The Literary Greats - Ocean, Meet the Valley

Ocean, Meet the Valley

The Literary Greats
Label: (self-released)
Released: October, 2009
Duration 10 tracks, 34:10

With a name like ‘The Literary Greats’ you might be expecting fresh Brooklyn / Greenwich Village indie. Not so. The sophomore release of this Houston based band is a bit of post-modern country rock, a bit of loud lead guitar, and a touch of Americana / pop. In some ways I am reminded of ‘Satellite Soul’ when listening to Ocean, Meet the Valley, but without the Christian framing.

The band’s foundation is what holds the complete work together in Darin Lee’s bass and Chris Ginsbach’s percussion. Harmonies by Taylor Lee and Brandon Elam provide another highlight. The addition of Kris Becker on keyboards adds volumes to the package. But something is missing in the ebb and flow of the album. The lead guitar has a hard, protruding edge in nearly every song taking away from the overall message and emotion. At times, somber lyrics do not match up with a whaling lead guitar losing the pace of the song. Overall, the lead guitar and drums could be toned down a notch to allow the lyrics and rhythm to provide direction.

The album opens hard and fast with ‘That Mountain Yonder’ storying life’s materialistic woes. “All that I have is what I believe, you’ve got to believe, I fill my heart with things that break, I’m not OK”. The opener has good build up, breaks, and is a good rocker. The spacey country-acoustic based ‘Dreadnought’ shows some life but the remainder of the album slowly drifts in obscurity with a mix of country rock and a forgettable pop rock attempt in ‘Ocean Side’.

In The Literary Greats there lies a talented band with a fresh sound badly in need of good production. The collection of songs that is Ocean, Meet the Valley lacks collective cohesiveness with a mix of hard breaks, heavy leads, and lost lyrics.


http://theliterarygreats.com/

http://www.myspace.com/theliterarygreats

http://www.tollbooth.org/2010/reviews/lgreats.html
SS Mertens