Songs from the Land of Nod

構成数 : 1
合計収録時間 : 00:00:00
Songs from the Land of Nod is certainly a fitting album title for a band who manage to sound fully engaged while also suggesting they're about to fall asleep. Beechwood are a trio from New York City who play dirty, streetwise rock & roll, but with a tone of stoned bemusement and unexpected melodic refinement, sort of like the Strokes jamming with the Psychocandy-era Jesus and Mary Chain. These guys clearly know how to hit hard when they have to, especially drummer Isa Tineo, but Songs from the Land of Nod finds them just as often creeping off into semi-psychedelic territory where they drift with the current on a raft of slide guitar. The sleepy quality of Gordon Lawrence's vocals, the slightly meandering quality of the melodies, and the presence of presumably tongue-in-cheek number called "Heroin Honey" might lead some to wonder if Beechwood's lethargic accents might be chemically rather than creatively inspired. But Lawrence clearly knows how to write a song, and his ability to call up evocative menace on demand (both as a tunesmith and a guitarist) serves him well. Bassist Sid Simons is a solid player who keeps this band on track when things threaten to run off the road. And the production by Matthew Marquardt is just the thing this band needed, adding effective keyboard overdubs and making this trio sound like they're night creatures of cavernous majesty. Beechwood would be well advised to focus themselves a bit better and treat themselves to a few cups of black coffee before they work on their next album, but Songs from the Land of Nod shows they have interesting ideas and the ability to make them work, which is a pretty good starting place. ~ Mark Deming