Wake Up to The Alarmists
Jorge Raasch (keys, synth), Tony Najm (bass), Eric Lovold (vocals, guitar), Ryan McMillan (guitar), and Ryan Mach (drums)
The first full-length CD by Minneapolis' The Alarmists, The Ghost and the Hired Gun, has been out for a couple of weeks now, and I have to confess that the more I listen to it, the more I like it. So much music gets poured into my ears these days that it's getting hard to impress me, so I don't say that lightly.
This is not the album that will reinvent pop culture as we know it, but it does contain a lot of good listening and tunes that make you want to come back again and again. The few corny bits can be forgiven--the spacy intro to the appropriately-titled "Headspace" that kicks off the album, the spaghetti-western whistle at the beginning of "Nobody Knows You," and the tinny newsreel music that leads into "Walking Away"--because all else is rock-solid. "Thankful For the Chance,"as the only soft ballad in the bunch, is the only track that sounds weak in comparison.
This is a strong follow-up to last year's EP A Detail of Soldiers which garnered the band several awards. This is due in large part to Eric Lovold's strong song-writing skills, both with lyrics--retrospective on love left behind--and lovely hooks. Even the addition of lush strings on "Voice Within" can't turn the song into syrupy mush. I hate when that happens. I like things to stay crispy.
There is a lot of variety in the songs without sacrificing a consistent sound. There's piano on "On the Way" and "Try To Be Kind," trumpet and cellos on the haunting (no joke) "Ghost" that ends the CD, and lots and lots of guitar chords everywhere. It's no secret that certain minor-key notes and chords ring my chimes, and this album has them in spades. More favorites are "Summer's Heart," "The Places I'm From," "Count On Me," and "Light A Smoke."
From The Ghost and the Hired Gun (2007)
Hired Gun
Little Hands
MySpace | Website | Label: Instrument Control Records | Lyrics
Buy at band website and and band MySpace
A Detail of Soldiers available on iTunes
Upcoming Shows:
Aug 10 2007 - The Uptown Bar w/ So It Goes and Raven!, Minneapolis, MN
Aug 11 2007 - Pizza Luce Block Party, Minneapolis, MN
Aug 17 2007 - The Aquarium, Fargo, ND
2 comments:
Wow
I'm liking this sound
THanks for the 'heads up'
It's really great to read a review by someone who actually listened to the CD and didn't review their Myspace and call it an "album review". I kind of liked the "corny" bits.
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