CrowsVsRavens – Revised Reality
Progressive rockers are a breed apart. Part hopeless romantics and part monks with endless supplies of patience and discipline, they are the equivalent of the novelists who write 1000-page tomes dedicated to imagined worlds when they could be writing murder mysteries instead. To paraphrase one career politician, they are not doing things because they are easy, but especially because they are hard.
Still, they need people who possess the same level of commitment if they’re ever going to find an audience. Just like the fantasy novelists require readers who will gladly memorise details written in a made-up language, so do prog-rock fans need fans who will appreciate tempo changes, philosophical lyrics and, above everything, great musical virtuosity.
Thankfully, those who were bitten by the prog-rock bug early remain infected and can rarely go back to 2-minute songs about girls and cars. Some of those victims, as well as suppliers of the potent drug, are CrowsVsRavens. “Revised Reality” echoes the ambition and majesty of mid-career Dream Theater. Or, if you are more cynical about these matters, CrowsVsRavens takes a similar approach of treating the music as an Olympic sport.
Either way of the coin that you decide to look at, CrowsVsRavens do get it right. There is a high degree of musical ability on display here, but the song also features some nice and sticky moments. Listening to every nuance is something I encourage, but just make sure you’ve emptied your calendar first.
Justin Webb & The Noise – Somewhere Between
The best kind of rock music feels effortless, and the greatest rock stars look like they don’t try it. Some of the best songwriters like to tell interviewers that they wrote their best material in two minutes while the football game was on a break. Some of the rockstars whose faces are plastered on the greatest number of posters will tell interviewers they slept in the same clothes in which they woke up.
Of course, that’s why this kind of music appeals especially to young people. It is when you’re young, for most, that things come easiest. Athletes run fastest when they’re young. Inventors come up with their best ideas. All people are most likely to fall in love with something or someone. Music that can reflect that ease will surely find an audience.
Justin Webb & The Noise’s “Somewhere Between” sounds effortlessly produced. While most bands strategize and plan about how to sneak in a ⅞ time signature or introduce lyrics related to ancient Egyptians, Webb doesn’t need to worry about such things. It’s that gently distorted vocal over a rocking tune that seems made for long drives on the highway, and that’s enough. Some bands just have the sound and need to figure out other things to work for.
