The Entrance Band : The Entrance Band

<img src="http://www.qromag.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/theentrancebandtheentrance.jpg" alt=" " />While <i>The Entrance Band</i> starts promising, it then gets lost in psych-rock morass. ...
4.8 Ecstatic Peace!
2009 

The Entrance Band : The Entrance Band Thurston Moore, singer/guitarist of legendary Sonic Youth (QRO live review), may be one of the greatest figures in alt-rock, but he’s also got something of a reputation for liking terrible music.  Usually, it’s un-listenable noise-rock bands that get undeserved attention because Moore praises them, but it always seems to be loud & bad.  So you could be forgiven for staying away from the latest signing to his Ecstatic Peace! Label, The Entrance Band, but the three-person outfit isn’t noise-rock, but seventies psych-guitar.  And their self-titled record starts very promising – but then sinks into a psych-retread morass.

The Entrance Band was original ‘Entrance’, the vehicle for singer/guitarist Guy Blakeslee, but he has formalized the inclusion of drummer Derek W. James and bassist Paz Lenchantin on The Entrance Band.  The record begins with the somewhat standardized seventies guitar-rock rhythm & cadence "Lookout!", but that sound really kicks into gear with the following "M.L.K."  Yes, it sounds like a blues-guitar piece from the Me Decade, but also works like those songs did & still do.  And while it might seem trite to write a song about "M.L.K." (whether that The Entrance Band is all-white is a plus or a minus is up to you…), when was the last time you heard a song about one of the greatest figures in American history?  Actually, name a single song about him – ever

The psych side of The Entrance Band comes out on the following "Still Be There", with an interesting, resigned remove, and it looks like Moore actually picked a winner.  But then the rest of the record, the other seven track on the ten-song album, sink like a stone.  Pieces such as the following "Sing For the One" and "You’re So Fine" are just lame psych-grind, with indulgent guitar solos and nauseating rhythms.  "Grim Reaper Blues (Pt. 2)" is just a wanna-be Hendrix (can you imagine what "Pt. 1" was like?…), while the stab at atmospheric emotion, "Lives", has Blakeslee’s voice sounding emo.  By the time you’ve finished listening to the paint-by-the-numbers psych-rock "You Must Turn", that the following closer "Hourglass" is forgettable is a good thing – and you’ve forgotten all about "M.L.K."…

One should give some credit to Thurston Moore for using his fame & Ecstatic Peace! label (where he released his solo record, Trees Outside the AcademyQRO review) to give attention to little-known acts, no matter what you think of the actual acts.  And it would be tempting to say he just listened to the first three songs of The Entrance Band & signed ‘em, but you know he’s too thorough a musician to do that.  Maybe The Entrance Band will build on songs like "M.L.K." and "Still Be There" in the future, but this is only square one – if that.

MP3 Stream: "M.L.K."

{audio}/mp3/files/The Entrance Band – MLK.mp3{/audio}

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