Sky Orchid - Oculus (2017)

OFFICIAL: https://skyorchid.net/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/skyorchidofficial/

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/skyorchidband

Written by Frank McClure, posted by blog admin

Hailing from the small town Midwestern town of Manhattan, Kansas Sky Orchid takes a page from Deadboy and the Elephant Men, The White Stripes and early Big Business in terms of keeping their membership succinct.  They’re a two-piece fronted by mainly vocals/guitar and drums (keyboards/piano/percussion for the auxiliary sounds heard on this record).  Sky Orchid one-ups the competition, going a step farther and being a pair of blood-born brothers.  There’s a definite degree of musical telepathy involved whenever you get musicians from the same family bond in a singular project together and it’s all over the group’s debut album, Oculus. 

Oculus packs a lot of variety into its musically ambitious core.  Fragments of rock, indie, industrial, electronica, post-rock and gothic music all emanate from its sonically glowing mass.  Not only does the tight playing shine, the overall production is pristine and powerful giving even the softest songs a bottomless depth and immeasurable weight that crashes over the listener with force and subtle flicker erupting oftentimes within the course of one song.  “The River” proves this thesis true immediately; relying on brooding piano lines and a witch’s brew of bubbling drums that explode into spires of heavier guitar riffage later on.  Gabriel (vocals/guitar) has a solar croon aimed for the sky, giving this material both malice and menace throughout even when his lyrics reflect on the positive side of life and love. 

“Sneakers” meditates on trance-y, Euro-style electronica in its early half (though bare bones and atmospheric as opposed to house music’s bounciness) and turns into a full-fledged, mid-tempo electro-riff rocker during its latter moments.  Though “In the Fire (Part 1)” is an indie glimmer charmer for the largest part of its duration, the song is unafraid of some climactic, power-chord scaling when it crescendos and fiery-titled counterpart “Wildfire” trots along on a bluesy acoustic guitar melody before again unleashing some riff-centric finish work.  Elsewhere, “I’ll Stop The World (Part 2)” hurries the pace and goes for a 90s sort of riff-scorch ballast that meets in middle-ground with the keyboard enhanced goodness of recent acts like The Killers or Canada’s Econoline Crush circa The Devil You Know.  “Lex” is a crunching, drum-beaten psychedelic work that launches into the 1-2 bass-y grooves of “Breathe Easy (the duo’s oldest composition at 7 years’ aged)” and the downright positive “Take It All’s” cleanly woven guitar melodies.  “Yesterday” and album round-up number “Fortify” plunge more space-y and thoughtful textures in their droning, trippy electronica washed rock guises. 

Oculus is a powerful work from a young band that’s grown far beyond their humble garage beginnings.  With touring runs taking them all through Kansas, to Houston and Nashville (mainly for recording purposes), they’ve grown this project into something that the world needs to hear.  The brothers’ inventive take on songwriting and locked-on musical dynamics have rendered them a debut that’s all killer and no-filler.  Even the atmosphere-oriented compositions are of a highly quality and never devolve into boredom or tedium.  Oculus should please a wide berth of music fans of all styles and genre interests.

Rhett Repko - Thnx For The Ride (2018)

OFFICIAL: http://www.rhettrepko.com/

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Written by Wendy Owens, posted by blog admin

Rhett Repko’s new seven song EP Thnx For The Ride capped an active 2017 for this impressive musician, writer, and performer. His previous EP release About Last Night occupies a much clearer singer/songwriter niche than the new release, but he sustains the same level of excellence that’s defined his work from the outset with this new release while taking his music in a distinctly different than before. Thnx For The Ride is an outright rock and roll album – there’s some acoustic guitar present with the release, but there’s no question that electric guitar dominates these songs and Repko proves to be credible in that mold. He has an outstanding band accompanying him on this seven track journey. Lead guitarist Stefan Heuer, bassist Dan Gallagher, and drummer Tom Bryant is a crack musical unit who are never flashy without cause and give Repko’s songwriting the added spark it deserves.

The EP opener and title song “Thnx for the Ride” announces the collection’s intentions. Repko clearly wanted a gripping, immediate sound and this tune doesn’t disappoint as “Thx for the Ride” features shake you by the lapels rock thunder along with some deft shifts in time signature and tempo the band flawlessly pull off. “Please Don’t Laugh” is a little closer to straight forward rock than the opener, but there’s the same high degree of musicianship pushing things forward that distinguishes the title number. Repko’s vocal here stands out as one of the best on the EP and he mixes emotive phrasing with high energy in a way ideally suited for these songs.

