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Ringsend: Sunday Brunch at the Gentlemen's Club
In the two years since the release of their first record Vertigo, Ringsend has changed dramatically. The bands mission of turning out quirky, jam-ready pop songs is still there, but now the band is much more adept at actually playing them, which makes for a world of difference. Much of this is due to the production of the album: Vertigo at times sounded like your typical recorded-for-no-money independent release, which it basically was. Sunday Brunch at the Gentlemens Club suffers from none of this the album is incredibly well-produced, and the bands songwriting has grown in leaps and bounds as well. From the sound of this release, it looks like Ringsend is going to be filling the spot in the Richmond music scene recently vacated by Agents of Good Roots. While listening to the disc, I could definitely hear opportunities where the band could stretch out and jam, but the studio versions are kept tight and short, and rely more heavily on groove than worrying about solos. On the whole, the bands level of playing has increased immensely, and new drummer Anthony Allen (Rob Hubbard was behind the kit on Vertigo) is a great addition. The first track, Air Bourne Earth Bound (Wonderful), kicks the album off with a bracing piano line, before opening up into Queen style bombast. Josh Harvey is still a monster on all kind of keyboards, and takes the focus on most of the songs, specifically "No Difference, which starts off as an epic funk workout andwell, ends up as an epic funk workout. Photograph Love is another favorite, and it features backing vocals from Richmonds latest next big thing, Regan. JC Kuhl from AGR also makes another guest appearance (he was featured on Vertigo as well), and the album also features contributions from Bob Miller and Stewart Myers. On the whole, this album is a great step forward from the bands previous release. While there are instances of Steely-Dan-ness throughout certain parts of the album, overall its a great disc and one definitely worth checking out.
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