This Tyrant Is Free

A. Graham | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 19, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sonic Unyon
• ASIN: B0002ZDWTO
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,081,171 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

"Usually we listen to local albums this religiously only when we have crushes on members of the band. In this instance, such crushes are lacking, but This Tyrant Is Free sounds so much like our favorite late-'90s indie rock – Pavement, Palace Brothers, The Halo Benders – that we'd listen to these guys even if they came from, like, Portland or Austin or any of those Places Good Bands Come From." – The Pitch

This Tyrant Is Free began as a studio project for Andy Graham, who had moved back to Kansas after doing time in Illinois, Oregon and Colorado. Graham wasn’t so hot about coming back to the land of grain, long commutes and an music scene based on embracing the roots of Americana. But while reacquainting himself with childhood friends, he found that many of his childhood friends still dug the punk and pop of their roots, even while playing in free jazz ensembles and outlaw country bands. In fact, after seeing a few Rex Hobart & The Misery Boys shows, the punk and psych pop influences became more and more evident. Not only did this inspire Graham to get back to writing, and dust off his old home recordings, but when Chad Meise (Misery Boys soundman & son of legendary jazz keyboardist Greg Meise) decided to open Gloryland Studios, plans developed for a recording project. When This Tyrant Is Free was finished, unmastered copies circulated uncontrollably through the local community, and when the final product hit the streets, it became apparent to all involved that a live presence had better materialize to justify the hype. So shows were booked and played, clubs were packed and the CDs were sold at an alarming pace. As of summer 2004, the key members of The Moment Band are going through the Graham archives, rearranging songs for new recordings and digging into some new stuff. This Tyrant Is Free is just the beginning of a great communal effort to mesh the old musicological approach of the Kansas City aesthetic with Graham’s traveled approach to trying something new.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Tyrant will Satisfy, October 21, 2004

By 

relatively hungry - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Tyrant Is Free (Audio CD)

This band is a blast. The first track, "Glorious," with its unlikely indie rock choral arrangement, took on a life of its own in the Kansas City-Lawrence area, where these guys hail from. And there's a pile of other great stuff in its train, lots of it unexpected and refreshing, trumpet intrusions and long slides of pedal steel and marvelous departures from the script. The lyrics are cool too, smart and strange. The Moment has huge energy and a great ear for the out-of-kilter. The collision produced some mesmerizing fire.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars weird, raw and pretty, November 1, 2004

By 

Kirk "Harling Benson" (Maine) - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Tyrant Is Free (Audio CD)

Not really sure what to say about this except that I can't stop listening to it. Somehow I find the ragged edges endearing, the cryptic lyrics make sense after a few listens and the melodies won't leave your head. This was a good gamble.