Sam Reviews an Album: Chris Crabtree, "Songs From the Edge of the Sky"

So occasionally I get reached out by some artist to cover their music and sometimes I actually manage to take the time to give their work a listen and that's the case with this release from local Singer song writer Christ Crabtree with his latest EP a follow up to his 2015 releases Counterfit Heart and Zen the Art of Killing Your Self a quaint little EP called Edge of the Sky.

From the opening title track you're greeted with a very dark and kind of ominous track that is ever so reminiscent of a Ryan Adams that's very focused on trying to express a series of complex emotions over some very simple and stark instrumentals that are often very heavy in acoustic guitar work and reverb heavy electrics in the background that are there to add atmosphere that's very strongly prevalent in the EP's first single the dream pop Easy.

With the opening and Title track you have a tune that's actually quite solidly good in a lot of way's really with it's steady pace and Crabtree most complimentary showcasing of his vocal range this song just moves along at a good pace and has just enough lightness to give things a bit of a groove to help not keep things from feeling too dark or broody once you give the lyrics a listen.

Since a lot of the tracks present on this EP are mostly acoustic lead folkish rockers with the occasional duet featuring a singer called Julie Sternman I'm given a feeling that the music here could work on a more Adult Alternative radio format marketed towards older individuals that are looking for music that is more introspective without being too in your face or overly rocking.

If you're a fan of later day Tom Petty or want a softer Ryan Adams this is a good collection of songs to be listening to especially in the fall because they're some very laid back and introspective tunes that are very approachable for a good variety of listeners and I'm sure upon repeated listens you'll find a tune or two to do the thing for you and for me Edge of the Sky and GFM are my own personal highlights.

If you're interested he'll be performing all of these tracks at his EP release show on November 29th at The Uptwon Arts Bar where you can see him perform all of these songs and a few other he's been working on and of course you can purchase them online that same day and at the show so if you have the time on a Monday night give it a shot the records solid and well worth the listen.


Easy:



GFM




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Sam Reiews an album: Cry Baby-Melanie Martinez

You know going on a hiatus is a terrible idea and I'd highly advise never doing it because even though I've been to a shit load of shows over the past 2 months I've been very much dead in terms of actual creative writing and it's been extra difficult to REALLY be motivated to tell you guy's just how awesome it is to see so many different bands and what not but today seems kind of interesting because not only is Straight Out of Compton out but one Melanie Martinez has released her full length studio debut album Cry Baby and to my excitement I've been giving it a proper listen and well i have a few things to say in a fairly compact matter so let's quit fucking around and do yet another Sam Reviews an album....

So Cry Baby it's a 13 song story of a little girl who's parents are alcoholics who cheat on each other and fuck up her life by distorting her moral compass and making her proceed to both murder and act in a mischievous manor and beyond that story there's not much else in this album besides a shit load of clever word play and some interestingly twisted things over what's very childish instrumentals that add to Martinez's twisted nature and give the album a kind of disturbingly wholesome feel.

In all honesty this album has about 6 killer tracks and the rest just kind of feel more in place to sound catchy and carry along a certain feel to it's aesthetic and story which isn't bad at all especially when some of them are performed live and kind of take a life of their own like the opening track Cry Baby which on here is a kind of tame number with one of the best uses of the word fuck in the whole album which completely changes around and becomes a viciously awesome number in a live environment which was my biggest disappointment when it came to this album but that disappointment is quickly set aside when you reach tracks like Dollhouse and Pity Party which just kind of have a really manic vibe that leads you to just kind of want to freak out along with her and really help hype the story being told.

There's also instances of slower songs really working like Soap which is a kind of dreamy number that musically does a good job of being kind of calming but with a really moveable beat and a chorus that kind of sticks along even if the rest of it is fairly typical stuff, and beyond that the rest of the album tracks don't have any super stand out tracks that are that good or bad for that matter so what I'm stuck with is more a solidly good album that leaves me wanting to listen to it more and seeing just how it develops over time.

Score: 6.5/10

Hits: Pity Party, Soap, Dollhouse

Misses: Cry Baby, Alphabet Boy

Sam Reviews an Album: "Our Own House," MisterWives

AH SHIT People MisterWives have a full length album out and I feel it to be my contractual obligation to give you guy’s a review so let’s quit bullshitting ya and get to telling you about this…

Some quick background for those who don’t know or haven’t read some of my concert reviews MisterWives are an alternative rock group from New York who have been spending the past year touring with various acts such as Bleachers, 21 Pilots, and American Authors and over the past year they’ve been gaining a lot of traction through their very jubilant and bright single Reflections which has gotten a hell of a lot of radio rotations here in the Kansas City area and even some national attention through some use in some random MTV show’s I don’t actually watch and with that about a year since forming and since the release of their first EP they’ve managed to release a studio album proper named after their first single from the album, “Our Own House,” which also serves as the first track of this album.

Of the previous EP of kind of bright but scattered poppy numbers almost all of them minus Twisted Tongue and Kings and Queens were included on this album and that kind of upsets me a tiny bit because Twisted Tongue was my favorite but that’s irrelevant because I figure Our Own House is a good replacement for that tune because it’s just as bright and poppy a number with a killer chorus in its own right and a complete lack of obscenities which probably helps them maintain this kind of radio friendly sound that is very apparent on this album which kind of screams a summer time album with its bright horn filled instrumentals and kind of clap along pace that many of the songs represent.

As I find myself giving this album a listen to review it I’m noticing a very heavy kind of Ska Influence in the tracks which is rather nice in most of these tracks but then you’ll eventually notice that a lot of these tracks also kind of sound the same because of that which isn’t really a terrible thing because the large amounts of bright kind of poppy chorus’ is this bands bread and butter and the fact that the majority of the tunes on it are those kind of songs gives this album a sound that kind of makes you want to go on a road trip or something with your windows down and this album blasting and not too much else.

Overall what I’m getting listening to this album is a pop group making a Ska record that will be on plenty of peoples list during those hot summer months whenever we’re all in need of real bangers and it really does make this collection of songs really solid at best it’s not the most amazing record of all time but it’s something that you can’t help but enjoy and have fun listening to because it’s a really good representation of their live show which is still bounds better than their studio outputs but even with that in mind as solidly good as this album is that means their live show is pretty freaking great.

7/10

Hits: Reflections, Our Own House, Hurricane, and Box around the Sun

Misses: Coffins, Queens