Reviewed by Adrian Cherrill

Opening tracks usually serve to set the tone of what is to follow but on this debut offering from the Kentucky-based band, it actually makes things a little confusing. There's a lot to commend this album: an acute attention to detail, Dave Abbott's thoughtful and insightful lyrics and a range of influences including jazz, pop, rock, folk and funk, and a lot of different instruments beyond the usual. But the result is a collection of (mostly) good songs that don't really know what they want to be. The album starts with "Beautiful" which opens gently before leaping into a funky middle section almost totally at odds with the rest of the album, hence you wonder what is coming next. What does come is in fact five reasonable pop-rock songs drawing on some of the aforementioned influences, before the next curiosity in the three part "Reckless Love Trilogy". In itself it's not bad at all, and certainly serves to showcase Abbott's lyrics but again it seems at odds somewhat with the general pop-rock style of the album, along with the final track "Captain" where again the lyrical story does seem to suit the style of the song. You end up with the impression that four talented guys weren't sure what core style to go for.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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