OK you sold me; I am moving to Philadelphia, or at least spending my vacation there. Why, well it is not the history (I am British!), or the sun baked beaches or the wonderful skiing, no it because any city that boasts a music venue specifically for the very best indie bands from around the country, and that releases just an excellent CD to prove it, has to be worth spending some time in.
The Grape Street Pub is apparently legendary in Philadelphia as the place to listen to really great music, music of all colors and shapes. From rock to blues to dance to about everything else it has probably played, will be playing, or more likely is playing as you read this. So enough of the plug, visit their site, listen to the music, buy the CD and if you are anywhere even close drop in. No I am not just saying this in the hope I can get some free beer if I ever visit Philly, although if anyone insists. Seriously though this CD is good enough that I want to move there, I wonder if any of the local publications are seeking a music writer?
Enough of my waffling, on to this CD, it is far more deserving of your attention than I am. Track 1 is a guy by the name of ‘Ben Arnold’, who gives us ‘Everywhere you go’, a wonderfully mellow little dance beat inspired piece of pop. It has an infectious groove and the voice of Mr. Arnold sounds like it has been maturing in an oak cask in Scotland somewhere for about fifteen years. One track in and I am already in love with this CD.
Up next is ‘The Robert Reilly Band’ with ‘Crush’, a song not a million miles away from its predecessor, another mellow track from a man with a voice that practical bleeds with emotion as he sings ‘You could crush me if you wanted to, you could wreck me, and run me off the rails'. I would love to hear this music while downing a pint of ale as the smoke blows around me.
No time for that though, next up is ‘Howie Day’ with ‘Morning After’, and guess what. It is another finely crafted little emotional pop song from a talented vocalist, who has a voice that walks the fine line between familiarity and different. Why doesn’t a VH1 or MTV do a Storytellers for unknown talented songwriters, oh wait I know why, because that would take imagination and originality.
Next we have something a little bit different, another cool little pop song by the name of ‘Christopher’, but this time the vocalist is female. The band are called ‘Stargazer Lily’, and the track stays comfortably the right side of the ‘Lilith-Fair bandwagon talent less female meter’, I could be critical of their choice of transition during a couple of areas of the track, but I won’t because at its heart it is a very good pop song.
Next up is ‘K-Floor’ with a retro blues-bar track called ‘Don’t Want No Woman’; it is played to the max, guitar and keyboard battling nicely behind the vocals. The mix is a little mushy but it is perfectly acceptable bar blues. Another female vocalist is next as ‘Vanida Gail’ brings us ‘So Many People’. It is one of those tracks that is balancing just the right side of clichéd, she has a nice voice, the music is very well handled, and the song as a whole is nice, but it lacks that little spark, maybe with a little re-working.
At track 7 we get the first real rock song as ‘Jerk Media’ present ‘Ritchie C’mon’, a song which outside of its heavy guitar work doesn’t really seem to know where it is trying to go, not bad but nothing special by any means. Considerably more focused is ‘Beautiful’ by the quaintly named ‘Tapping the Vein’. Another female vocalist this time leading an angst filled rock band, she wails and sounds tortured while the rest of the band produce a very interesting tune that moves snake like between passive and aggressive. A real nice taster for the band.
Having stayed in the rock-pop side of town for the first half of this CD on track 9 we get our groove on with ‘Jack Light Move’ as they funk out a tune called ‘Jattata Scratch’, no idea what it means, but they are quite simply a very fine real instrument dance band, the track has an excellent and infectious groove that could make a corpse shuffle its expired ass all over the room.
At the 10 spot we have another pop-rock band called ‘Mercy River’, ‘A Little More’ is a very Britpop sounding track that pulls off some very nice harmonies. ‘Stiltwalker’ give us ‘Speed Up’ a mix and match song that borrows from a dozen genres including rock, pop, hip-hop, funk and blues. A song that has a real chance of sticking in your head long after you have left this CD alone.
Another group that fit in very well to the concept of a bar band are next, the ‘James Pace Band’ give us a funky, bluesy rock tune called ‘Pouring Down’. Track 13 belongs to ‘Big Dog Lovin’, who have an exceptional mature and relaxing sound. It is experimental jazz-rock with an excellent vocal track by Sean Gaston, who has apparently since passed on. A real shame, as his voice sits proudly atop some very interesting music.
‘The Red King’ are another band with a nice retro feel, part psychedelic, part prog-rock, they give an interesting glimpse on ‘Captain Action’ of what they are capable of. ‘Funkin’ Do Me’ are the not very subtly titled band behind ‘Everything’. It is a kind of mix of punk, funk and alternative rock, which builds itself around a groove tighter than an obsessed Swiss watchmaker. A real effective tune, one that hints at a band with a genuine future.
The penultimate track is ‘Swing’ from ‘Milkglass’. Another American band trying to pull off the whole Brit-Pop sound, and they do a pretty good job of it. The production is a little flat, and the vocal harmonies get lost as a result in places. Rounding of the CD is the worth a lot at scrabble ‘Zigabu’ with ‘Mutha Lovejoy’. It brings the CD to closure on a truly experimental note. They wander around some very diverse musical neighborhoods bringing elements from Pink Floyd to dance music.
Wow this was a long review. Still any CD that features 17 such diverse and interesting bands deserves nothing else. Make sure you check the link below to The Grape Street Pub’s website. You can buy the CD, listen to samples or download individual tracks. There are also directions if you happen to be in the area, oh if only I was...

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