Published on Apr 9, 1997
In all my years of reviewing music, I’ve discovered some of the
best moments in music don’t come from the established artists, they
come from the up and coming groups fighting for space on your CD
player. I look forward to the day’s mail to see what new treasures
await discovery.
So when a package arrived containing a CD by the band Attic Of
Love, I was surprised for two reasons. First, the package was
unsolicited. Second, the CD contained some of the most exciting
music I have heard in a long time.
Their debut disc,
Being You, is one of the most mature works I have ever heard
from any band. In some ways, the band reminds me of Jethro Tull –
could be the fact that lead vocalist Andrew Tisbert also plays
acoustic guitar and flute. But the similarities stop there – the
songwriting and performances by Tisbert, guitarist Andrew Gillings,
bassist Michael Sutfin and drummer Michael Speziali create their
own sound and groove. Tisbert’s vocals sound a bit like Candlebox –
possibly another reason why I like this album so much.
You can tell in the first few seconds of “Stealing Einstein’s
Brain” that this is no ordinary debut effort, from the peculiar
time signature pounded out by Speziali to the sparing use of flute
by Tisbert to a serious song based on a rather silly title. The
song tells of a man’s dream to release the world from all its
problems by swiping the remains of Einstein’s brain and unlocking
the secrets it holds. (And if you read the lyric sheet, don’t laugh
about the brain sitting on a trophy shelf – they’re not far from
the truth.)
It’s amazing that Attics Of Love can take song titles that sound
like something a band like The Dead Milkmen would have thought up
and craft songs much deeper in meaning behind them. “Cripples In
Love,” another fine example, deals with the emotional scars left in
an adult’s mind – an adult who had been raped as a child.
“Cambodia” reminds us of the horrors committed in that land while
many countries did nothing to stop them, while “hold my family”
tells a story that could have come out of the newspapers.
But not all of
Being You touches on such serious subjects. “Like A Child”
is one of the most beautiful love songs I’ve heard, while “Precious
Time” features outstanding guitar work, and “Corpse” is powerfully
haunting.
In fact, my only criticism of this disc is that it’s way too
short – spanning nine songs and just under 42 minutes, Attic Of
Love leaves you wanting more more, more!
Listening to this disc, it’s hard to believe this is just a
debut album. With the maturity in both performance and songwriting,
I’m both thrilled and scared at the future this band has. I’m
thrilled because of how good they are, obviously.
I’m scared because, being on a small, up and coming label, they
may tend to get overshadowed by the major releases. And this, kids,
is a God-Damn Shame. Attic Of Love should be given the chance to
get airplay, the chance to become stars on MTV and the chance to
top the charts. Hell, let’s be honest – if I hadn’t gotten the disc
in the mail, I probably never would have heard of Attic Of Love.
Thank Jah for media promotion!
Being You is an outstanding album by an outstanding group –
if given a fair shot by the industry and radio, this band could be
the item of the year. It may be a little tough to find this CD
(though two of the three big Internet music superstores carry the
disc), but it is definitely worth the effort.
Editor’s Note: Since the release of this disc, the
label has apparently folded… pity, they were nice people over
there. You can still get this disc through the band’s
Web site as of this
reposting in August 2000.