared borderlands of Brit Rock and Prog. "Simplistic Trance-Like Getaway" is something of a love song, built from a subdued yet incessant melody and wrapped in full-bodied sound. "Complex Heart" sounds like an attempt to blend Adult Contemporary Pop and Emo styles in a fractious marriage that's overwrought and overdone. Imagine Queen meets Air Supply and you're in the ballpark. "Lost At Sea" plays to the prog and psychedelic image that Never Shout Never seems intent to craft. The modal vocal harmonies add cool effect, but the run on chorus contrasts poorly against the point-by-point quarter-note rhythms of the verse.

When a band takes back the reins on its sound for the first time after years of depending on other producers, the result is bound to be a bit messy at first. So it is with Never Shout Never on Time Travel. It's not a bad record, but Time Travel suffers from self-guidance by a band suddenly free to do what it wants, but uncertain about their chosen direction. It will take at least one more album, and some time on the road, for Never Shout Never to become fully comfortable steering their own ship musically, and the next album will be much more instructive about the direction of the band than is Time Travel. Nevertheless, this is a compelling document of a band in transition, with some almost brilliant moments to be found in the search.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Never Shout Never at www.nevershoutnever.com or www.facebook.com/nevershoutnever.

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Review: Fictionist - Lasting Echo

Fictionist - Lasting Echo
2010, Fictionist

Utah post-genre rockers Fictionist deliver more than mere reflection on Lasting Echo, their second-full length album recently released independently. Featuring the cultured baritone of Stuart Maxfield as well as his Wilco-esque guitar work, Lasting Echo is the sort of album that legitimizes a small market band's reputation and helps them gain regional and perhaps even national stature. Fictionist dwells in a delicious mix of vibrant creation and introspection where melody is king.

Lasting Echo opens with always, a dark and eerie Prog Rocker resplendent in synth and guitar-driven light. The emphasis here isn't sound and fury so much as it is nuance and change. Human Wings is reminiscent of some of the softer fare from 1970's Canadian rockers Max Webster; a mellow rock ballad with ample guitar fills. The sound is a bit closer to Pink Floyd on Sunshine Of A Shell; layered guitars balance off the tension of the vocal line in smooth peaks and troughs of sound that begins and ends in the ebb and flow of a church organ. Maxfield's voice is the perfect complement to the instrumental sounds created on Lasting Echo, often aiming for a plain, easy singing style but occasionally breaking out to punctuate a moment or emotion.

Strangers In The Dark is one of those songs that seem to take on its own distinct vibrancy; as if the song were playing Fictionist rather than the other way around. Structural, key and rhythm changes drive this musical conversation between a narrator and Fate; both aware and wary of the other. As always, Fate wins out by inertia, but the narrator still holds on to the hope that a "spark" could change it all. Time To Time digs into the emotions surrounding a relationship that's ended but which one of the parties can't quite let go of. The arrangement is full of delicious tension and more than a few fun lyrical turns "It's been awhile since I've had your mascara on my sleeve.") The guitar work here is exquisite; you could hear Time To Time playing on big AOR stations alongside 1970's stalwarts like Frampton, ELO, Zeppelin and BTO and Fictionist would sound like they were never elsewhere.

Fictionist brings in a distracted, mellow Jazz vibe on Deeper And Deeper, one of the more intriguing compositions on Lasting Echo. Rhythmic variations in the percussion drive against the plaintive wall instrumentation to create interesting moments of tension against unusual vocal harmonies and lead into a distinctive organ solo that ranks among the best instrumental turns on the album. Lasting Echo closes with Have Mercy, a plaintive plea built into a lovely, stripped down arrangement that lulls you out of the album and back into the real world.

Fictionist delivers a highly nuanced and compelling listening experience on Lasting Echo, delivering on the title with an album that will speak to you well after the disc stops spinning. Gentle rock with Progressive tendencies and patient, deliberate songwriting is sure to please listeners across several genres, and should ensure that Fictionist does the album thing at least one more time. Lasting Echo is a tremendous start.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Fictionist at http://www.fictionist.com/ or www.myspace.com/fictionistband.
You can purchase Lasting Echo on CD from CDBaby.com. Downloads are available via iTunes.

Review: Wizards Of Waverly Place – Original Soundtrack

Wizards Of Waverly Place – Original Soundtrack/Various Artists
2009, Walt Disney Records
Wizards Of Waverly Place is one of the hottest television properties Disney owns these days, so it’s no surprise that they’ve chosen to release a soundtrack from the show featuring such young stars as Selena Gomez, Aly & AJ, KSM, Drew Seeley and Raven-Symone. Wizards Of Waverly Place features twelve tracks that are from or inspired by the hit show, many of them Rock and Pop classics with the word magic in the title that have been re-interpreted to varying degrees of success. Wizards Of Waverly Place was released on August 4, 2009.

Series star Selena Gomez has four songs on the soundtrack. Opening with Disappear, a highly produced bit of Pop fluff, Gomez displays a strong, pleasant voice amidst heavy hooks. This is a legitimate Pop hit outside of the teeny bopper set the show is aimed at. Magical is another legitimate Pop hit. Gomez shows off a lot of texture in her voice here and a quirky side that is endearing. Up next is a cover of Pilot’s Magic that’s updated for today’s Pop sound. I can’t say I’m a big fan of this version but it isn’t too far off the mark. The other Gomez track is the series theme song, Everything Is Not As It Seems. If you listen to any sort of Pop radio you already know this one.

Up next is Steve Rushton covering Jeff Lynne/Electric Light Orchestra’s Strange Magic in a faithful cover with incredibly harmonies. This was my favorite cover on the disc, and Rushton shows real talent as a vocalist. Honor Society takes on The Cars’ Magic and loses in a Karaoke club bit of blandness. The vocalist here just doesn’t have the panache or quirk of Ric Ocasek and ends up sounding mechanical. Mitchel Musso digs into The Police’s Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic to much the same effect found on the previous track. The vocalist displays little personality and is so ensconced in vocal effects and pitch correction software we may never know what his voice really sounds like. This rendition is bland in spite of the upbeat chorus. KSM gives a fair rendition of Steppenwolf’s Magic Carpet Ride, providing enough attitude and oomph to make the song believable and fair harmonies to boot.

Meaghan Martin draws Olivia Newton-John’s Magic and delivers a flat, highly-processed reading that simply doesn’t work. The energy and vitality of the original make this unlistenable by comparison. Andrew Seeley (of High School Musical fame) takes on America’s You Can Do Magic in a version designed and produced to do well on Pop Radio. There are more vocal effects here than you can wrap your head around in a re-envisioned Pop/Dance package. Raven Symone chips in with Some Call It Magic, a decent but not highly memorable pop tune that will likely play well on Radio Disney and not elsewhere. Aly & AJ hit gold covering The Lovin’ Spoonful’s Do You Believe In Magic. There has always been something of a bubblegum quality to this song, and that spirit isn’t lost here, but the vocalists have wonderfully textured voices that highlight the duality of the song. While vocal effects are probably endemic on anything Disney touches, the voices of Aly & AJ sound like they might just be real, and the energy here is high.

Wizards Of Waverly Place is a mixed bag. Highlights include Aly & AJ, Andrew Seeley, Steve Rushton and the irrepressible Selena Gomez. The choice of including covers of classic songs either soars or crashes and burns, depending on the artist/song. Some of the artists included here just don’t have the voice or personality (either that or it’s been produced out of them) to carry the songs they’ve been assigned. The album will do very well with the Radio Disney set, and some of the songs are legitimate Pop tunes that will do well on commercial radio. This is one of those albums where the ability to download just the songs you want may be advantageous.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Wizards Of Waverly Place at Walt Disney online. You can purchase Wizards Of Waverly Place at Amazon.com, or you can download the album from Amazon MP3 or iTunes.

Review: Mammoth Life - Enlightenment: A Romantic Gospel Part 3 and 4

Mammoth Life - Enlightenment: A Romantic Gospel Part 3 and 4

2009, Mammoth Life

Mammoth Life is an esoteric Kansas band with a mid-western charm and a sound that's out of this world. Pop convention goes out the window in the face of following their muse, and Mammoth Life creates like the sun flies, straight across the sky with no stop or pause for the mores of the moment. In anticipation of the 2010 release of their next album, An American Movement, Mammoth Life has released a highly limited (250 copies) 7" vinyl 45-rpm EP entitled: Enlightenment: A Romantic Gospel Part 3 and 4. The EP is pressed on transparent blue vinyl and hand numbered, and promises great things from An American Movement.

This two track single displays a continuation of the artistic and sonically aesthetic work undertaken begun on Kaleidoscopic Art Pop, although early indications suggest that Mammoth Life continue to delve deeper and deeper in this collective muse. Disrupting The Extinction Of Distinction (Part 3 – Ego), is a wide-ranging, piano-driven chamber pop experience. There’s an irrepressible pop feel to the song despite its more baroque elements. We Are Within A Holy War (Part 4 – Critical Thinking) indirectly challenges listeners to delve deeper than the sound bytes you hear on the news and consider both the realities and the impacts of events in the world. Listening to these songs you could image that if composer Ralph Vaughan Williams were writing today his material might sound a bit like Mammoth Life.

Mammoth Life continues to impress from deep in left field (beware the corn rows). This is one of those bands that’s just so unique and off the dial that it’s hard to imagine them gaining significant commercial footing, yet there is a distinct pop sensibility that runs through their brand of Art/Chamber/Folk Rock that is irrepressible. If these two songs are any indication, the forthcoming album, An American Movement, should be something exciting to hear. For now, try to get your hands on Enlightenment: A Romantic Gospel Part 3 and 4; it’s very much worth the effort.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Mammoth Life at www.myspace.com/officialmammothlife or http://www.mammothlife.net/. Enlightenment: A Romantic Gospel Part 3 and 4 is listed on Mammoth Life’s website but without purchase links. Contact the band directly through their website or MySpace pages for more info.

Review: Mammoth Life - Kaleidoscopic Art Pop

Mammoth Life - Kaleidoscopic Art Pop
2009, Mammoth Life

Chamber Pop Quintet (and occasionally sextet) Mammoth Life hails from Lawrence, Kansas, where among the cornfields, under the hot Kansas sun they've been distilling a brand of alt-pop sweeter than corn bread and more powerful than ethanol. Kaleidoscopic Art Pop is the name of their debut album, and an apt description for the mellifluous music creates as easily as they breathe. Producer and bandleader founded Mammoth Life in 2004 with keyboardist/vocalist Elizabeth Mead. The band is rounded out with lead vocalist Bobby Sauder, Melicent King (violin, synths) and Rachel Mulford (drums).

Mammoth Life works because of strong songwriting and a sense of joy that comes across in their music. Its not that the songs are particularly happy or bouncy, but there's a real sense that Mammoth Life is having a ball doing what they're doing, and it rubs off on the listener. Bicycle Rider is frenetic, chaotic and tuneful with great harmonies and an almost classical song structure highlighted with quirky Folk/Pop instrumentation. Convoluted I starts out as a Gypsy/Klezmer hybrid led by the violin before resolving into a quirky pop confection. These are the sort of contradictions you'll encounter when listening to Mammoth Life, although they sound less like contradictions than happily coexisting musical improbabilities. At Once is a prime example. After several listens the only honest description I can come up with is that it’s bizarre, yet strangely catchy. You'll have to form your own opinion on this one, but the intrigue factor is enough on its own to keep you coming back.

Word Salad plays like a pop symphony masquerading as an alternative folk song, which serves as a warm-up for First Semester Of College. This may be the most inventive song on the album, opening as a Baroque harpsichord composition that devolves into what I can only describe as highly rhythmic toddler punk. Unburden Your Heart To Me is also highly unique, playing like a Medieval musical play. The instrumentation is a bit surreal but the song is highly entertaining. The biggest surprise on Kaleidoscopic Art Pop is Our Prayer, a classic mixolydian secular hymn played on what sounds like Organ and Sanctus Bells. Our Prayer is a beautiful piece of musical expression.

Mammoth Life looks like they might have just stepped out of the late 1960's. The creativity and ability to look at musical creation from outside the box is refreshing and enervating. Not everyone is going to get this music. It's definitely not the status quo, but it might just be the most original sound you're going to find this year. Kaleidoscopic Art Pop contains a couple of songs that just don't gel, but on the whole it’s an outstanding effort.

Rating: 4.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Mammoth Life at http://www.mammothlife.net/ or www.myspace.com/officialmammothlife. You can purchase a copy of Kaleidoscopic Art Pop at www.cdbaby.com/cd/mammothlife.