steering clear of the mainstream
since 2001

june 2010

review
blankred.jpg (4669 bytes)
blankred.jpg (4669 bytes)
blankred.jpg (4669 bytes)
blankred.jpg (4669 bytes)
info opinion

Sedalia

"Growtheries" CDEP

Barely Bias

Genre: country rock, country folk

June 2006

Sedalia's Growtheries EP is a bit of an experiment - these songs are sparse, bare-bones country/folk creatures with often unconventional guitar playing. "Big Yellow Buzzards," for example, has Ross Nervig's singing over a minimal drum beat and choral female vocals; it takes awhile to get into, but it's surprisingly successful in the end. "The Heavens" adds guitar to the mix to produce a pleasantly unsettling shell of a bluesy country song, while "9 Steps to a Little Death" kicks up the energy with a much faster tempo. Haunting "Give Up our Ghost," meanwhile, has a nice mood but doesn't pair it up with a decent melody, while EP closer "Eyewax" picks things up a bit but doesn't match the disc's earlier tracks in terms of enjoyment. Boasting a few really solid songs, Growtheries is a strong EP which requires a bit of a learning curve on the part of the listener. Fortunately, Sedalia's sound is interesting enough to keep its audience coming back.

myspace

77%

Fun Fact: There's a toy piano on the cover of Growtheries, but not a single piano note played during the album.

Matt Shimmer

[Vitals: 6 tracks, distributed by the label, released Apr 15 2006]