steering clear of the mainstream
since 2001

june 2010

review
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info opinion

Bryon Thompson

"Starting Now" CD

self-released

Genre: instrumental guitar

August 2007

Starting Now is Bryon Thompson's fourth contribution to the annals of instrumental rock, coming across as a more restrained version of 90s classic Pell Mell. This disc could use some more edge, as its extremely clean sound can become bland after extended listening. Still, Thompson knows his way around a solid instrumental melody, and these songs start exuding that friendly feel of familiarity quite early on. Strangely, many of these songs sound very influenced by other bands; "I Just Know" is pure George Harrison, "Says Who" reeks of XTC, and "Always More" is like a classic rock tinged Badly Drawn Boy instrumental. Meanwhile, the cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Sunny Side of Heaven" is Thompson's most overt display of fandom.

72%

Fun Fact: When he isn't working over his guitar and spending time with his family, Bryon Thompson spends his work hours as a professional illustrator.

Matt Shimmer

[Vitals: 10 tracks, distributed by the band, released 2007]