Review Summary: A piano-rock, indie record with Queen and Muse influence at a glance, but something dark lurks below...
Have you ever known that type of person who is always telling you that you absolutely have to check out this band they found? Well, I feel that to some degree, I’m one of those. I don’t think I’m so bad that all my friends are constantly tired of it. But I’m sure they’ve all heard their fair share of ramblings that probably oversold band after band. So I can tell you, as one of
those people, that the thought process behind that behavior is driven from the constant desire to stumble upon the band that lives up to the hype--the one that can’t be oversold. So is this that band? Probably not. But Rags & Ribbons are currently the band I won’t shut up about!
Rags & Ribbons’ first full length album,
The Glass Masses, is mature, dynamic, and complex. The first chord on opening track,
Even Matter, immediately called to mind
The Ornament by
dredg, and I feel it’s a fair comparison. Yet unlike many bands sharing their maturity,
Rags & Ribbons offer their music in nice, easy to swallow tunes, which average around four minutes long. On the surface, they deliver indie pop-rock, heavy on the piano. But somehow, they are worlds away from bands like
Coldplay or
Death Cab for Cutie, either of which could be described the same way.
The Glass Masses is woven together with rich, classical-influenced piano and complex, flowing vocal harmonies. However, the percussion and guitar parts carry a darker, heavier overtone, partially attributed to producers, Stephan Hawkes and Kris Crummett of Interlace Audio (
Closure In Moscow, Tides of Man, Dance Gavin Dance). The production is outstanding; crystal clear and punchy.
The strongest and most unique attribute
Rags & Ribbons have to offer, in my opinion, are their vocals, provided equally by Ben Weyerhaeuser (guitar) and Jon Hicks (piano). The vocals are consistent and distinct. The poppy instrumentals on
Abacus Kids sound exactly as if they could come from another band I recently reviewed,
Abandon Kansas, but the vocals set it apart. Jon provides higher parts, with evident classical training, whereas Ben delivers lower more contemporary parts and they blend very well. Their different styles allow plenty of flexibility in tone and they take advantage of that. Jon does seem to take the lead a bit more and on
The Minds he’s at the top of his game. Ben’s strength is in the aggression he provides for
Liar and
Lady in the Midnight Sun.
Usually, I would describe the instrumentals by breaking down the different parts by what they add. But in this case, that method wouldn’t do them justice. The individual parts are great. Especially the piano parts. But what really makes their music great is the big picture those parts create. Similar to a good movie score, their music effectively creates an atmosphere that sweeps you up in the overall mood and tells a story. They’re not just playing their instruments well, they’re playing good music. And even after listening to the album for a while now, I’m still finding highlights that are really well done, such as the buildups/breakdowns in the bridge to
How The West Was Lost and the heavy, driving chorus to
Prelude.
Overall, I find it hard to accurately describe
The Glass Masses in a nutshell. At first I would’ve described it as indie piano-rock with obvious
Queen and
Muse influence. But I continue to discover a deeper level which is bigger, heavier, and harder to pin down.
