Loud and Clear has more of a rock feel to it than Folkstar’s last album and is an ambitious 16-tracks in length. To learn more about the album and all things Folkstar please visit http://folkstar.net. There’s a fantastic blog describing the album and the meaning and inspiration behind it here: http://folkstar.net/loud-and-clear-folkstars-new-album. Folkstar begins the mixing phase this Friday with acclaimed engineer Karen Kane. Album street date to be announced very soon.
Pericardium is best viewed as a companion piece to Linehan’s live performance. The album is beautiful yet restrained. In order to appreciate the work that went into capturing her emotional energy in a medium like this, like a great Broadway musical, you really must really see and hear the live performance. The Broadway musical analogy is especially apropo, as Pericardium sounds like the soundtrack for a theatrical production. Linehan has scored student films and is also working on the score for a feature film with her father, Terry, and this sense of an underlying story is apparent on the album.
Pericardium opens with a thundering piano leading into “Tazmanian White”, a different kind of love song about a free spirit. The dramatic chorus will get stuck in your head, as it’s been in ours since we popped in the CD several days ago. The drums and well-placed backing vocals really flesh out the arrangement, which is pushed along by strong piano riffs throughout. Linehan’s vocals sound a little bit thinner than we’re accustomed to, one of the unfortunate side effects of studio compression, but the emotion shines through, especially when she really unleashes near the end against a backdrop of piano, electric guitar, and shouted background vocals. One part in particular reminds us of Kate Bush.
A hauntingly beautiful 25 second vocal interlude segues into our personal favorite track on the album “For Us”, which is probably also the song most likely to appeal to the mainstream sector. From beginning to end, the arrangement is breathtaking, with percussive, yet soft strings adding a lightness throughout the song that perfectly accompanies Linehan’s sweet vocals. The light pop song is simple and delicate and could easily make its way onto a movie soundtrack. By the time the song ends in a decrescendo of vocal harmonies and strings, we’re completely enamored. We can’t get enough of this song.
“Oh Fixation, Please Fix Me” starts off in a similar vein, before launching into a full out rock opera in the chorus, complete with passionate backing vocals and electric guitars. The lyrics pack a punch too, with lines such as “You won’t remember me, I’m just a happy memory for someone else to find.” Linehan keeps her verses sweet and subtle and then exudes force and fury in the choruses, her technical and emotional ranges both apparent as she addresses addiction. There is some nice electric guitar work in this one as well – the riffs are clean and effective without being too much, in addition to some more excellent string work.
The next song, “Fireside”, begins with a piano riff and big chorusy vocals that remind us of one of the more tender moments of a Tim Burton movie. Even at its sweetest, the song has an undertone of dark drama. In the bridge/chorus, a beautiful low cello helps escalate the song into a more upbeat but no less sweet apex before tapering off into an absolutely lovely and soft conclusion. “Forever I’m yours, and you’re mine”, indeed.
We have hardly a moment to recover before being launched into a slow cello solo that sounds downright sinister. Not exactly what one would expect from a song called “BFF”, the bitterness oozes out of every note in the first few slow lines before launching into full rock opera territory with help from more guitar and drums. She really lets loose on the vocals, too. “You could have treated me right…Is this what you wanted? You wanted a fight? Well now you got what you had comin’!” Zing.
At this point, the album shifts away from full band arrangements to more bare bones instrumentation, where it stays through the remaining songs. When we asked her about this transition, Linehan answered that it was indeed a deliberate decision intended to strip away the layers in order to get to the origins of it all, the “music within the music”. With only her voice, piano, and occasional subtle strings, “Carry On” is a tender testament of Linehan’s attention to emotional nuance. The perfectly executed vocal phrasing, sometimes almost a whisper and then rising to a plea and back again, is extremely effective. While Linehan sounds great with the band, she knows when to let the music speak for itself without any frills.
“Another Day Like Sunday” is another piano/vocal showcase with some nice theatrical lines that are almost playful and sing-songy if not for the underlying cynicism. She plays some great classical/theatrical piano in this song. By the final refrain, the song becomes a funeral dirge and the heartache in Linehan’s voice is apparent.
Luckily, we’re rescued from despair with the sweet sounding “Coupon Book” about the excitement and trepidation of a new love. Even here, however, Linehan and her piano don’t rest easy. “I could give you a coupon book for all the things I’d do for you, But we both know I only give favors on paper, It’s only ink in navy blue,” she whispers as the song winds down.
