Gabe
Lee
"Haunted Hollowbody" CD
Tight Lip Tunes
Genres: alt country, folk rock
Tight Lip Tunes
589 Wellington St. West
Toronto, ON
M5V 163
Canada
Feb 28 - Mar 6 2005 |
As a proud Canadian, I'm always tickled by the amount of good alt.
country that emanates from our nation's West Coast. In fact, the
Mint Records roster alone accounts for a great chunk of that
material. But check this out - Gabe Lee hails from my
home province of Ontario, and he's proliferating some darn good
country/blues of his own. Haunted Hollowbody, a reference
to Lee's guitar, is a strong collection of
sometimes-uppity-sometimes-downcast alt. country tunes that all share
a common melodic simplicity. I can hear connections to Bob
Dylan and Bruce Springsteen here, as well as a bit of Chris
Isaak and Blue Rodeo as far as Canadian content goes.
This wouldn't feel out of place on Mint, though it is a bit derivative
at times. Still, one can enjoy a lot about this collection of
songs - be it the laidback melancholy of "Sea of Love" and
"Pretty Baby," or the romping energy of "Bring the Boss
Down" and "Double Entendre." "Waiting at the
Station" falls somewhere in the middle, with relaxed grooves
complemented by an inspiring liveliness - its unique atmosphere makes
it one of the record's best moments. So take what you will from
this review; however, if country-blues-rock gets your beans jumping, Gabe
Lee will likely give you your money's worth.
78%
Matt Shimmer [Vitals:
11 tracks, distributed by CD
Baby, released 2004] |