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Written
by Raymond Burris, posted by blog admin
Chicago
is a well-known city for all types of art, especially music. There’s been a slew of interesting,
innovative bands and artists that have called the Windy City home. The list is so long at this point that I
could easily dedicate an entire article to naming them all and still fall
short. Making waves over the last few
years, Man Called Noon already have two full-length albums under their belt as
well as several singles and other various releases. They’re very prolific for a relatively new
band and the three-track EP Everybody
Move is the latest stage of their musical evolution.
Man
Called Noon is a tough lot to pin down, musically. On Everybody
Move you will hear traditional rock, pop punk, straight pop, new wave,
dance, funk, rhythm and blues and art-house soundscapes converging into a
singular, cohesive sound that immediately sells you to their musical
cause. Everybody Move starts off with
its namesake track and it’s a real doozy, sweeping the listener right up with
its many appealing charms. Jangly guitar
riffs swim with both pop punk and first wave emo influences (think Saves the
Day and Jimmy Eat World), although it’s a real aural victory that lead singer
Anthony Giamichael’s vocals fall into a more hearty soulful range than the
whiny musings of something like say Dashboard Confessional. The music of some of those emo bands had a
lot of good appeal but the vocals were always hit or miss. Here the from the gut yet overtly melodic
nuance of Anthony’s leads paint a formidable catchiness that’s rounded out by
co-vocalist Erin Piortrowski’s gentle harmonization. Josh Fontenot laces a jazzy pocket beat into
the thick threads of Dave Aitken’s floating bass lines; their double-dipped
congruence falling in line seamlessly with the high-end guitar modulations. Everything moves along at a pretty steady
clip with no parts of the song falling into tedium or syrupy balladry that
drags more than it nails the dramatics.
A scorching guitar lead in the track’s second half along with
keyboardist Nathan Crone’s saloon shaking piano twinkles fully fleshes this
tune into a melodic monster worth its weight in gold.
Following
up on the title track’s speedy surges “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” employs a similar
set of swinging tempos, stinging guitar licks and bewitching dual vocals that
dance in and out of each other’s melodic qualities. Piortrowski especially gussies up the
choruses while additionally sprucing the verses with an attentive feminine
touch. Driving percussion and tightly
coiled bass riffs are given added potency when Crone’s quaking, autumnal
keyboards inject an earthy grumble to the song’s scenic peaks and valleys (of
which there are many). The EP fades out
on the grungy, dirty punk rockin’ of “One Last Ride” which features the
meanest, most snarly aggression on the recording. Full of distorted, dissonance riffs and
rumbling rhythms this baby goes straight for full force while still retaining
the unit’s admirable melodic qualities.
You’ll
get a lot of mileage out Everybody Move’s
many hooks and anthem-ready musical monuments.
The worst part of this EP is that it’s so short; you’ll certainly want
more when it’s all said and done with.
In reality this EP was perhaps kept short out of necessity as it
introduces a lot more experimentation into the band’s sound, a new member
(Nathan Crone), an increased focus on harmony vocals, a keener eye for melodic
songwriting and a large sonic palette that pushes the keyboards to the
foreground of the music. All in all, Everybody Move is a flawless collection
that only makes me more intrigued to hear Man Called Noon’s next release.
Nice!
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