Below is a review that Matt Moskal did of the Meadowlark Lemon album in the Cambrian Shield. It is very nice. It again repeats the mantra "not for everyone"...is Meadowlark Lemon for you? I am going to be on Mr. Moskal's radio program this Thursday on CKLU from 6 PM to 8 PM. You can set your radio dials to 96.7 or listen on the Internet at here. I think you may need Winamp to listen online, which I hear really whips the Llama's ass.
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Meadowlark Lemon's debut album Twists is one of the most innovative musical projects to come out of Sudbury recently.
Stylistically, Twists' songs aren't about well-placed pop hooks or gimmicky songwriting. Each song carries its own degree of importance by setting a bleak or hopeful tone in their lengthy durations. Essentially, Meadowlark Lemon are polar opposites of their label mates The Birthday Cakes.
Opening track Sand is a seven-minute organ-fueled daydream. Keeping the composition relatively simple, but the tone relatively dark. Sand ushers in Twists gently and appropriately.
Second track Ropes is the closest Meadowlark Lemon get to following pop songwriting form. With busy verses of corresponding keyboard, picked guitar, glockenspiel, and dual vocal parts changing to a simplified rhythmic chorus, Ropes is the most accessible track on Twists. Its closing sing-along carries the biggest emotional payoff, despite its lyrics.
"I'm not feeling well, I don't think I'll be coming in today," sing guitarist Jonathan Danyliw and keyboardist Clayton Drake during Ropes.
At the end of the day, Ropes may be the most appropriate of songs for a drive home.
Hey You does share more than just a title with Pink Floyd. The song offers a bleak and progressive tone before exploding in its last two minutes with souldful R & B backing vocals and wah-laden guitar.
Major album highlight Fashion Hawk is an exercise in shape shifting percussion, haunting whistles and incredibly catchy and rhythmic keys. From Start to finish the track conveys more energy than the rest of the album, transforming from a danceable poppy tone to distorted and noisy punk.
Closing track A Nice Summer Day is the most uplifting of all of the tracks. Oceanic-toned slide guitar and Beach Boys reminiscent vocals carry the tune forward through its front end. The back half is presented in a louder and more aggressive fashion before Danyliw and Drake ease off and let the remaining reverb dissolve into silence.
Meadowlark Lemon's Twists isn't necessarily for everyone. But it is a unique offering that is suitable for anyone willing [to] broaden their musical horizons.
-Matt Moskal
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