An interesting mixture of sounds and styles on this 4-song E.P. from The Get Ahead, a Portland-based five-piece outfit. Incredibly powerful – almost haunting vocals; flavors of gospel, soul, folk and blues make this one of the more cohesive pieces of music I’ve heard this year.
The opening track, “Stella” has a slow, deep Delta feel; an aching ode to a wayward love; very taut and tense with the rhythm section and dry production which makes the power of the performance all the more effective; the title track, “Mind Is A Mountain” is more of a straightforward blues-y piece; some sweet harmonies and quality riffage – I also like the use of a traditional middle eight that bridges the verses. “To The Wild” opens with a very Staple Singers-kind of chorale but then kicks in with a frenetic riff and explodes with a pure ’70’s soul power/tempo/vibe; the use of handclaps gives greater credence to the gospel influence and “Love Crime” is crisp, with a dynamic guitar, call-and-response vocals and something of a “spy”-melody/theme.
Four songs may not be a lot, but these four songs are simply very, very good. This is another one of those bands now on my radar (they have one previous album available) and I’m curious to see/hear where they go from here.
RECOMMENDED
Mind Is A Mountain is currently available
http://www.thegetahead.com/