The album concludes with the funhouse carnival piano masterpiece that is “Medusa’s Zen Garden”. Over seven minutes in length, the piano work in this song is downright impressive. She also has some nice expressive vocals that escalate into what we can best describe as a “whoop”. The parts where she speaks the words in between echoing vocals make us feel like we’re at the crucial conclusion of an epic theatrical masterpiece. The urgency in both vocals and piano is apparent and effective. The lines, “I am not the girl I used to be. There’s a cage around my heart, you’ll never find the key!” are a fitting end to the album as a whole.
Pericardium is by definition a tough double layered membrane which covers the heart. This is the metaphor that ties all of the album’s songs together as Linehan allows her questions, emotions, stories, and music to flow through punctured holes in her pericardium. In her own words she explains: “In every song, there is the challenge of breaking through a wall, posing the questions of how we use our bodies as the ‘pericardiums’ for our souls. How do we hide our pain? How do we cope? How do we thrive and break down our walls of fear? Why do we build our walls to begin with, and what are they made of?” With her unique and theatrical style, Linehan can’t help but pierce through the pericardium of each listener. By the conclusion of the album, beware, for your heart may lay open and exposed.
For more information about Dylan Linehan, visit her website at: http://dylanlinehan.com
Musicians on Pericardium include:
Dylan Linehan: vocals and piano
David Easton: acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar
Joe Ristaino: drums
Lizz Gay: viola
Hillary Flowers: cello
Preston Luce: cello on “Carry On”
Lydia Meadows: violin
Vanessa Lynch: backing vocals
Dylan Fowler: backing vocals
We were pretty excited about this show – we’ve been fans of headliner Rio Bravo for a while, and after listening to the supporting bands online we were sure we were in for an awesome show.
Myself & I @0:13 / Burden The Hand @1:38 / The Capital @2:50 /
Sumerlin @3:38 / Rio Bravo @5:34
We arrived around 9pm just as Greenville based opening band Myself & I had begun their first song. We were easily and immediately impressed by Myself & I’s live show. Clearly they were tight, focused, and connected with each other and the audience. The singer looked out over the crowd while the keyboardist asked the audience how things sounded. They played a trick on us though. They said that this was their third show ever. We shook our heads thinking there’s no way that was possible. We weren’t surprised to later discover that they had been in a prior band called The Fear of Falling, a band that had achieved national exposure no less. Read our notes if you don’t believe we weren’t fooled.
Myself & I’s sound is reminiscent of The Fray mixed with Yellowcard or Dashboard Confessional. Our intern Katy said she was thinking Cartel and maybe The Ready Set. This is always a matter of opinion and used just to get the general idea. They’re five guys (singer/guitarist, guitarist/backing vocalist, bassist, drummer, and pianist/keyboardist) who play emotional, melodic rock songs with prominent piano; songs about the angst of life and love. Listen to their music online, watch the video, and go see a live show for the real deal.
Lyrics: The song “Losing My Balance” explores life in a small home town with “I’m just looking for an easy way out of things. What’s the point of staying here for the answers when there’s no where to go.” Perhaps the most striking of their songs “Moving On” includes the highly memorable lyrics “I’ll be there when you wake up. And I’ll be there when you grow old… You said you should let me go. Let me go.”
Other notables: We noticed the keyboardist playing backing vocals on the keys. Interesting. Perhaps even more interesting, it appeared that the guitarist was playing a Straight Six Stratocaster. This is unconfirmed, but a single pickup, single knob guitar is a rather interesting choice.
Burden The Hand came out with guitars blazing. Their first handful of songs was an all-out onslaught of hard rock/metal/screamo. They sang and screamed their hearts out.
Burden The Hand is five guys from somewhere in NC, maybe Benson, maybe Smithfield, consisting of two guitarists, bassist, drummer, and lead vocalist/guitarist. They have a lead vocalist, but everyone sings in this band. The bassist shared the most lead, followed by one of the guitarists (who sung lead on one song in addition to regular backing vocals). Speaking of the guitarist, he played some nice tapping work on the song “Burden.”
There was an interlude toward the end of their set by the bassist, who talked about how they consider themselves to be normal guys who love Jesus, and Jesus loves everybody. “We just happen to be Christians in a band… I love Tarantino movies and I love Jesus.” This was followed by a slow, ballad-like, explicitly religious song with the often repeated lyrics “I’m just a man and I feel used,” including an a capella portion. We thought the announcement may have been because they’d gotten flack for being Christian in the past. There was no reaction from the crowd either way, positive or negative. They, like us, were probably just there to hear some awesome rock music, which Burden The Hand did deliver.
