Tenderfoot
The Devil & Rock and Roll
Reviewed by A Girl Called Gordon
Yes. This band is made up of former members of Dear Ephesus. No. This band doesn't really sound like Dear Ephesus. Now that that is out of the way, let's get down to the nitty-gritty. Listening to this album once opened my eyes to the reason that Brett Levson and Lu DeFabrizio fell in love with this band . . . it's music that inspires them. Pure and simple. They hit hard the rock & roll that they grew up on. The drum beats are rock, the guitar riffs are rock . . . with a good blend of emo. Every once and a while Adam lets fly a guitar solo. Nice touch! The bass pushes everyone along and still stays tight with the rest of the band. Brett takes the lead vocals with a clear voice and Lu backs him up on several of the songs, sometimes with a rock anthem feel. At times, though, Brett weakens on his vocals, almost as if he is losing breath support. The songs are fun to listen to. The beginning of track 5, "Hindsight," reminds me of the bass line of the Fat Albert theme song. Does anyone remember that? "The Beauty of Iowa" has a storyline that is reminiscent of The Beatles' "Ob La Di." As far as the lyrics go, they are straight forward without a lot of guessing as to what they would be about. It's refreshing. From what I understand they are going to be touring around a bit this year, and hopefully their live show is as good as this cd. It's a keeper!