Review

Band to Watch @ Salad Days Music

Locust Avenue formed in Norman, Oklahoma after the guys got together as a Kinks tribute band, Locust Avenue went their separate ways, reformed, and eventually joined up with guitarist, Todd Walker (Defenestration). Led by the strong songwriting talents of Jeff Richardson (guitar/vocals) Jeff Cooper and Blaine Palmer provide bass and drums to a soundtrack of pain, love, and longing – you know all the things of solid musical fodder.

"Songs for the Shortwave" Dream #7

Reviewed in Dream Magazine #7:

A thumping melodic indie pop rock sound, with jangling guitars, compressed populist work ethics and Americana-earthliness. Humble and simmering rather than blazing. Likeable life-sized contemporary folk rock and more spilling out seemingly effortlessly. Slacker white boy blues numbly mulling over the end of the world from their living room lookout towers.

"Dreamt of by Armadillos" Dream #7

Reviewed in Dream Magazine #7:

Guitars, synthesizer, bass, drums, samples, phone, and more utilized to improvise these captivating glimpses of a seamless sonic fabric and manifesting manifold mysteries along the way. They play with a unified muscularity many contemporary improv outfits eschew. There are a couple tracks here that feel very much like space rock, but it’s all dreamily captivating.

"Ever Now Those Before" Dream #7

Reviewed in Dream Magazine #7:

Five droning suites of sound and folded space; some more texturally crunchy than others. Big sleepy ghosts rolling around as massive shifting shapes that stir the air with roots that reach all the way to the center of the earth. Humming deep earthly tones and factories made of glass spewing out thick fragrant smoke rings into the cool evening air.

"Midwest in Mono" Dream #7

Reviewed in Dream Magazine #7:

Ghostly Americana evaporating in a dusty trail of moonlight. Desperation glimmers around the edges, but there’s often warmth and reassurance at the core. This is not a person; but Matt Carson sings in a pleasant resonant voice that gives this a distinctive personality, it’s a quartet, and none of them are named stephen. Gently softspoken folk rock that goes in and out of focus. Some pieces are fairly straightforward and songlike, while others veer off the garden path into the woods and briars.

"Guardian of the Cattle" Dream #7

Reviewed in Dream Magazine #7:

Hypnotic muddy swirls in flowing river water. Improvisational rhythmic group interactions unintentionally revealing bucolic surroundings whether real or imagined. Some pieces feel slightly more premeditated than others, though they all exude an organic/acoustic vibe, as well as an abiding respect the soft-spoken end of the spectrum. A trio made up of Greg Elliott, Jesse Butler, and Lily Butler making sacred sounds in their living rooms.

"The New Originals" POP Magazine

Written by Josh McBee, this review appeared in POP Magazine, Friday, 22 April 2005:

Crafting pop songs has become a lost art, especially in these days of post-hardcore and screamo confusion. It's nice to know there's a place where verse/chorus/verse structures still work, a place where lyrics are written and sung so people can hear what's being said. That place is Locust Avenue, and their sophomore CD for the local label Maritime Fist [Glee Club] (sic.) is a humble ode to the lost art of pop sensibility.

"The New Originals" Oklahoma Gazette

This review was written by Preston Jones and appeared in the Oklahoma Gazette, Wednesday 27 April, 2005:

From the gritty opening notes of "Safe Distance," Norman-based quintet Locust Avenue ferociously channels the spiritual likes of The Replacements and The Kinks through the 10 tracks on "The New Originals" — leaving listeners with a permanent grin stapled to their faces and an undeniable urge to hit the repeat button after every track.

"The New Originals" Dream #7

Reviewed in Dream Magazine #7:

A louder clearer sound than before, more middle American rock pop. A bunch of nice guys making their collective pop dreams into some kind of reality. Very catchy and much more overtly psychedelic and colorfully poppy than their ‘Shortwave’ album. A couple tracks sound like they might want to be R.E.M., but this time the songs really will be about nothing.

"For You" Foxy Digitalis

Posted and reviewed by Brad Rose at Foxy Digitalis (December 2005):

Gown is the solo guise of Nanaimo native, Andrew MacGregor. I first became aware of his recordings earlier this year when he went on a trek from British Columbia to Western Mass with his partner, Christina Carter. MacGregor and Carter did a lot of duo sets during that tour, and it makes sense. Gown traverses similar territory as Carter on her solo releases - fractured, emotive guitars and distant, bellowing vocals. It's a good combination.

"For You" Dream #7

Reviewed in Dream Magazine #7:

This CDR release features two extensive tracks constructed from layers of sublimely mystified acoustic guitar, bells, chimes, and moaning male vocals. If a fairly well-adjusted ghost were to make music, it might sound like this. The second track features words and sounds a bit like a slow motion version of Six Organs of Admittance.

"Constructions One" Deep Water Acres

Posted and reviewed as part of Bones From The Garden at Deep Water Acres (Feb 2006):

Moment Trio, also from the Maritime Fist compound, explores a ragged free sound sculpture that ranges from percussive clang fests to scorched bass and drone rumbles and lots of minimal inbetweens. Mostly enganging, unclassifible journeys that sound like a more spacious cousin to Daniel Padden’s One Ensemble, where the deconstruction reveals brilliantly illuminated passages of solemn transcendence, albeit captured at the bottom of a well; nice echo chamber production.

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