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Written
by Pamela Bellmore, posted by blog admin
We’ll See
Ourselves Out
is the righteous debut from Minneapolis rockers Circus of the West. Sounding like a lost record from the golden
era of guitar-focused rock n’ roll, influences of everyone from American Flyer
to The Outlaws to The Ramones to early Deep Purple to Joy Division and just
about any great band that musicians are still attempting to recapture in the
modern age come through loud and clear on this masterpiece’s 11 tracks. There’s something for everybody here and
thanks to immaculate performance, arranging, composition and production we’ve
got a vintage debut that’s not trying to be retro for the sake of it.
A
bouncing, buoyant bass groove dished up by Jason Kapel adds thrust to the
psychedelic organ intro of “Birdhand” and off the Circus goes into crashing,
punk-leaned twin guitar runs while vocalist/keyboardist Edwin Caldie puts his
back into a multi-faceted vocal disposition full of soaring highs, lower
melodies and some great two/three part harmonies. A breezy, trotting bass line and tender yet
gritty blues/country vocalizations settle “Some Connections” in for the groovy
long haul. Anthem-ready guitar
trade-offs go for atmospheric shots and bustling leads alongside the rich wall
of keyboards and the pivotal, melodic vocal harmonies in the chorus. It’s a laidback rocker that’s equal parts
mind and muscle.
“Boxes”
takes folk/country acoustic guitar licks and implants them into upbeat
post-punk crunch that’s all about taut snare drum cracks and looping bass
lines. It’s the intersection where Rare
Bird, The Ramones and Hum meet to trade musical tales. The chorus is a shot of progressive,
Midwestern space rock that they just don’t make anymore, although Circus of the
West interjects a bluesier, folksier bent to it. Saloon ivories, a fully featured vocal
performance from Edwin Caldie and sparse electric/acoustic accompaniment render
“Nothing Special” a fine slice of balladry that launches into screaming, riff-y
hard rock with growly vocals for the finale.
“Resurrection”
sees drummer Alan Einisman greasing the wheels of some snare flash as the song
is driven primarily by the drum/bass shock tactics of Alan and bassist Jason
Kapel. Searing, western guitar twang
covers a lot of ground here from 70s burnt hard rock to good ol’ boy southern
swinging. The dusty, tumbleweed organ
furthers the glorious crunch.
Humming
synthesizer and organ melodies yield organic sweetness to the romantic
“Valentine Eye” where the vocals sooth, the guitars loop in ambience and the
rhythms nary rise above a hushed pulse. The
remainder of the album is full of smashes with the bull-rushing punk/hard rock
of “Looking In” combining excellent vocal harmonies with an overload of energy
for a pure winner, “Finale’s” mixture of fiery guitar riffs and theatrical
piano/vocals, “Asma’s” Texas shuffles beats and post-punk/ska leaned
infectiousness, “More” ruling over the ballad turf and album ender “Epilogue” a
brief yet affected piece of country minimalism.
We’ll
See Ourselves Out is one of the finest rock albums I’ve heard this year. It just happens to be many other things as
well, giving it a progressive rock feel in 2017. Unless you’re an elder statesman of the
original rock n’ roll royalty that’s a rare thing nowadays. Anyone who likes a hard-rockin’ dynamic
display of sound is gonna love this one!
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