A songwriting high point arrives with the track “It Ain’t Coming From You”, and Repko fans the caustic flame of heartache burning inside this song with an impassioned singing performance. Guitarist Stefan Heuer contributes some important harmony vocals throughout Thnx For The Ride, never vying with Repko for supremacy in the mix, but rather strengthening his already fine delivery. The song is musically compelling, as well, particularly during its surprising second half. “And I Told Her So” is probably Stefan Heuer’s finest moment as a guitar player on this EP and his lead work late in the song immeasurably adds to its final impact. The lyrics are exceptional, once again, without ever overreaching and Repko’s vocal ranks with the earlier “Please Don’t Laugh” as one of his best moments on Thnx For The Ride.

The brisk pacing of “Learn Your Name” allows for a number of stuttering tempo changes, yet the song never goes astray and has genuine commercial appeal to go along with its unimpeachable rock spirit. The finale “Make Me Right” is a fiery curtain for the EP and serves as a musical exclamation point for everything that’s preceded it. Rhett Repko’s written and recorded quite an explosive little rock release with Thnx For The Ride and it’s intriguing to wonder where his Muse might lead him from here.

Man Called Noon - Everybody Move (2017)

OFFICIAL: http://mancallednoon.com/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/mancallednoon/

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/ManCalledNoon

Written by Jay Snyder, posted by blog admin

Windy City alt-indie rockers Man Called Noon return with a brand new EP, Everybody Move.  Adding a new member in Nathan Crone (keys and auxiliary instruments) has deepened the band’s pulsating, dance-y grooves tenfold and the three tracks here exhibit much growth from their second full-length The Bad Guy.  Each cut thrives on spirited and highly energetic instrumentation led by a punchy rhythm section and a low, buzzing new wave synth frequency that pushes the band’s big chorus hooks to the forefront to make it all the more memorable. 

The title track starts thing off with a steady ready upbeat guitar riff played out over a lockstep drum beat and taut bass lines.  Lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist Anthony Giamichael’s higher register croon fills the song with a smooth focal point melody that builds up to a stellar chorus pay-off that’s made even sweeter thanks to Erin Piortrowski’s slick harmony vocals.  Lyrically, the message celebrates life, love and good times by inciting the listener to move and live to the music and the overall human experience.  A searing late game guitar solo explodes like dynamite atop drummer Josh Fontenot’s rousing forward pushing beat.  There are touches of pop punk, new wave, indie, dance music and r & b.  The mixture brewed in the songwriting always goes for a fresh and original approach to the type of music that the group favors.  A ragtime piano is the icing on the cake of this excellent track.  “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” relies on a bass-y, fuzzy lead keyboard riff that alternates with the cascading guitar licks and a driving low end throb.  There’s little time for balladry, boredom or slow tempo drudgery as the band is always operating on high octane.  Again the sugar sweet, dueling male/female vocal counterpoints craft a song that you’ll immediately want to sing-a-long to.  The guitar work even incorporates influences as disparate as jangly funk pattern into this rich sonic melting pot.  Closer “One Last Ride” runs a catchy punk rock guitar hook up and down the fret board.  It collides into a bass groove that’s got energy and bravado to match its 6-string counterpart.  Giamichael attacks the vocal line with some gritty snarl and drawl while the music’s pounding, hypnotic repetitions give way to full-fronted aural charge that keeps the pacing on high and the vocal trades in the limelight of the band’s palette.  The formula maybe simple on this tune but simple formula’s applied and layered effectively make for great pop music and although pop might be a huge influence on this music, Man Called Noon deliver their material with an edgy panache that never lays back (Piortrowski’s soulful howling back-up vocals are a serious aggressive high-point).  These cats know how to attack and strike; it makes their songwriting far more memorable than lesser bands of a similar ilk.

Everybody Move is an excellent EP with three great songs that you’ll have on repeat for quite some time to come.  It showcases a band at the height of a serious growth spurt.  Man Called Noon just keeps getting better and better with this quick platter containing some of their very best work to date.