Have you ever hijacked a few of your parents’ vinyls? Zeppelin, Rush, Jefferson Airplane, Santana? Well take those records sitting in a dusty box in your basement and fuse them together at high heat. Yes, melt them together. Now take your melted record and place it on the record player, set the pin down and let it play. You, my friend, are hearing Earl Greyhound.
It’s almost funny that their name is itself an amalgamation, because the band is an amalgamation of awesome.
The Brooklyn three-piece released their second album, Suspicious Package last week, and it’s a refreshing jambalaya of genres – from contemporary hard rock to 70s blues rock – and I like it.
And I say refreshing because it’s completely nostalgic. Suspicious Package isn’t trying to fit in the nu-nu-indie movement that has seemed to take over the buzz bands lately, but its old feel is what makes it truly new. Almost post-modern, Earl Greyhound has put out what I’m guessing they intended to – a kick-ass rock album full of attitude, heavy guitars, and bluesy melodies.
Listening back to this album several times, I finally figured out why its sound was so different than anything I’ve heard lately. Suspicious Package is incredibly raw without sounding under-produced. While it sounds inexplicably live in the instrumentals, the multi-layered mixing sounds phenomenal with a big ol’ pair of headphones. You can hear the drums behind you and the vocals to your left and the guitar to your right. It makes for a pretty wicked listening experience. And it’s unbelievable that this much sound could come from three people. You have to admit, that’s kind of awesome.
Opening on the eerie and eccentric two-part “The Eyes of Cassandra” eases the listener into something that again feels live. At least a lot of the live shows I’ve been to starts on a long and creeping introduction, building anticipation in the audience. “The Eyes of Cassandra” has that same building quality. The cool deep harmonies of Matt Whyte and Kamara Thomas are combined with the pounding drums and groovy keyboards that almost remind me of Rush. No, seriously. That supernatural keyboard sound doesn’t necessarily continue throughout the album, but Earl Greyhound keeps the intensity from song to song.
As you move into the later tracks on Suspicious Package, you get everything from a dark Zeppelin-tinted “Sea of Japan” to the softer acoustic ballad “Out of Air.” There’s the piano-laden power ballad “Bill Evans” along with the sexy and danceable “Black Sea Vacation.” Whyte’s more melodic vocals make the second half of the record less in-your-face than the earlier songs, so you don’t ever get tired of what you hear because it’s never the same.
Earl Greyhound hits so many high notes with this album that it would be blasphemous if it didn’t get on at least a few best-of-2010 lists.
Track Listing:
1. The Eyes Of Cassandra (Part 1)
2. The Eyes Of Cassandra (Part 2)
3. Oye Vaya
4. Ghost And The Witness
5. Shotgun
6. Holy Immortality
7. Sea Of Japan
8. Black Sea Vacation
9. Bill Evans
10. Out Of Air
11. Misty Morning
