Seymour
Glass Note To Self
By Brad Podray
By appearance, name, and, for that matter,
any conceivable aspect other than actual recorded music, one would peg
Seymour Glass as a cookie-cutter emo band. One would expect their debut
album, entitled Note to Self, to feature the same type of unoriginal
and downright boring formulas we've come to expect from the emo scene.
The formula involves the following: Music filled to the brim with acoustic
guitar-derived melodies under vocals that go from a broken-hearted whine
to a slightly different broken-hearted whine all the way to a climactic
broken-hearted whine somewhere at the climax of the song. One would
expect Seymour glass to sound like any of the countless other acts that
are capitalizing on this explosion of this particular sub-genre of rock.
However, these assumptions one would make
would be very wrong. For starters, Seymour Glass is willing to take risks
by employing song structures that are far from predictable, and lead singer
Artie Kitchen successfully avoids the annoying qualities that plague his
peers obnoxious endeavors. In addition, guitarist Steve Pepe throws in
guitar melodies that retain a catchy energy without sounding trite and
overused. One of the most intriguing things about this group is the
heavy use of acoustic piano into several of the tracks. This skilled
and original use of piano as a driving force resurrects an art that has
been lost in the current age of all-too-generic pop-rock. With songs that
vary in tone from somber "Everytime" to innovative "Broken" to just plain
rockin "Hypervent", Seymour Glass breaks through the songwriting drought
that for far too long has been plaguing the rest of the industry. Though
not different enough not to be lassoed into the emo pop-rock genre, they
definitely stand a head above the rest on basis of their originality alone.
With a pop-conscious mentality, a rock n' roll heart, and an imaginative
brain, Note to Self transcends its light-rock pretensions, putting
collectives like Dashboard Confessional and the rest of the laughable emo
scene in their place.
Sure to please: Emo rockers with appreciation
of musical skill, Pianists, myself.
Sure to disappoint: People who hate songs
about heartbreak, metal fans, people who think piano isn't meant to rock
(aka idiots).
CD Info
Seymour
Glass Note To Self
Label: 456
Entertainment
Rating: 
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