Tangelo
Year Of Saturdays
Isochromatic
There is a certain earthiness to Tangelo’s music. On this, their first true longplayer, Tangelo’s music occupies a vague space between R.E.M.’s Fables of the Reconstruction and the less pretentious aspects of folk music. That is, while ostensibly a folk/rock group, lead singer Patrick Bradley sings in an unaffected manner that hearkens back to mid-‘80s R.E.M. This style is well supported by the disparate strands Tangelo incorporates on this release.
While the band opens up with two nice tracks, “Lovely” and “Judy,” they unexpectedly switch gears into a Nirvana-esque inspired rocker, “Sugarloaf.” A track with all the makings of an alt-rock hit despite the senseless whining of the fifteen-year-old producer’s daughter in the background. The band indicates their breadth, scope and vision on the next two tracks.
“Circus Maze” is evocative of none other than Echo and the Bunnymen to this reviewer. The slight Tex-Mex acoustic strums and rolling drum cadence sounds like an outtake lifted directly from a classic release like Ocean Rain. “Adoring Stories,” on the other hand, has the gentle plinking of what sounds like a toy piano. Indeed, it is these sounds that separate Tangelo apart from many of the other bands toiling away in folk/rock obscurity. There is a sense of whimsy and playfulness at work here in these songs. Not only in the delivery but also in their construction, incorporating suitcases as elements of percussion and synthesizers, broken guitar pick ups and a host of other elements. While the singing can be a bit flat at times, altogether, if you are a fan of bands like Lullaby For the Working Class or the aforementioned artists, this release by Tangelo will certainly appeal to you.
Tangelo: http://isochromatic.com/tangelo/
