Raventones' 'Odd Birds'
a must for folk listeners
Lead singer TR Kelley’s
vocals help carry the album,
despite lyrics that are
sometimes indecipherable
By Natasha Chilingerian
Pulse Reporter
In an Emerald interview two
weeks ago, TR Kelley and Randy
Hamme of The Raventones stressed
that the strength of their band is
"making a lot of noise for just two
people."
Based on
their 12
DCl/IOilf track debut
KfcVIcW album,
- "Odd
Birds," the
biggest part of their sound is clearly
Kelley's voice. Her versatile vocals
provide the backbone for four dis
tinctive styles of music apparent on
the recording: soulful ballads, sim
ple folk tunes, trippy psychedelia
and hick-ville country twang.
In the trance-like "I Surrender,"
Kelley sings of giving in to what is,
with lots of passionate "la de da-ing"
against a backdrop of Hawaiian
strumming and deep-toned drum
beats. It makes me picture her
draped in velvet while performing at
Luna Jazz Club.
"Do You Want Me to Go," a song
about encountering a past love, is
awash with sad guitar and piano
notes and is almost reminiscent of
gazing at someone through a show
er of rain.
Yet, the focus of "Odd Birds" is
upbeat folk music with a variety of
lyrical themes. Often this employs
minimal instruments, mostly Kelley
on guitar and Hamme on percus
sion. "Two-Tone Touring Car," the
album's opener, tells an intricate sto
ry about going to Hollywood. "Yel
low Moon," which is about an em
brace under the sky at midnight, is
catchy yet contemplative, as the
name suggests. "Yellow" refers to the
happiness of midnight love while
Courtesy
TR Kelley's voice provides the backbone for The Raventones’ album “Odd Birds."
"Moon" indicates the calm, stillness
of the night. "Unfolding," a tune
about opening up to a new love, uses
fast, rolling beats and is accompanied
by Kelley, who wails and practically
yodels for joy. It made me think of
skipping down the street on a warm
summer day.
The only downfall of the folksier
tunes are their lack of instrumental
variation. It makes the songs sound
like demos. Although the album
sounds finished, it was vaguely remi
niscent of The Beatles' demo tapes
from the late 1950s/early 1960s on
Anthology 1. The most intriguing
track is "Hush," a melange of strings,
percussion and a low twang sound
with lyrics about being left with noth
ing to say. The music and vocals are
mostly slow, but they speed up once
in a while to evoke a desperate feeling.
"Odd Birds" includes one instru
mental jam and one interlude — both
mix up the album and provide a well
planned, artistic quality. The jam,
"Dynamix," is an articulated, baritone
guitar/drum duo which starts out
steady and slowly grows, making you
want to bounce your head and even
tually jump up and down. "Blue In
terlude" gets creative with a harmoni
ca, banjo, wailing voices, sounds of a
train passing and frogs croaking.
Despite a few flaws, "Odd Birds" is
a winner for folk fans everywhere. The
only other noticeable problem is that
most of the album's lyrics are indeci
pherable because Kelley often tapers
off into extensive ad-libs. Luckily, they
are printed inside the CD cover. Re
gardless, this album is worth picking
up for its variety, evident talent and
songs to get lost in.
Contact the Pulse reporter at
natashachilingerian@dailyemerald.com.
PULSE BRIEF
Battle of the Bands field
narrowed to final five
The Eugene Battle of the Bands
competition, presented by the UO
Cultural Forum, is entering its final
stretch. After the preliminary rounds
at the EMU this past Friday, student
STOREWIDE
judges narrowed a pool of 30 local
bands down to five that will play at
an all-ages final show this Friday at
the Eugene Vet's Club for the cham
pionship title.
Fivesouth, Grynch, alterEGO,
OPIE and Rhetoric Tuesday are the
finalists, along with Gel, which will
be acting as an alternate band.
Bands were scored in the prelimi
nary rounds on professionalism, au
dience favor, stage presence and mu
sicianship. The winning band will
be chosen at the Vet's Club by the
judging panel and concertgoers.
The Eugene Vet's Club is located at
1626 Willamette St. Doors open at
7:30 p.m. and tickets are $5 and T
shirts are on sale for $ 10.
— Steven Neuman
LAURA KEMP &
ANNE WEISS
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http://wilhelm.uoregon.edu/ORM/feeapp
Questions: Donna Chittenden, 346-3044,
Office of Resource Management
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