This is an exciting time for underground music, if you like all things eclectic, experimental, and funky-cool. There are a lot of bands--Burlap to Cashmere, Spinoza, Stickman Jones, etc. --drawing from various influences and cultures and bringing in horns, strings, percussion, and so on to create innovative new music. Six-member Beauty For Ashes (two women, four men) is right there with this debut. Their melancholy sound, while original, should bring up a number of appealing associations for some. The male lead vocals are a cross between Mike Knott's low voice and the slightly trembling nasality of Breakfast with Amy's lead singer, for example, and several songs recall the more accessible tracks from Havalina Rail Co.'s latest, especially with the female vocals. The overall sound is scratchy psychedelic meets goth meets moody modern rock meets Eastern European ethnic stuff. Throw in lots of cello, violin, tambourine, clarinet, and bassoon, and it is a musical potpourri, fragrant to some and pungent to others. The lyrics are quite solemn and yearning with many straight Old Testament Scripture references mixed with worshipful poetry. The production is sparse but adequate. Some will find this to be like Havalina--an interesting but too-strange listen--while others will gush for hours. Either way, this is a cool album and a good start. A more polished, mature full-length will be waited for with bated breath.
4 tocks
