Now, if you know me personally/follow me on Twitter or Last.FM, it’s not hard to guess that I’m a Pop-Punk and Hardcore dude. But sometimes, I like to give The Wonder Years a break (sounds weird, right?), and listen to a band/artist that most people wouldn’t expect a guy like me to listen to. And Grey Gordon, a folk musician from Fort Wayne, Indiana and a friend of mine, is one of those artists. His latest EP, which he sent to me to listen to and review, is a breath of fresh air. The music reminds me of some old Richie Havens (Don’t know who that is? Look him up), with lyrics that instantly make me think of John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats during his lo-fi Boombox recording days, even though the production on this EP is of remarkable quality. With each chord strummed, I can hear each note perfectly and Grey’s vocals are as clear as they are good.
From the opening chords of “Banned from the In Crowd” to the last line of “Underwhelmed”, you can tell that Grey has a lot on his mind. From lyrics about breaking edge to staying hopeful, it’s hard not to be moved by this four song EP. Track number three, “First World Blues”, already has about forty plays on my iTunes queue, and I’ve had the track for only about a week. The complete honesty of the lyrics also reminds me of The Wonder Years in a way. Musically, there’s only one instrument accompanying the vocals, which is Grey playing along on his acoustic guitar. This gives it the folksy feel, and to be completely honest, when I heard the demo for “In Crowd”, it reminded me of Richie Havens playing “Handsome Johnny” at Woodstock. Obviously without the political connotations, but still musically and the way that he sings is completely reminiscent of Havens to me. Did I just compare Grey to pretty much a legend in folk music? Yeah. I went there.
Clocking in at about ten minutes, you can probably take the time out of your day to give this a listen. And who knows? Maybe you’ll fall in love with it like I did. If you’re ever around the Fort Wayne area, hit up one of his shows. I plan on doing it when I’m able to. He’s a really cool dude, and he writes some of the most honest music I’ve listened to. And trust me, those ten minutes that you put into listening to this EP will be worth it.
Facebook link: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Grey-Gordon/242769375742192
Listen to his first demo and “First World Blues” at http://www.greygordon.bandcamp.com
You can also look at his Facebook page for show dates
Overall album rating: 5/5
Choice cuts: All four songs, pretty much.
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