Sons of Nothing: Green & Grey

Out of sunny California and Utah comes this duo called Sons of Nothing. The members are Thom Bowers and Matt Meldrum. They wrote, arranged and performed all but a few parts and lyrics on this album.

By seeing the picture in the promo sheet that came along with the CD, I was expecting something more in the vein of acoustic music, being my specialty and all. Well this is not a folk or blues and even less a country album. With 13 tracks clocking in at nearly 70 minutes, what would you expect then? Progressive music of course! There are some of those nice acoustic passages here and there mind you, gracing the compositions with pleasant harmonies. You'll find them in songs like: "Take Back the Thrown", "Return of the Music" and "Trepanation" for example. I found the music in first part of this disc lacking a bit of personality, punch and zest so to speak. The vocals are monotonous and voiceless. Not a good start right? Mind you, "Sunny Day" is a nice track with its catchy edges and sax. "Out of Order" bears a certain Genesis' vibe along the lines. Things really start looking good on the title track, an epic composition of over ten minutes. There you'll hear a nice progressive number with samplings, juicy riffs, good musical breaks and guitar solos/leads. A cool stripped down song, "Return of the Music" follows with acoustic guitars, tom tom and electric guitar. Another good long (12 mins.) progressive moment awaits the listener on song # 11, "Trepanation". On this one keyboards, acoustic riffs, bass solo and acoustic finger pickings are adding a great sense of melodiousness to their work. Those are the songs worth checking in my humble opinion; they demonstrate mature songwriting and ability to mixt melody and complexity.

Overall an album that could have been better with less tracks in it and perhaps considering changes in the vocal department wouldn't hurt either.

Track listing:
1- Take Back the Thrown…
2- Feel it Again
3- Sunny Day
4- Head Full of Smoke
5- Living the Cliché
6- Out of Order
7- Green and Grey
8- Return of the Music
9- Thursdays
10- End of the Page
11- Trepanation
12- Quo Vadimus
13- Broken Ceiling

Added: September 4th 2012
Reviewer: Denis Brunelle
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 1751
Language: english

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