Customer Reviews

Compass Rose Bouquet

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Great bands used to approach each album from a different angle, instead of delivering the same album each time, which meant I was pleasantly surprised by 'Compass Rose Bouquet' for the markedly different atmosphere: a Summer's day instead of a Winter's one.

The loss of their violinist has been counteracted with the introduction of Salvation Army style brass to some tracks, a warm and attractive colouring to the music.

The other major difference here is a huge step up in the quality of production. The band has more presence and the instruments achieve great clarity and seperation. The bass is especially punchy in the mix, and highlights J Scott McClintock's frankly incredible style, having written highly melodic lines that also play wonderfully off the rhythm and extend the harmonics. Fans of McCartney's mid-sixties playing should find much to love here.

The tracks are varied in feel, from the reflective, powerful 'Heydays', to the driving 'Summer Bonfire'. Some are unique, other's recall other masterworks: 'Eastern Birds' wanders in, seemingly from XTC's 'Skylarking', only to be followed by 'Stump Speech', paying a visit from the first Crowded House album. A highlight is the wonderful 'Midwest Main Street', which is full of simultaneous melodic instrumental lines playing in a complex tapestry, but never sounding message, and rocks along like a train carriage in motion.

As to the lyrics, the everday experiences within, although specific to the midwest, are universal enough that I can recognise them from my home in rural Australia.

So, another great work. This band is definitely one to watch.

Compass Rose Bouquet is just that -- a bouquet of studio craftsmanship that shows the brighter, softer side of the band as well as their instrumental skill. Those who expected the snow drifts and stiff lake winds of the last album may be surprised and a little disappointed that the salt trucks and gray skies of the debut work are replaced by sunnier afternoons. The thoughtful songwriting is still here, though without as much sense of place as the first album. Queen of the Barley Fool might as well have been written in Ireland as in Michigan, while Days of Apple Pie - one of the other standout songs on the album - is a melancholy reference to days gone by in who knows where. Still, there are enough dark undercurrents here to stay in character while branching out a bit. Truth be told, holding this band to its geographical name is probably unfairly restrictive. Whether their songs are about Ann Arbor, Mich. or Spokane, Wash., this is a good band that deserves much more than a regional following.

A few ingredients are missing from the magical recipe of their previous (self-titled) album, but the ROSE is still sweet stuff, and DAYS OF APPLE PIE alone is worth a taste. Carry on, Gentlemen!

As one reviewer noted, Compass Rose Bouquet is a cheerier album than GLMS's debut. This should not be held against them, but rather they should be lauded. Writing depressing songs is easy; writing optimistic or happy songs that don't sound trite or simply boring is a rare and impressive art. Standout tracks in this area are "Electric Park" and "Summer Bonfire." And this album is not without its dark moments: "Days Of Apple Pie" is ripe with a foreboding nostalgia and a hanuting refrain and "The Gales of 1838" deftly straddles the line between drunken revelry and hungover despair.

This album may be more of a grower than "Great Lakes Myth Society," but the rewards are there for the taking.

For one that used to hardly listen to americana music I like Great Lakes Myth Society.
It sounds a little like Australia's Augie March and also like the Hollies at times.

This kinda felt like a first album, and I actually thought it WAS their first album, since mostly you'd expect people to get better as time goes by. After listening to it a few times, I got pretty tired of their songs and deleted most of them. I think I mainly liked this group because of the fiddling, but that's absent here, so I have very little else to turn to. It has a few songs I didn't mind, notably Summer Bonfire, Queen of the Barley Fool, and Stump Speech.