Voice This Sound

(Inverse)
By Tim Den

I pity the foo’ who don’t know what’s goin’ on down in the Southwest. Damn kids and their MTV: Lapping up excrement while a pot of talent is (literally) boiling over in the Texas/Kansas sun. Pop Unknown guitarist/backup vocalist Joel Ganucheau and his newly-established Inverse Records is bringing 22 tracks of (mostly) muscular guitar power pop to the blind via Voice This Sound, and you’ll get with the program if you know what’s good for ya. From the sugary (Ultimate Fakebook, Schatzi, River City High [not from the Southwest, but whatever]) to the emo (Pop Unknown, Subset [ex-Silver Scooter], Recover, Red Animal War), it’s obvious that – if TV nation’s in love with guitar rock – they haven’t been looking in the right place.

Almost all the tracks on Voice This Sound crank up “the rock” as if their lives depended on it. And while any of the selections could satisfy a neophyte, the (ahem) more jaded listener gets a few surprises as well. Top of the class: Chompsky and their wirey, spooky, haunting “Gravitate.” Propelled by a sneaky vocal melody, these guys create a style out of taking unexpected turns. Doosu: Accentuated and punctuated riffs beat at you like a hailstorm, only to bath you afterward in the welcoming warmth of the melodies. And last but not least, Pop Unknown/ex-Mineral drummer Gabriel Wiley’s sister Tess Wiley (now a German resident) impresses by slithering out a seductive, pleading “How Does Silence Feel?” via her gorgeously-crafted voice and some electronic drums. Whew!

Turn your heads and look South. It’s happening. More: Cruiserweight, Jump Rope Girls, Sunfactor, Greyline, Sometree, Time Spent Driving, The Tie That Binds, Hudson River School, Airplanes Are Better, Audiocrush, We Talked About Murder, Valve.
(306-A Pecan Austin, TX 78753)