Seely
Seconds
[Too Pure/Beggars Banquet]
Rating: 7.5
Isn't it great when someone comes along and shakes things up? On
Seconds, Atlanta- based Seely's first release (just reissued
on Beggars Banquet in the US), we find the band swimming
in uncharted depths. And they aren't just treading water.
Steven Satterfield and Lori Scacco, who share vocal duties, combine to
form a hippie- like singing duo, often times singing vocal parts over each
other that contrast, while simultaneously complementing each other.
Scacco's dreamy, hazy soprano sounds fine, but Satterfield has some strange
vocal quirks (singing with an English accent even though he's from Georgia), like
a cross between the Alexis Arquette character in "The Wedding Singer" and
Robert Smith. Together though, Satterfield and Scacco sound remarkably
peaceful and at ease with each other, intertwining like latticework.
Some songs, like the instrumental "The Sandpiper," are wonderful examples
of how musical structure should be used and not abused. Other standout
tracks, like "Letters to Ramblers" and "It's Your Day, Karen" use the vocal
counterpoint to accent the melodious instrumental parts. The
instrumentation is not an afterthought, as every guitar strum and every
drum "whack!" is meticulously planned out.
My only gripe about Seconds is that there's enough drama and tension
engrained in the music to fuel a whole season of "Party of Five." If I
want to feel nervous, I'll watch an old episode of "The Dennis Miller Show."
But then, that dourness is what drives British pop, and Seely is definitely
the most British Atlanta band I've ever heard in my life.
-Lang Whitaker