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Utah!:
Plays Well With Others
Utah! is a trio come to rest in Raleigh, NC by way of Michigan. They arrive with their second full-length after signing with Bifocal Media. Already an established group, they come to us with a pretty solid album full of melodic, emotional rock (not emo). Consisting of a guitarist/vocalist, drummer and cello player, they manage to create a pretty unique sound. Throwing a cello into the mix is what pulls them above a lot of other bands wandering around at the moment. I love that sound tangled in with the other instruments. The album seems to attack the listener in waves. Opening with a strong, solid start, it hammers itself into your head, leaving behind little crumpled remnants to keep you repeating parts all day. Moving then through a little bit of a slower, redundant area, my thoughts started to wander a bit. There was a bit of a lull. Then, about halfway through, the band seems to move back in for the kill again and pull your ears out of the clouds. Well done. My attention has been returned to the music. The album slows to a halt after ten songs and a bit of a noisy, confused ending. It works well. The songs and album as a whole seem to be structured around the feeling of the calm after and before a massive storm. I dig this style. The vocalist growls at times with a blown vocal chord croak, but he really pulls out beautifully melodic songs when youre not expecting it. Its a Jawbreaker meets Death Cab for Cutie type of voice. The guitar is played mostly through a clean channel, combining chunky chord progressions and thoughtful note constructions. The cello is a wonderfully refreshing piece to this music. It bridges and mellows the jagged guitar patterns and at times, even overshadows the guitar levels. The cello drifts in front, away from everything else as the drummer carries the band through their many different mood swings. This is bipolar rock at its finest. Crashing through raised fist sing-and-drink-along choruses (New Porch), they fall into extended jazzy interludes and jams (GHead) and then swirl into an assault of lawnmower-turned-pedal guitar distortion (G Rock). Theres even a sleepy drunk harmonica winding its way through Swing Song. Although sometimes it gets a tad slow and repetitive, it is a very well constructed and thoughtful record. I would love to see this group live; they sound like theyre holding back so much energy on this album.
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