Gently Down The Stream

Musician - "...Most of its songs engage you with the band's penchant for idiosyncratic meters and swollen dynamic transitions, but the overall effect is less disturbing and more hypnotic than you might expect. In fact, there's a certain comfort to all the disarray..." Entertainment Weekly - "...GENTLY boasts plenty of prickly beauty and tortured grandeur, and when the guitars engage, it's a thrilling thing. When they don't it's not. But their average is pretty good." - Rating: B+ Billboard - "[They] never dumb it down, weaving in blues and psychedelic influences to create a fresh sound." Musician (4/98, p.85) - "...Most of its songs engage you with the band's penchant for idiosyncratic meters and swollen dynamic transitions, but the overall effect is less disturbing and more hypnotic than you might expect. In fact, there's a certain comfort to all the disarray..." Entertainment Weekly (2/13/98, p.70) - "...GENTLY boasts plenty of prickly beauty and tortured grandeur, and when the guitars engage, it's a thrilling thing. When they don't it's not. But their average is pretty good." - Rating: B+

Many indie bands that begin with an abrasive sound will soften up by their fourth release, but such was not the case with Come. Even while songs like the lovely "Middle of Nowhere" seem to indicate that the group has artfully sublimated their angst and anger beneath lyrical melodies and slowed tempos, the truth is that GENTLY, DOWN THE STREAM is every bit as hard-hitting as their early albums.
The lead-off track, "One Piece", threads feedback through tumbling rhythms, while the stomping "Stomp" is as close to the band's bluesy roots as anything they've done. Though all of their releases demonstrate a beautiful sense of craft and sonic intensity, GENTLY, DOWN THE STREAM may be their finest-sounding album, with Thalia Zedek's vocals perfectly integrated into the spiralling guitar lines and waves of sound. Come may be less ragged on this album, but they're no less powerful.|