Story of the Sea record release w/ The Life and Times and These Modern Socks at The Turf Club on 1/30/09
By: David de Young
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| Story of the Sea - Photo by Jenn Barnett |
Opening the show Friday was Ice Palace, whom writer Pat O’Brien (read Pat's review of the evening's festivities here) told me is sounding better each time he’s heard them. Though I was too late to catch them this time myself, I learned that Jacob Mullis and Amy Hager of Fort Wilson Riot and Jacob Grun of Parts for All Makes have recently joined the ensemble which is still headed up by Adam Sorenson.
Up next was The Life and Times from Kansas City who were the pleasant surprise on this bill for me. They brought with them their own lightshow (bright white spotlights) which was only part of what turned their show up a notch. I think it’s safe to say they really impressed with their 80s-influenced yet contemporary rock. There were moments early in their set when I thought they sounded a bit like what Eddie Vedder might sound like fronting U2,strong vocals awash on a sea of shimmering, ringing guitars. But that’s not a good overall description. The audience was clearly into it, and they were a perfect complement to Story of the Sea on this bill. I strongly urge you to visit their MySpace page and check them out for yourself.
These Modern Socks were third on the bill, and they lost me for a bit. This may sound odd, but I think the Socks (who I have seen many times in the past) actually sound better when they dress sharp. Friday they looked like the guys from the office on casual Friday and it just didn’t fit with tight pop they were purveying from the Turf stage. That said, about two thirds of the way through their set though, they picked up steam. But that was a bit too late for me.
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Story of the Sea - Photo Barnett
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Jenny Dalton joined the band for the fourth song “Sway,” with which she is credited with backup vocals on the album. The song is in a minor key and lives up to its name. Again, the chorus is melodic and pretty – the words “Here in Georgia” sound almost spooky with harmonies by Dalton.
Many of Story of the Sea’s songs have complex rhythms, but this is far from math rock. If you’re going to make complex rhythms in the songs, do it as Story of the Sea does without making the rhythm the focus of the song. Story of the Sea never loses track of the passion at the core of their songs. And the choruses are always grounding, leaving you with something solid you can still hang onto in your head after the song is done. As good as the CD is, this band sounds even better live.
Story of the Sea is also a band that doesn’t do anything particularly fancy. Front man Adam Prince (brother of drummer Ian Prince) sings rather matter-of-factly (though as mentioned with that somewhat despondent slur reminiscent of Kid Dakota), but he’s got all the textbook parts of how to do this down and the quality of what is happening comes through. There are no gimmicks here, just great music performed exceptionally well. The rest of the band, bassist John McEwen and guitarist Damon Kalar are right where you need them to be. The music itself, as opposed to any individual band member, is the star here.
And speaking of gimmicks, even the release of the album high grade grayish vinyl, complete with white whisps running through it (design by Brian Kriederman at the Royal Bureau) is not a gimmick. The full size album sleeve has a photo of the lunar rover (and a moon colony) on it, and it’s just gorgeous. Only 500 were pressed. (FYI, there’s a bonus CD insert for the turntable-less). I think people have grown bored with CDs and MP3s, and the resurgence of vinyl is one way for people to regain the tactile aspect of music. And I hope albums like Lunar Co. represent a tipping point of the vinyl resurgence and not the peak.
Location Info:
The Turf Club
Artist Info: Story of the Sea, These Modern Socks
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