The Kramdens
“Get to the Highway” from the “No One Here Is Reflecting Any Light” Album
There’s something to be said about simplicity in music. Sometimes you want to go deep and surprise and create something totally new, but sometimes you need to immediacy of a great melody and simple arrangement, yet it’s one of the hard things to do well.
Such immediacy and deceptive simplicity is on display here with the Kramdens, in this album, and in particular that “Get to the Highway” song, which builds up with a sense of anticipation, and flows so effortlessly from the understated intro, with clean guitar chugs, a couple of piano notes and a steady quarter drum beat. The fragile falsetto voice of Craig Norris is rising upon that smooth bed of sound with convincing authenticity, and when the chorus hits, with great electric guitar counterpoints, it ends up sounding like an anthem, and you can’t help singing along.
I don’t know what genre the band is supposed to incarnate, alternative rock, maybe? Sounds like these guys have been listening to a lot of classic rock though, from Tom Petty to the Eagles and The Band.
It doesn’t matter ultimately, though. Good music is good music whatever the genre, and this album sounds great. It’s easy to hear that these guys are not born of the last rainfall when it comes to song-writing, everything is flowing perfectly and draws you into their musical universe. It also helps that the production is warm and not overly compressed like too much of today’s output.
Not exactly prime news with this album, but I hear they are going to release a new one soon, and I think the band deserves more recognition.
Verdict: 5/5 beards
You can buy this song and the album on iTunes: