J Minus - Devil Music

J Minus - Devil Music
2010, J Minus

Seattle quartet J Minus walks the wild edge of alternative music. Not Alternative understand, but an alternative to what we call Alternative. Formed in 2002, Dylan Fant, Trevor Wheetman, Chris Mongillo and Meyer Harrell work within the bounds of solid songwriting, dynamic harmonies and a refusal to tie themselves to one specific sound. You may hear flashes of bands such as Death Cab For Cutie, The Samples or Toad The Wet Sprocket in their sound, but J Minus takes these influences, mixes them with their own inherent talents and creates something new and unique. J Minus dropped their third album, Devil Music over the summer. It may be their best work to date.

Devil Music opens with "Congratulations, You Suck; a catchy tune that asks a troubling paramour to set him free rather than string him along. Buried in the emotional angst of the tune is a great pop arrangement that slowly unfurls as the song progresses. "When The Lights Go Out" is a song of reassurance written for a child who is afraid of the dark. Parents in particular will appreciate J Minus' effort here, a sweet and good-natured tune with an enjoyable melody. "Can I Count On You?" seeks assurance in a meandering pop arrangement. The song is very well written, featuring an off-center, needy protagonist in a needful quest.

J Minus explores dashed expectations on "Who We Were", looking at the hopes and dreams of children and the reality of their adulthood. It's a stark take on how negative thoughts and experiences impact or characters and personalities. Things get maudlin in the middle of Devil Music, with J Minus losing the energy that drove even the darker moments over the album's first few songs. "Swing Low" is the exception, a catchy rock tune with big harmonies in the chorus. This is a tune that sticks with you or recurs in your mind at odd times, and is a bright light in the middle of Devil Music. "While It Lasts" is a melancholic rumination on impermanence that features a solid melody but is a bit of a drag in emotion and energy. "Into The Dark" is tortured pop music that delves into a sense of failure and loss without clear boundaries; a singular effort that is both difficult and rewarding as a songwriter and as a listener. J Minus closes with "Episode 2", which opens in bland musical terms but turns into a vibrant pop song that counters J Minus' almost morose vocal style. It's a request to leap forward into the unknown of tomorrow, a fitting, yet bold end to the album.

J Minus intrigues with Devil Music, a collection that's unbalanced but which contains a few gems along the way. Fans of The Cure and The Smiths will find a lot to like here, but J Minus has enough pop sensibility to appeal to a wider constituency.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about J Minus at http://www.jminus.com/ or www.myspace.com/jminus.  Devil Music is available on CD through J Minus' webstore.  Digital copies are available via iTunes.

Review: P.J. Pacifico - Always & Everywhere

P.J. Pacifico - Always & Everywhere
2009, Viper Records

Norwalk, Connecticut's P.J. Pacifico has lived there all his life and yet seemingly hasn't been home in years. He's been all over the US and Canada sharing his music with crowds both large and small, gaining a perspective on the world that informs his songwriting on his second album, Always & Everywhere (available July 14, 2009). Pacifico's voice has been compared to that of James Taylor, although I find him to be a lot closer in sound to the sound of The Paperboy's Tom Landa or Peter Stuart of Dog's Eye View.

Pacifico opens with Batten Down, a quintessential Pop/Rock tune full of great hooks and a strong melody. Batten Down is as catchy as the flu. The Girl From Montreal is a wistful and sweet love song about first loves and the effect they can still have on you years later. The narrator walks away knowing she's happy but still wishing for "one more walk in the snow". Jackbone is about extending a vacation because there's nothing really worth going home to. This was written during a Colorado snowstorm and features The Samples' Sean Kelly on harmony vocals. I'm Home is a finely crafted acoustic Pop tune that matches up well for alternative rock and pop radio.

Pacifico makes a brave choice in covering The Beatles I Wanna Hold Your Hand. Pacifico sticks with the essential melody, but gives the song his own read in a down-tempo, nearly contemplative version that is a pleasure. There's an almost melancholy feel to Pacifico's version but it works well. This one's just Pacifico and his ukulele. Enjoy looks at the benefits of being in a long-standing relationship where you can simply be yourself. The song is charming and well written and a potential classic. First Light is about diving into love with both hands and feet. It's a great song and certainly radio-ready. My favorite song on the disc is Incognito, an expression of faith in a love that's about to be tested by separation. This song is destined for mix tapes as well as for certain licensing for prime-time television (if the folks that select such songs don't catch on to Pacifico's Incognito they don't belong in their jobs). You'll also want to check out I Can't Say No, Easier and Curtain Call.

P.J. Pacifico has an easy-on-the-ears light Pop/Rock sound that's certain to gain him some attention at commercial radio. Don't be surprised to hear several tracks from Always & Everywhere licensed. It's not a matter of talent or quality but of breaks. If the breaks go Pacifico's way he'll be huge. Always & Everywhere is great stuff!

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about P.J. Pacifico at www.myspace.com/pjpacifico or http://www.pjpacifico.com/. Always & Everywhere will go on sale July 14, 2009. Check out P.J. Pacifico’s website on or after that date for purchase information. Also expect availability through outlets such as iTunes.

Review: A Beautiful Curse - As It Should Be

A Beautiful Curse - As It Should Be
2009, CTM Entertainment

A Beautiful Curse started out as a project intended to write music for movies & television, but has grown into something more organic over time. Musician and producer Kenny James (George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars, 24-7 Spyz, The Samples) began this project in 2004 while producing works for various Indie films. After meeting guitar player Brian Skeel (Contingence), the two hit it off and started working together. By 2007 Skeel was a vested member of A Beautiful Curse, but something was still missing. In 2008, the band discovered vocalist/pianist Savannah Kocher. Within a month of finding her, Kocher was inducted as a member of A Beautiful Curse. The synergy the trio discovered had much more life and vitality to it than just a writing project. It soon became clear that A Beautiful Curse would have more facets than that. Cut to 2009, and the release of As It Should Be, a stunningly ambitious and divergent album that thrums with its own inner life.

As It Should Be opens with On The Other Side, a dark and vaguely Middle Eastern sounding tune that owes serious homage to early Sarah McLachlan recordings. Vocalist Savannah Kocher has the same ethereal air that infused McLachlan's early work. The sound here is a bit more of the electronic age, creating a stark tapestry against which Kocher's voice plays perfectly. At about the five minute mark the song kicks into overdrive, with a heavy guitar-driven segment reminiscent of Evanescence and A Beautiful Curse begins to displays some Prog tendencies you might not have previously guessed at. The mix of crushing Rock/Metal and Ethereal, near-Ambient Rock is quite unusual. The Soul Divine kicks off with some headphone worthy sounds reminiscent of the great albums of the 1970's and develops into another Ambient/Prog Rock/Trance hybrid. Fans of Pink Floyd will dig the vibe here. A Lot Like Diamonds is more in the dance club realm, carrying a sparse and halting melody line surrounded by much percussion and electronic sound. Kocher is entrancing on vocals, but the song just doesn't seem to have a lot to say, and while the rhythmic nature of the arrangement has a lulling effect, the song gets bogged down in its own complacency.

A Mind Of It's Own features a distinctive arrangement of rhythms and sounds supporting the free-form rap of Kenny James. This is one of the more interesting songs on the disc, featuring a roving bass line that sounds like it could have come from an early Police album. This Is My House takes us back to the 1980's in a Jan Hammer-inspired instrumental that will get your feet moving. Delicate brings slow jams into the 21st century with a sound Barry White would approve of. This was perhaps my least favorite song on the disc, but it accomplished what I presume the artists were trying to achieve. A Beautiful Curse closes out with Everything Is Changing, a bit of electronic dance craft that sticks to formula over creative force. Unlike much of the album, this feels like something of a cookie cutter track, created perhaps to fill out the album but not really offering much for listeners to dig into.

A Beautiful Curse suffers from trying to be too many things. Hard rock? Check. Lyric/Ambient Rock? Check. Electrohouse/Dance? Yep. Rap? Got that too. R&B? Yes. The difficulty becomes that by the end of As It Should Be the listener has no real idea who or what A Beautiful Curse wants to be. The band is at their best with Kocher on vocals and with the mix of Electronic and Rock genres. This is an album constructed for the age of downloads, with single songs that will play well to multiple genres, but it will be hard to build a long-term fan base from such divergence in sounds. When a band aims to be flavor of the month they may well get what they aim for, but nobody wants old flavors once they're used up, and A Beautiful Curse has too much talent to just be flavors of the month. Hopefully over time the band will pick a direction that at least becomes a primary sound and dabble elsewhere. As It Should Be is a strong collection of songs, but it's too scattershot to really be called an album.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about A Beautiful Curse at http://www.abeautifulcurse.com/ or www.myspace.com/abeautifulcurse. You can purchase a copy of As It Should Be at Amazon.com.