Customer Reviews

Seahorse

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

 

 

Ekoostik Hookah has evolved into a whole scene on the strength of their optimism, hard work, and relentless jamming. Strong songwriting and now stellar live shows have the road-weary boys from (music rich!) Cowtown cooking up a hearty musical stew. Unfortunately, Seahorse fills, but does not satisfy.

Hookah live is like a ball team that blitzes on every play, bringing the house from start to finish. Often, the carefully composed song structure and thoughtful lyrics are overpowered the fury of the lead guitar. Seahorse succeeds in calmly demonstrating the remarkable range of the band's songwriting, but falls well short of the heady jams and passionate storytelling that is Hookah. Indeed, Seahorse documents some of Hookah's many talents, but should be taken with a grain of salt and sure confidence that the best is yet to come. I would suggest that folks unfamiliar with Hookah to consider Where Fields Grow Green or Sharp in the Flats as appetizers, a visit to Hookahville as a feast, and later add Seahorse as a worthy, if dispassionate, compliment.

sdtl

I get the impression they put this album out just for the heck of it, because there are too many comparitively weak songs on here when there are so many great songs they could have used. There are some great tunes, though, such as "Bone," "Treehouse" and "Alexander II." In my opinion, "Alex II" is one of the greatest rock songs ever written. Yes, you read that right. The lyrics bring tears to your eyes. Not many songs can do that. "Highway Home" is also a good tune with a bluegrass feel to it. It was recorded with a different technique than bands usually use in the studio. If I remember correctly, they used the same kind of setup that they'd use live (amps, loudspeakers, etc.) and used microphones to capture the sound (that's way simplified, but this is an album review, not a teatise on audio technology), and that gives the song an odd quality. Not bad, but definitely different. All in all, I'd get their other albums first, but definitely keep this one in mind.

So, I can't say I'm surprised there hasn't already been a review of this album. ekoostik Hookah is not the most well-known band around. They are based in Columbus, Ohio. Not exactly a well-known center for great music. Guess what? That's just fine. Everybody will catch on sooner or later.

As for now, for my money, this is the best Rock album released by any band in recent times. The depth of emotion (spanning from serious to joyful) and musical ability and creativity displayed in songs like Treehouse and Alexander II blows away any lightly topical song that might be heard on the FM lately. The breadth of styles authentically portrayed (from funk to country/bluegrass, straight up progressive rock and even your obligatory hippie groove tune) vividly displays the interests and influences of very well-seasoned musicians. Of course, when I say "authentically portrayed," I mean that the funk sounds like you could swim through it and the country sounds like pickin' on the front porch. Each style/genre represented is authentic, but still each track sounds distinctly like ekoostik Hookah.

This is a band for people who like people. For people who like music. For people who like to have a good time.

If you are at all skeptical about this disc, or any of their discs. Please, try to catch them when they come through your area. Their live show will convince you for sure. Also, unlike a lot of bands that are praised as great live bands, ekoostik Hookah and whoever produced this album with them did a great job of preserving the band's energy and live sound on this album.

If you buy this disc, promise me you will crank up the volume extra loud when you listen to Bone. It just needs to be at a confident 10 on the volume knob. This song and the rest of the disc is why stereos are built to play loud. Believe me you won't regret it.