This is a very fucking nice CD, I'll begin with that before I get into the one thing that kills me about it. What is that one thing? You guessed it. The layout. It pretty much stinks. I'm not that fond of it simply because the aesthetic seems far too slapped together and inappropriately unrelated to the sounds of the music itself. I've seen worse, but it's really bland, and the collaging of images looks like it was done in a quick, digital manner that's less interesting than literal cutting and pasting. This music deserves a far stronger visual force, and I'll get into that now. This curious duo occasionally enlists help from a handful of guest musicians, but the core of the band is two guys using nothing but acoustic guitars, bass, and vocals. Keyboards, cello, and electric guitars make a few appearances, but everything is always stripped down and minimal, but with a really clean, lush recording that has a lot of nice, natural reverb and atmosphere to it. Honestly some of this stuff sounds like Simon and Garfunkel or Kansas ala "Dust in the Wind" or something, but darker and with an indie thread and a unique singing voice that separate it from that stuff a little bit. "White Concrete" is a superbly emotional instrumental with piano and some lead lines, "An Easy Win" blends softly filtered vocals with almost hypnotic layers of note patterns, and opener "The Implied Fraction" really just sucks you in immediately with memorable vocal patterns and a great combination of stringed instruments. Really this is just an example of excellent songwriting, because normally things of this nature aren't my thing at all, but the performances and feelings generated here are just fucking excellent. This stuff really has the potential to reach a far wider audience, because anyone who's into that whole singer/songwriter-ish type of pseudo folk that's gaining popularity as of late should certainly appreciate this. I find it to be far superior to most of that stuff that I've come across, and I look forward to hearing more from this band for sure. I would damn sure hope these guys can get this music into the hands of an individual that can help them get the opportunity that they need to really expand on this. Very nice. If you're even mildly curious about hearing this I would recommend trying to at least sample it online to see what you'd truly think of it. I'm very pleased with it. Were this to have come in a really sleek, artistic package that represented the music properly I'd likely have given it an 8/10.
[Friendly Psychics]
Running time - 46:31, Tracks: 14
[Notable tracks: The Implied Fraction, White Concrete, An Easy Win, Just a Plan]
Friendly Psychics Music - http://www.friendlypsychicsmusic.com
