Comfort For The Traveller - Utah Carol > Reviews > Alternative? Maybe. Unusual? Definitely!

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Not applicable
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	One of those albums that grabs you for completely unknown reasons
Disadvantages:	One or two of the later tracks didn't grab me as much

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Every so often you come across an artist or a band that you absolutely love, instantly click with the music yet can't for the life of you work out exactly why that is. Last one that did this for me was Piney Gir - the latest is Utah Carol, which is a duo consisting of Grant Birkenbeuel and JinJa Davies - a Chicago-based outfit which has been labelled as 'Alternative' but clearly draws upon traditional Americana-based songs and arrangements, putting their own little twist on them. Now don't let the 'Americana' label put you off, dear reader - the songs range from twee to interesting to 'can't get you out of my head' - I had most of 'Silver Space Rocket' going through my head the other day....

There's clearly plenty of value for money here in simple terms of track numbers - practically an opus:

1. Airplanes
2. Misfits
3. Silver Space Rocket
4. See The Sun
5. Find A Way
6. Angel
7. When We're Apart
8. Soda Fountain
9. Promised Land
10. Wandering Eyes
11. Nellie
12. Mr Rogers
13. Dandelions
14. Cowboy Pop Song
15. The Way Of The Buffalo

Okay, that the basics out of the way, what do you get?

"Airplanes" sets the tone for the album in most respects - the duo sound joined at the hip since their voices compliment each other to the nth degree. But this is a good thing, since the arrangements slide along in sympathy with the almost syrupy-sweet nature of the song - definitely a 'feel good' track and something that puts you in the right frame of mind for the next piece....

"Misfits" clearly lifts an arrangement from a traditional song - "Anne Mae, Annie Mae, find your way to heaven" runs the chorus in a piece about a family dealing with the death of a favourite relative. It's almost fragile in its simplicity yet there's actually depth and layers in the delivery - and it ended up being my favourite song on the album (thus far).

Truth though, it vies with "Silver Space Rocket" for sheer enjoyment - the latter possibly edging it due to a cracking arrangement and backing, rocking guitars doing a fine job of leading you into a false sense of security that deserts you once the break appears and the accompaniment suddenly ramps the song into another dimension.

And that's just the first three tracks - there's another twelve to be getting on with here! (Stand outs later on include "Angel" and "Soda Fountain".)

Truth is - I can't really label this album and any comments or ratings I get are clearly subjective and clouded by the 'wow' factor I got when hearing it first time around. I think it's one of those that you either 'get', or you don't - there's no middle ground. And whilst the artwork on the inlay is pretty, there are no lyrics - a pity.