llmp
06/26/08, 12:38 AM
LaGrecia - On Parallels
Record Label: Suburban Home Recordings
Release Date: June 24, 2008
It has been a while since I have scrounged up the motivation to sit down and write something that will possibly break two hundred views. Really, it was going to take a lot to get me started again; this is why it should come as no surprise as to what I’m going to say about this album. Go ahead and start preparing the complaints about the rating.
LaGrecia, originally On Guard, was founded by none other than arguably one of the best vocalists around in Jason Shevchuk. Anyone who has listened to his former band Kid Dynamite and the reanimated None More Black know what his incredibly distinct voice sounds like. That has not changed with On Parallels, LaGrecia’s album that has been released post-mortem. And yes, this band has already broken up. Those aforementioned people familiar with Shevchuk should not be surprised by this, as he was the reason for the demise of Kid Dynamite, as well as the brief break-up of None More Black.
For those who have listened to None More Black's This Is Satire, the sound of LaGrecia is really simple to describe. Think of the bouncier tracks such as “Under My Feet” and that is more or less what the entirety of On Parallels sounds like. This is a very good thing, but I’m not particularly concerned with None More Black fans; they’ve more than likely already ordered the album. So I’ll go ahead and quit with the comparisons.
Shevchuk’s vocals are really the key to this band. They are what I like to describe as a warbling snarl which ranges in ferocity without much warning. They take some getting used to; in fact, I despised them on my first listen to Kid Dynamite, which happens to now be one of my favorite bands. Which is why I always urge people to give his bands multiple listens before discarding them as terrible; it really is worth the time of a few extra listens. Lyrically, the album showcases an obviously world-weary person who is not embargoed by pessimism. No matter how depressing they seem to get, there is always a hint of hope, whether it be through the music or Shevchuk himself. It is difficult to get the exact lyrics as Shevchuk is not always easy to understand, but that is the general feel they give off.
The instrumentation mostly takes a backseat to the vocals, not that it is without its merits. It never gets very complex and retains the bouncy feel throughout, but the band still does a great job of switching things up. In fact, rarely do the songs sound similar to each other. The band are also not afraid to throw in something such as handclaps and gang vocals, and are smart enough to keep this to a minimum. This helps keep the album fresh from beginning to end; there really is not one point during listening to this album I am bored. I was surprised to find, after my initial listen of the album, the songs are actually fairly long by Shevchuk standards, with only two songs barely missing the three-minute mark.
LaGrecia are exactly the band I expected them to be. I am, however, surprised at how solid On Parallels turned out to be. If nothing else, LeGrecia is at least worth giving a couple of songs a listen. At worst, a whole three-minutes has been wasted. At best, there are now at least three great bands with numerous albums to look into.
It is difficult and presumptuous to say now, of course, but I could easily see this as eventually being Jason Shevchuk’s best work. Hopefully, he pushes forward with None More Black and proves me wrong. It really is a shame the band had to break-up even before the album was released. But as the record shows, it’s just the thing to expect when getting into a band fronted by Shevchuk.
None More Black, Kid Dynamite, Lifetime, Paint It Black, The Loved Ones
myspace.com/lagreciamusic (http://www.myspace.com/lagreciamusic)
Record Label: Suburban Home Recordings
Release Date: June 24, 2008
It has been a while since I have scrounged up the motivation to sit down and write something that will possibly break two hundred views. Really, it was going to take a lot to get me started again; this is why it should come as no surprise as to what I’m going to say about this album. Go ahead and start preparing the complaints about the rating.
LaGrecia, originally On Guard, was founded by none other than arguably one of the best vocalists around in Jason Shevchuk. Anyone who has listened to his former band Kid Dynamite and the reanimated None More Black know what his incredibly distinct voice sounds like. That has not changed with On Parallels, LaGrecia’s album that has been released post-mortem. And yes, this band has already broken up. Those aforementioned people familiar with Shevchuk should not be surprised by this, as he was the reason for the demise of Kid Dynamite, as well as the brief break-up of None More Black.
For those who have listened to None More Black's This Is Satire, the sound of LaGrecia is really simple to describe. Think of the bouncier tracks such as “Under My Feet” and that is more or less what the entirety of On Parallels sounds like. This is a very good thing, but I’m not particularly concerned with None More Black fans; they’ve more than likely already ordered the album. So I’ll go ahead and quit with the comparisons.
Shevchuk’s vocals are really the key to this band. They are what I like to describe as a warbling snarl which ranges in ferocity without much warning. They take some getting used to; in fact, I despised them on my first listen to Kid Dynamite, which happens to now be one of my favorite bands. Which is why I always urge people to give his bands multiple listens before discarding them as terrible; it really is worth the time of a few extra listens. Lyrically, the album showcases an obviously world-weary person who is not embargoed by pessimism. No matter how depressing they seem to get, there is always a hint of hope, whether it be through the music or Shevchuk himself. It is difficult to get the exact lyrics as Shevchuk is not always easy to understand, but that is the general feel they give off.
The instrumentation mostly takes a backseat to the vocals, not that it is without its merits. It never gets very complex and retains the bouncy feel throughout, but the band still does a great job of switching things up. In fact, rarely do the songs sound similar to each other. The band are also not afraid to throw in something such as handclaps and gang vocals, and are smart enough to keep this to a minimum. This helps keep the album fresh from beginning to end; there really is not one point during listening to this album I am bored. I was surprised to find, after my initial listen of the album, the songs are actually fairly long by Shevchuk standards, with only two songs barely missing the three-minute mark.
LaGrecia are exactly the band I expected them to be. I am, however, surprised at how solid On Parallels turned out to be. If nothing else, LeGrecia is at least worth giving a couple of songs a listen. At worst, a whole three-minutes has been wasted. At best, there are now at least three great bands with numerous albums to look into.
It is difficult and presumptuous to say now, of course, but I could easily see this as eventually being Jason Shevchuk’s best work. Hopefully, he pushes forward with None More Black and proves me wrong. It really is a shame the band had to break-up even before the album was released. But as the record shows, it’s just the thing to expect when getting into a band fronted by Shevchuk.
None More Black, Kid Dynamite, Lifetime, Paint It Black, The Loved Ones
myspace.com/lagreciamusic (http://www.myspace.com/lagreciamusic)