An interesting mixture of sounds and styles on this 4-song E.P. from The Get Ahead, a Portland-based five-piece outfit.  Incredibly powerful – almost haunting vocals; flavors of gospel, soul, folk and blues make this one of the more cohesive pieces of music I’ve heard this year.

The opening track, “Stella” has a slow, deep Delta feel; an aching ode to a wayward love; very taut and tense with the rhythm section and dry production which makes the power of the performance all the more effective; the title track, “Mind Is A Mountain” is more of a straightforward blues-y piece; some sweet harmonies and quality riffage – I also like the use of a traditional middle eight that bridges the verses.  “To The Wild” opens with a very Staple Singers-kind of chorale but then kicks in with a frenetic riff and explodes with a pure ’70’s soul power/tempo/vibe; the use of handclaps gives greater credence to the gospel influence and “Love Crime” is crisp, with a dynamic guitar, call-and-response vocals and something of a “spy”-melody/theme.

Four songs may not be a lot, but these four songs are simply very, very good.  This is another one of those bands now on my radar (they have one previous album available) and I’m curious to see/hear where they go from here.

RECOMMENDED

Mind Is A Mountain is currently available

http://www.thegetahead.com/

EP Reviews, Music

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About the Author

Rob Ross

Rob Ross has been, for good, bad or indifferent, involved in the music industry for over 30 years - first as guitarist/singer/songwriter with The Punch Line, then as freelance journalist, producer and manager to working for independent and major record labels. He resides in Staten Island, New York with his wife and cats; he works out a lot, reads voraciously, loves Big Star and his orange Gretsch. Doesn't that make him neat?

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