by Nick Rallo
In an interview from last year, Trey Pool, guitarist of THE GARY, told Madeloud that they would be doing a record around the theme of hurricanes and hailstorms. The album turned out to be exactly that: the sound of a hurricane. Logan, which was digitally released in 2009 and set to be physically released next month, has enough thrashing guitars to blow your curtains off the pole.
I like tracks like “Ancient Music” and “Don’t Send Me There” that sound rough and powerful, as though they sweated the making of it. It helps that each song has the running metaphor of a hurricane; it’s damn fun. The bass is fiery and the guitar has that ragged, fevered sound that you can hear in good garage bands from Texas. There’s no ease in the album. The story is gruff and literally swells like a thunderstorm. The opening verse from the 7th track, “Hurricane Radio” slows the rock down:
“Hurricane radio 1,2,3 / I detect my memory trying to out run me …is this a vague broadcast / do you read me?”
I agree with Austin Sound’s analysis (here) that these guys are more than a one-noter, and their passion for a good concept album shows it. If you live in Austin, check out their CD release party for Logan on February 6th at Scoot Inn.