The Crescendo Show's debut album opens with A Tribute To Oregon, a piano instrumental which celebrates the state they're in (they come from Corvallis) but gives a misleading impression of the music which follows.
The piano is not prominent in any of the other tracks which mainly revolve around duelling acoustic guitars and three-way vocal harmonies along with occasional banjo, accordion and flute.
Nathan Porter's deep and stilted voice is to the fore on songs which are a collage of musical styles - uppermost is folk-country but you can also hear touches of gypsy and jazz.
To my ears it all sounds a little too polished and conventionally 'nice'. I kept hoping things would get less straight-laced after the formal introductions were done with but only the final song - We Will Sail The Seven Seas - comes close to casting caution to the wind. Even then, the trio still manage to come across like a more sober version of The Pogues.
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Lyrically too they play safe with bland platitudes in lieu of tortured soul searching. For example, on the track with the self explanatory title of Hang On To Your Dreams, there is some glib advice about looking inside and needing to believe in yourself with insipid lyrics (e.g. "like a lost child in the street /sometimes your life may seen incomplete".
Overall, the album is pleasant, musically accomplished and melodic but too superficial to make any real emotional impact.
The Crescendo Show's Website
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