Customer Reviews

Soft Targets (Dig)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

...but this band and this album are so brilliant that I'm actually doing it. I'm not a music fanatic and I often feel completely out of touch with what's going on , especially because there's no nation-wide forum for hearing about independent and new musicians (commercial radio does NOT count). Lucky for me I heard a song (Fashion) by this band on a website (am I allowed to say pandora.com? ok, well, I did), did a triple-take: who the heck is this?? and am now a total geek fanclub idiot. I wasn't even like this in high school with the local punk bands.

We all know that bands borrow and steal from whomever influenced them, but I am so sick on new(ish?) bands that sound like old(ish) bands a la East Bay/Seattle grunge stuck-in-a-rut, who don't have an ounce of talent to take an old sound and give it something unique. Yawn.

All I can say is thank you Earl Greyhound for re-elevating good old fashioned rock n' roll. You can just tell that Earl Greyhound studies and offers kudos to their forefathers, modernizing without bastardizing. They bring the 70's into the 2000's without losing the fundamental backbone of what made the 70' so great: the Zeppelin's and the Sly's.

And they're really hot.

Earl Greyhound is one of the most exciting bands I've heard in a long time. As members of the explosion of the regeneration of the power trio along with bands like Rose Hill Drive and Wolfmother, they have produced an incredibly exciting and absolutely rocking debut album. The album features crunchy guitars, solid bass playing, thundrous drums and high adrenaline vocals in the same tradition of bands of the 70s like Led Zeppelin, Cream and Jimi Hendrix. It's loud, it's powerful and it's fantastic. Earl Greyhound is set apart from a lot of these power trios in that they have a female member. Bassist Kamara Thomas also sings background vocals (and lead on a few tracks) and adds an interesting dimension to the band's sound. Frontman Matt Whyte delivers most of the vocals and some shearing guitar work especially his soloing work on tracks like "Monkey" and "I'm the One." Drummer Big Ricc Sheridan could not be more aptly named. His drumming is absolutely earth-shaking. The band is incredibly dynamic providing lots of contrast in volume, texture, rhythm and overall feel. The writing on this album is absolutely incredible. Great lyrics and exciting arrangements make Soft Targets a must for any lover of the power trio. Standout tracks include "S.O.S." "Monkey" "It's Over," and "All Better Now." An incredibly exciting album from a band with amazing potential. I can't wait for the next one.

Earl Greyhound
Soft Targets
Some Records

By Tony Sclafani

It's not surprising when a rock band plays loud crunchy music that's steeped in blues. But it can be positively enthralling when a group cranks everything to full volume on songs with roots in pop and soul
music.

That approach is largely what makes the New York-based trio Earl Greyhound so original - and so much fun to listen to. Sure, they're a power trio with aggressive and progressive arrangements that bring to mind 1970s British rock. But they transcend the "power trio" description by throwing in pop hooks, 1960s-inspired riffs, and intricate vocal interplay.

The reason for their originality is their lineup. Guitarist and singer Matt Whyte has a wispy, pretty boy voice straight outta power pop. But he intertwines that voice with bassist Kamara Thomas, whose soulful female
vocals push the band into a realm uncharted in rock. Meanwhile, drummer Ricc Sheridan bashes through every song with superhuman energy - while being matched by Whyte's muscular guitar work. The massive sound makes the songs on Soft Targets as heavy as they are hummable.

There are some obvious influences. The opener, "S.O.S.," recalls Led Zeppelin with its soulful strut. You can hear the sweet melodic flair of the later Beatles in "Good" and the manic panic of Syd Barrett-era Pink
Floyd in "All Better Now." But Earl Greyhound often defies comparison, especially when it comes to the unique male-female vocal interplay between Whyte and Thomas. A "soft target" is defined as an unarmored
mark that's waiting to be hit. Soft Targets, however, deserves to be a hit itself.

Originally published in the issue 54 of Hittin' the Note.

This is the way rock should sound, period. Matt Whyte is a guitar god. I hope all the ridiculous effects-laden hard-rock posers out there hide their collective heads in shame after listening to this.

Track 1 knocks you in the chest and save for a couple of tracks I'm not too keen on, this is one helluva record. You can certainly tell this is a live act to see. Well produced and poorly marketed. These guys should be in every town every week of the year. Heavy stuff indeed but one for the collection.

I first heard Earl Greyhound live in a random little club in LA months ago. I was instantly hooked when they crashed the systems through 6-7 minutes of SOS, even though the sound girl screwed up their mics and they had to try veerrryy hard to be heard. It didn't matter. Big Ricc on the drums, Kamara on the bass, and Matt's guitar was all you needed. Upon hearing their Daytrotter session, I found that the vocals that accompanied the group were absolutely fantastic as well. Both Matt and Kamara have a serious set of lungs on them.

So I finally got around to purchasing the album after waiting way too long, and I was expecting most stuff to be like SOS. This was not the case. Sure, Monkey lives and breathes in the same vein as it, while being a magnificent 8 minutes of the ballsiest love song I can remember hearing, but there's such a nice variety of types of music here. What struck me initially was how many of the songs actually feature the word "love" or revolve around relationships. It doesn't detract anything, but it did catch me off guard. Anywho, you've got the grimy sound of Fashion which polishes up to a nice flowing melody later in the track. Back and Forth and You Know I Love You run together in very nice, almost jumpy fashion. I'm The One is like their Freebird, and I end up wishing it was 9-10 minutes long. Especially with that solo at the end. All Better Now is just too much fun to drive along to.

I'm incredibly pleased with the album and can't recommend it enough to people who like their music heavy and classy at the same time.

Wow, what an amazing debut album. These guys are by far my favorite new band along with other "retro" bands like Rose Hill Drive and Wolfmother. I just recently discovered them when I saw the video for their song S.O.S. on MTV2. As soon as it was over, I jumped over to their website and listened to the entire album in their media section. I have been obsessed with the album ever since. I highly recommend them to fans of T. Rex, Led Zep, Rolling Stones, etc. Probably the coolest thing EG has going for them is the fact that they have two amazing vocalists in Matt Whyte and Kamara Thomas. While Kamara mainly provides backing vocals, her lead vocals are amazing on Yeah, I Love you and Back and Forth.

I was lucky enough to see them in Philly this past weekend at a small club and they are even more amazing live. "Big" Ricc Sheridan is an absolute beast behind the kit. I have never seen a drummer actually break a cymbal on stage!

Do yourselves a favor and buy this album now!

Dishing out thundering rythems matched with catchy melodic riffs, Earl Greyhound does not dissapoint in their debut. The power trio's presence is strong on the cd and now, having memorized its 11 fulfilling tracks, I'm left waiting for their next album. Or their next local tour date. Though they're heavily satisfying on cd, when they're live they put on a show of epic, classic-rock proportions, which is a lot to say for a band these days.

About a year ago I saw a link on the Shawn Peters/Martin Luther web site that said 'click here for the new Earl Greyhound song Eyes of Cassandra'. I clicked, nothing has been the same since. I bought this CD and the EP and Ghost Gamblers Vol. 1. I've seen them live (you must) 3 times in the past 9 months. The Band Is Great!
check out
[...]

fantastic album! buy it and love it. this is rock and roll today.