3-song demo

Despite the mostly loud, fuzzy guitar licks, this middle-of-the-road Freebirdin' music will appeal to those into the mellower side of the Crows -- either the Black or Counting variety. All three tracks on their self-released debut EP move at an EZ-FM radio pace, plodding forward with an even keel, trying hard not to offend and succeeding.

The talent is there, with a line-up consisting of some local veterans, including lead singer/guitarist Justin Lamoureux, bassist Mike Fratt (ex-Acorns) and drummer J Ochoa (ex-The Get).

Lamoureux's twang-tinged voice does just enough to ebb and flow with the two-dimensional chord changes, trying his damdest to sound like someone you've heard before but can't quite put your finger on. The best parts, however, are when Lamoureux isn't singing and the band simply leans back and does some jamming in a quasi-Neil Young sorta way. They would be well-advised to draw out these little jams for four or five minutes during their live set -- but something tells me that would be a bit 'too risky.'

Their music suffers from a bad case of the same-ees -- there isn't much variety from song to song, especially in the pace, dynamics and chord progression departments. Even when the band tries to take it down noticeably on the closing track, the ballady "On My Own," it only takes a minute or so to get back into the same old groove. The end product has a slightly hypnotizing effect. Still, for a demo, not bad at all. It'll be fun to see what happens when the band let's go of its self-imposed reigns and takes the road less traveled.

back to   Posted Nov. 1, 2002. Copyright © 2002 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.