Review Summary: A great take on the late sixties San Francisco Sound with good dual guitar attack and vocal harmonies. Inspired by a number of great bands and could turn their inspirations into a sound truly their own.
Where do you go these days to find a band that tries to play a sublimation of the San Francisco sound from the late sixties - early Seventies?
To San Francisco, of course! So here come Revolushn, who are both young and old enough to gather all the cool West Coast sounds - Moby Grape in particular, but also Grateful Dead, Country Joe and The Fish and what not. They even add a dash of Midwestern heaviness from that period with a bit of Grand Funk (with or without the Railroad).
Further!! is their second album, and while I’m not in a position to compare it with their first outing, The Freshman, it is an interesting conglomeration of a dual guitar sound and male/female harmonies with enough additional keyboard sounds and an excellent rhythm section.
It seems that the band actually started out as a duo of No (guitar) and Dekay (drums) with a part-time member Schuber Ola (keyboard, vocals, who later joined the band full time. The rest of the band Q-No Big ***ing Deal (bass, vocals) and Young Sun (guitar, vocals) joined after they met in a grand old San Francisco tradition - at Open Mic sessions.
Further!!, produced by Aaron Connor, who among others worked with Belinda Carlyle and Ed Sheeran (now here is where two !! should go) with all the disparate influences it gathers, has quite a cohesive sound - whether it is the Moby Grape-like title opener, a bit more heavier in sound numbers like the single “Dinosaurs” or the bluesy, Grateful Dead inspired “You Will Go”.
The band has obviously gelled, the guitar interplay is tight and Dekay is an obviously quite accomplished drummer.
Okay, the band do wear their influences on their sleeves. But, two things should be had in mind: one, they are great influences, and two, they know exactly what to do with them, combine them well and come up with some great sounds.
It would be interesting to hear where they go from here and will they be able to transform their music into a “new” San Francisco Sound.
