TonyDoug's CD Reviews

by tonydoug wright

Bound Stems, Appreciation Night (Flameshovel Records)

The Band: Dan Fleury, Bobby Gallivan, Janie Porche, Dan Radzicki, and Evan Sult

The History: Bound Stems is a Chicago-based band and Appreciation Night is their debut full-length CD.

The Review: Give the listeners the same sound on an album and they lose interest. Give the listeners a little bit of everything on an album and they lose interest. On a few occasions, bands create albums that are rooted in a certain style or sound where the listener gets pretty much the same thing without losing interest. Bound Stems nearly achieves that goal on their album Appreciation Night. Yes, the album has a somewhat frantic distorted vibe that avoids a repetitive nature, but for some reason there is a slight listener-artist connection failure. A fast paced urban existence is the heartbeat of this project and maybe that could be part of Bound Stems' intention. Various spoken word and everyday life background noises are sprinkled here and it works well with what the band is trying to accomplish with Appreciation Night. If the reader needs a comparison then there is a slight resemblance to Modest Mouse, especially on ‘Andover’.

Website: www.flameshovel.com

Aidan Coughlan, Mystery’s Mist (Hangman Label)

The Artist: Aidan Coughlan

The History: Aidan Coughlan is a Portland, OR based artist.

The Review: A band like Guided by Voices can release an album featuring twenty six songs and the majority of the tracks are fantastic. Sadly, this is not the case for Aidan Coughlan. Mystery’s Mist is an odd acoustic effort of lo-fi tracks inspired by The Beatles. Track after track of similar styled songs go to the point of overkill and therefore the end result is a lackluster release by Aidan Coughlan.

Website: www.myspace.com/aidancoughlan

Sophe Lux, Waking The Mystics (Zarathustra Records)

The Band: Gwynneth Haynes, Erika Miller, Kelly Goodwin, Twayn Williams, and Scott Appleman

The History: Sophe Lux is a Portland, OR band and Waking The Mystics is their second album.

The Review: When bands or artists venture down the bizarre or irreverent musical pathway then they must heed the words of David St. Hubbins in the movie This Is Spinal Tap: “It’s such a fine line between stupid and clever”. Waking The Mystics, an over-the-top art rock effort by Sophe Lux, tries to be a clever Tori Amos inspired effort, but instead it is a head scratching experience devoid of anything pleasurable. Lead singer Gwynneth Haynes has a nice singing voice, but unfortunately she relies upon a burlesque vocal style that’s absolutely horrific. Musically, Sophe Lux provides good material for Haynes to work with, but for some reason she tries too hard to have a unique vocal style. There are a couple of tracks where Sophe Lux sticks with the basics and the end result is something great. For example, the track ‘Lou Salome’ is the least bit artsy song on the album and it stands out as the strongest. Waking The Mystics is another album that could have been excellent if the band did not try too hard to be clever.

Website: www.sophelux.com

Andy Werth, Back To The Sun EP (Self-Released)

The Band: Andy Werth, Jeff Roeser, Jason Lackie, and Steve McPherson

The History: Andy Werth is a solo artist currently residing in Seattle.

The Review: Back To The Sun is a three song EP that successfully resurrects the days of piano driven 70s AM radio hits. ‘Back to the Sun’, starts the EP off with a light Steely Dan quality, and moves on to the toe tappin’ ‘You’re Gonna be a Star’, which is followed by another upbeat number ‘I Caught a Greyhound to New York’. Singer-songwriter Andy Werth is on the right track, but there are moments where the songs start to take on a TV comedy theme song style. Back To The Sun is an enjoyable debut by Andy Werth with plenty of appeal for pop listeners.

Website: www.andywerth.com