Judging from the exuberance of the sold out audience at Friday night's CD Release Party for Thunder in the Valley's new CD, A Long, Long Walk, Thunder in the Valley is now as much of a movement as a band.
Vocalist Graham Smith led the five piece ensemble and guest musicians through songs so familiar to their fans by now, they're almost piano bar classics. You can't help but want to sing along to the swinging sounds of songs like "Desperate Times," "Alistair's Bride," and "Three Fishermen."
Produced by Chris Strouth and Brian Jacoby of Balanced Productions, and released on Heart of a Champion records, the new disc is one of the best Minnesota CDs I've heard yet this year. Opening up with melancholic piano reminiscent of "Time" by David Bowie, the album builds into a bouncy, cohesive collection of songs with just the right amount of darkness and has a full and present sound that wonderfully captures the energy of the band's live performances. Also striking is the contemporary feel, unpretentiousness and lack of affectation in Smith's vocals, refreshing on piano-based music in the vein of Tom Waits, Bertoldt Brecht or Kurt Weil. This is how music might sound if a bunch of regular guys from Milwaukee formed a band and practiced a lot after getting off work at the Miller Brewing Company.
Watching the crowd dance and imbibe liberally on Friday at the Turf, I joked to a friend that TITV just might be the ultimate wedding band. Then I realized, that with their clear cross-generational, good time appeal, it's almost worth getting married just to find out if it might be true.
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