Reviewed by Eric Saeger
Comprised of big-deal sidemen who’ve been involved with everyone from Alicia Keys to The Drifters, this project makes arena-rock that should be palatable to Minus the Bear fans, which is not to say that there are that many curveballs here, but the band’s retro-ness does exhibit the notion of a plan embracing moderately modern conceits – I mean, I can’t say I’ve ever heard a cross between the come-to-think-of-it-closely-related Bread and Chris Isaak (‘Osprey’), or Sgt Pepper-era drums bonding quite nicely with basic Radiohead ideas (‘Willow Seeds’). The lead guitar bob-and-weaves on most of the tunes make you think of David Gilmour, a good match given the Dark Side of the Moon steez wafting out of ‘Sleeping With Bullets’. Aside from all that stuff, they’re equally capable of doling out ’70s fusion (‘Backlash’) and weird-beardy Bon Iver frostiness (‘Lullaby’), both of which, despite how it may look, work in the context.
Grade: A
