all of us/none of us: arcane and abel EP

A fucked up email….

A curious mind….

A nagging suspicion….

All led to perhaps the find of the year thus far. Eric Ray of all of us/none of us sent off what he thought was a flurry of music submission emails to blogs. Some of you got it, I’m sure. Mine came and when I opened it, all that appeared in the message was “Hey Tart,”… Hmmm, I like a mystery maybe a little more than the next rocker chick! I hit reply to give him a good rake over the coals only to find the message appear, links intact. Thwarted in my plans for a tongue lashing (oh a nice tongue lashing, I’m a pussy-cat, honest!) I let the whole thing sit for the next 8 days. It nagged. It goaded me. It called me to download it and listen. Somehow my subconscious knew, dammit! So I bring you, today, a really cool EP from all of us/none of us. Yeah it’s a little Beck-ish , a little like Jane’s Addiction, with a dash of the Black Crowes, and a smidge of Chris Cornell. However, arcane and abel is thoroughly planted in the new millennium, no matter the influences of the greatest sounds of the 90s.  Opening with “Hurts my Head” this LA duo break out serious guitar work, and sparse but powerful vocals that drift off hauntingly, leaving you wondering what’s next. “Whatcha Gonna Do” features a guitar solo that’s so dissonant as to be oh-so-achingly gorgeous. I listened to that damn solo at least 10 times, loving it more each time, a sly smile creeping over my face as I imagined what this guitarist would look like doing THAT to a guitar, …. whew! Ya know music is a physical thing when ya hear something like that! Catch your breath quick before track three hits ya, because “Excess” is a hot little number with a kickin bass line and very danceable rhythm guitar. And then this EP ends all too soon with a sad, mellow song, “Knew That.” Well, it’s not too soon actually. It’s perfect. Eric Ray’s voice is hollow and empty and small as the song starts, taking in tone and depth as it builds toward a crescendo of sound only to fall quiet again as that discordant guitar rises. It lets us down easy, that song does. But this EP leaves me wanting more from this group. Dare I add, this EP has a thouroghly American sound? I can’t figure out why, but it honestly does. Maybe someone in the comments can educate me on how I know this. You all who know me, know what an idiot-savant I can be about music sometimes! There’s a lot of potential here. Lyrically, I like it. They’ve got the gift for writing songs that are vague enough to be what you need them to be but not too vague to be meaningless. Musically, the under-production of it (the simple, guitar-driven sound with sparse acommpainent of bass and drum) works. I listen to a lot of new folk music (not nu-folk, that’s completely different) and so I appreciate the strumming and the simplicity of voice and guitar combinations, with sparse harmonies and little else. When they do add drums and bass, it’s beautifully done. I eagerly await their next album. These guys have real talent, snatch this EP up, my darlings. It’s fast become one of my favorites!

Whatcha Gonna Do mp3 by all of us/none of us arcane and abel EP….. go out and buy it

hear the whole EP from all of us/none of us on MySpace