In the past, I have been fortunate enough to work with one of Kalamazoo’s finest rock outfits – Graham Parsons and The Go Rounds. These five men of varying ages and heights have come together to make music that at different times is sweet and serene, overpoweringly soulful, absolutely rockin’, or just plain bizarre. Graham Parsons, Adam Danis, Andy Catlin, Todd Kloosterman and Grant ‘Gitis’ Litler put on a show a few months back, recorded it, and turned it in to an album. The result is something that is nothing short of excellent.
The disc was handed to me in nothing but a black cardboard sleeve with ‘GO ROUNDS’ printed in white on the front, and a small ‘Strutt Records’ logo with the address of the Go Rounds’ website printed on the back. There was no liner notes, no lyrics sheets, and even a track listing was omitted. The simplicity of the packaging, however, belies the overall quality of the music to a staggering degree..
The album starts right out with a blatant and brazen display of the esoteric touch inherent in the Go Rounds’ music. The first few seconds of the disc is nothing but a quickly building wall of cacophony, which cuts sharply into the soft sounds of Graham Parsons and his acoustic guitar sharing an intimate moment. Over the course of this track, the band’s collective ear and feel for music is made appearant: the sweet sounds of guitar and vocal harmonies being joined now and then with absolutely tasteful movements by the bass guitar and organ, only to be interrupted by swirling drums and slashing electric guitar chords, and finally an all out rock-out session for a few bars. Then, it’s back to that afore-mentioned wall of cacophony, until finally the band slips into an ultra-smooth Latin groove, with Graham’s vocals seemingly afflicted by a multitude of effects.
The second track again displays The Go Rounds’ absolutely masterful hand at arrangement. This particular tune comes complete with band hits and enough experimental sound to keep anybody happy. The third track is a bit more traditional (although it does have it’s moments), with a great deal of care towards the overall dynamic of the tune at all times. Professional is an understatement of these boys’ ability to perform, and at some points it’s difficult to believe that the whole thing was done live and on stage.
Track four sees the Go Rounds going high-powered and country-fried,
with the drum’s rather sprightly-paced train-track beat driving this tune forward in a big way. Graham takes this opportunity to get a little grit in his voice and something off his chest, and the idea is absolutely not lost on the listener (well, this listener anyway). The guitar goes nuts, the bass goes nuts, the organ gets raunchy, and then all of the sudden the whole thing crashes in to what sounds like an audience. Hopefully nobody got hurt.
The fifth track is beautiful and atmospheric right from the get-go. At first, it’s mostly just Graham and his guitar (though Andy helps a bit with the organ), and then the band comes in, with just enough southern twang that the lyrics really sting a bit. Then the ‘beautiful’ gives way slowly for the ‘somewhat terrifying’ variety of atmosphere (best experienced through a loud and well-EQed sound system – preferably something with volume enough to make your ears bleed a bit), until the band comes in again and all is right with the world.
The final track begins on a rather hectic note, with strange mumbled vocals buried beneath sharp-edged guitar, screeching organ, and all multitude of interesting sounds. The thing builds and builds and builds and cuts to just vocals before really grooving a few bars. Then for the next stretch of territory there are tasty, smoothed out lows twisted up with vicious band hits. Rather an opus in it’s own right, the last track was my personal favorite (though I must admit it only beat the third by a small integer).
This album overall was a fantastic listen. if you like good music, you’ll love this album. I use the future-tense, of course, because this puppy has not dropped yet. It will tomorrow, though – The Go Rounds are having their CD release party at The Strutt. Music starts at 10, and this disc will be for sale. Plus, you get to see and hear the real thing, which really should be a good enough reason to go to begin with.
If jazz-punk isn’t really your thing, maybe a little punk-rock or folk-punk would serve your palate better. If that’s the case, then make it a point to check out the rockin’ and rollin’ at No Fun House tonight. Most notably on this evening’s bill is California-based Tiny Lungs. These punk rockers may not be a world away, but Cali is still a three-day drive. That said, these guys tear it up.
Clackley and the boys. Sliding effortlessly between hard-hitting rock tunes to softer acoustic folk music, this Seattle original is sure to get the blood pumping and the bodies moving.
DITKalamazoo 