After the show, all three of us went on and on about the drummer. Throughout the show this guy was flailing about, spinning sticks, and showing off his obvious talent with ease – all done on a kick ass wood-grain Crush drum kit. Clearly this guy stole the show for us.
Noteables: Every member of this band was wearing earplugs. Hallelujah! Also, the lead vocalist had good control over his voice, hitting the high notes without straining too much. This is important particularly with this type of music so you don’t lose your voice.
From the floor The Capital‘s lead singer reminded us of Rivers Cuomo with his short hair and fitted shirt. He was charismatic, cracking jokes, making fun of himself, giving shout outs to Wilmington as well as to the other bands, especially Myself & I. We also noticed that he was playing a nice brown and tan striped Tom DeLonge signature Epiphone guitar. This makes sense since The Capital’s music is clearly reminiscent of Blink-182.
The Capital plays rock songs, full of power chord fury, with positive messages. One song explored how “beauty is on the inside.” They said they hadn’t played a show in two months, but we couldn’t tell.
Sumerlin brought a big arena-level show to Soapbox. They were sweaty and confident with great stage presence, professional gear, stage lighting, in-ear monitors, and by far the best, most balanced sound we’ve ever heard at Soapbox. The lead vocalist, Dan DiGiovanni, was charismatic, getting the crowd to come closer and dance and sing along.
Wilmington’s own Sumerlin is pop/rock at its finest. (How Soapbox wasn’t packed to the rafters for this band is a total mystery). They’ve got huge power choruses and a strong singer to get the audience to sing along to them. He crouches down and gets intimate with the front row and then jumps up and forward toward the crowd to get them into it. The bassist was equally as energetic, despite being behind a bass guitar and microphone. Speaking of being behind an instrument, the singer is also a good guitar player although he didn’t play at all during this show. This came as a surprise to Kim who had seen DiGiovanni playing guitar around town, including performing and recording with Little Miss Sabotage and the Cornflowers a while back.
Sumerlin are true entertainers. They put on a huge display the likes of which we haven’t seen at Soapbox since Grace Potter and the Nocturnals graced that very same stage.
Lyrics: Clearly the catchiest song was “Illuminate” with the F.U.N.-like lyrics “Here we are tonight singing. Here we are tonight singing. Woah. We are young-un-ung.” Actually there’s some debate about those lyrics. Live it sounded like they were singing “we are young” but on the CD we picked up we think it’s “we are yours.” Either way, you get the idea behind their lyrical power choruses.
Noteables: Katy appreciated that they introduced each song. Also, although they are an explicitly Christian band, they are clearly enjoyable and incredibly fun to watch regardless of affiliation.
We’ve seen Rio Bravo two or three times before and they are without a doubt one of our favorite local bands, and this was definitely their best show to date. They’ve got a great, unique sound, mainly due to the lead vocalist and the sweet, catchy melodies he produces on his Telecaster.
Rio Bravo opened their set by saying “this is our new sound” and then launching into a cover of Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble.” This was hilarious to both the crowd and the band. The singer was laughing quite a bit, and it was really very funny. They pulled it off very well and if there was anyone there who hadn’t heard Rio Bravo before, they were immediately smitten.
They followed up by the songs we know and love from their album Fences and their latest release Unbelievable Lie. These are epic songs, slow at the start, with an emotional and instrumental build-up, resulting in the listener feeling transported by the music.
Clearly Rio Bravo enjoyed themselves on stage. Their camaraderie with each other is obvious and infectious They smile a lot and genuinely take pleasure in playing their music. That’s why we were shocked to learn that, after one more show, they’re calling it quits. This is one of our favorite bands and that’s it, no more. It’s a tragedy that the world should be deprived of their music. Maybe that’s overly dramatic, but it’s the truth. To the band it’s no big deal. We stopped the guitarist and he said that it’s not a bad thing, they’re just moving on to other things. Even our intern Katy (who had never heard of Rio Bravo before) was truly heartbroken.
Editor’s Note: After we posted the review, we received a response from Rio Bravo clarifying their decision to split up. “…[C]alling it quits is a big deal to us. We had dreams of world tours and doing this for the rest of our lives but due to multiple things we weren’t able to make it happen. We’ve all gotten to the point where we had to keep jobs to support ourselves and now our jobs have taken #1 priority. We are all best friends and will always play music together though. -Christian Black, Drummer, Rio Bravo