[usr 9.20 text=”true”]
REVIEW – Imagine if Kay Hanley of Letters to Cleo was fronting Belly, and this is the best way to describe the beauty that is TANCRED. They are a band who have a capable singer in the front giving you some of the best catchy lyrics and choruses you will hear on modern college radio with a dose of attitude. You get a feeling while listening to this record that TANCRED are not taking themselves too seriously and the vibe comes across like a party one. Jess Abbott seems dead set on not being “just another female in music”, so she gives us a personality that seems at times like she has a very dark side to her that would be very inviting during a bottle of wine.
This New England band has such a love of pop rock and they give you every element of it, track to track. Some of the solos on this record feel sort of out of place, but when you hear the catchiness that surrounds it, you sort of feel like they are attempting to be campy more than experimentational. This does not seem like an ill conceived bunch of songs to generate pop culture boners, it feels like a soundtrack thru an awkward day in very awkward eyes and stares. This album feels more like what you would expect when Letters to Cleo hit the scene with the Here and Now song, it feels very odd to have it come out some 20 years later, but it still very welcoming.
The lyrics on this record I am not sure what to make of them, but I figure that is one of the beauties of this band is trying to figure out what message they are sending. The album blurs the lines between a band really trying to figure itself out and a band that just has a direction but unsure of how to get there. The odd thing is that I did not hate or dislike anything on this record, which is shocking because it throws so many 90’s cliches and alternative music cliches at you, but I felt that was part of the charm of this band.
The guitar work on this album is the star, it knows how to compliment the vocals and the drums also understand how to compliment and make the positives shine. The album while extremely predictable is at least catchy enough to make it worth the listen. The woman has a beautiful look to her that the lack of publications like a CMJ or platforms like a 120 Minutes hurts badly. The woman is a marketing wet dream, and add this album and how catchy and pop oriented it is, this should be a bigger deal than it will end up being. People, should seek this band out and keep the expectations fair, this band will win you over. This album is best appreciated by guys who had wet dreams and girls of any member of Letters to Cleo. There is a quote that no one else will say about this one.
More info can be found on TANCRED at:
www.TancredMusic.com/
www.Facebook.com/TancredMusic
www.Twitter.com/TancredJess
www.Instagram.com/TancredJess
