Label: SLR Records

Producer: LaSalle Gabriel

Release Date: 2005

At first listen to this album, I was absolutely dumfounded as to where I was… I had suddenly lost all sense of direction, not only in reality, but in the space of time as well. It was like stepping into a time machine and going back to the days of when having a fantastic lead singer was not the be all and end all of a band’s worth.

This Band is strength in numbers… where every single chord played by every single inner and outer appendage is everything. With every screw, spring and bolt of this carefully crafted grandfather clock of a group adorning its listener’s ears with splendorous delights of musicianship at its highest metal, the face of today’s music will retain the integrity of its roots as well as pioneering the way for a very bright and positive future.

The first of this album’s ‘comprise-ition’ begins with I’ve Been Bad… a tremendously upbeat track that screams “get up off your ass and dance” it made me feel like I was wearing tight acid-washed jeans, a severely ripped t shirt (with profane language strewn across the breast), and me sporting a famous haircut that begins with the letter M. You can imagine everyone moving across the dance floor with an intense seizure-like rhythm while they close their eyes and fantasize about which band member they would like to…

Candy Cigarettes is the much anticipated follow up to the unveiling of the album. Not only does J’s vocal thrashing leave much appreciated bruising on the ass, the tightness woven by this web spinning musicianship is enough to enrapture the most writhing of prey that couldn’t possibly break free.      

Grown Ass Woman becomes the third of tantalizing treasures brought fourth by the talent that sweeps across these gold flecked pages of plenty. With a vocal delivery that of a stellarly sexy caliber, J seems to fly with the height of where the guitar riffs are meant to guide the free flowing spirit that lives in us all.    

The angelic approach that X-Girl begins with soon turns into a passionate statement of unbridled emotion at its fiercest level. This track establishes the necessity for guitar playing to be noted as an attribute that is gilded by only a certain type of born talent that graces only the most perseverant of fingers. Not to mention being left with impressions of drumstick indentations on the heart of the soul.     

The Delusions of Grandeur (Radio Edit) means that the difference between this band’s tone weighable talent and its knowledge of that fact is miles wide. I don’t think that any of it goes to their heads like so many others allow. It is my firm belief that even without seeing a live performance and just hearing them through a hi-fi they truly feel the music that they play and/or play the music that they feel rather than standing there on stage in full absorption of the audience and their star struck eyes.    

Beautiful is Beautiful! The tracks eclectic rhythm accompanies J’s passionately angelic vocals and harmonies with a quality like that of a black horse in the sands of a Spanish garden. It is a greatly crafted piece of music in all aspects of its arrangement and the level of musicianship that completes its lustrous sheen.        

U Said is a track that is one brick more than a load. This track is more on the side of a take that lashing from J and her sassy self. While in the meantime surrounded by a seventies sort of ‘psycadellia accompaniment’ of guitar playing generosity that adds the right amount of clout to strengthen the argument of the tracks statement. 

Leaving is one of the more mellow songs of this albums roster of tracks. This is refreshing tantalization in vocals that are enraptured by a ribbon of musical silk adorning the very essence of what makes this band so incredibly amazing.         

Stand! Another of a funktastic delight brought on by a sheer bible-istic knowledge of the cobra-like equipment that these snake charmers have such a hypnotizing handle on.    

2 Little 2 Late reminds me of a root beer paralyzer. The milk part being J’s silky smooth vocals, the mixture of vodka kalua and ice representing the strings of each of the wooden instruments, and the fizzy carbonated pop being the drumming pleasure that finishes off the deliciousness of the drink.  

This Jimmy Hendrix Little Wing cover is beautifully performed with the justice that it deserves. I couldn’t have imagined a more suitable guitar player to have pulled off the complexity of this track’s intricate guitar licks than LaSalle Gabriel. The strength of J’s vocal contribution is also an asset to the validity of this wonderful tribute to a fellow artist.    

The original version of Delusions of Grandeur is equally comparable to its radio edit counterpart along with the added bonus of a few extra spin-tingling moments of musical brilliance.

Well… all in all, it has been a wonderful pleasure to have been given the opportunity to express my feelings on this album. Through and through I feel that this band is on its way to being regarded as one of the highlights of a major record label’s rosters and an absolute treasure inside anyone’s iPod!      

 

CD Reviews

IOM Magazine

Related