It seems like there’ve been a lot of bands these past few years
\nwho think they can get by on earnestness\u2026 y’know, the
\nattitude that if they’re just serious enough about their music, it
\nwill automatically be good. What these bands tend to miss is the
\nimportance of entertainment value. A little flair, please, and hold
\nthat winking close-up for an extra beat…<\/p>\n
Entertainment value is definitely not an issue for Spiraling, a
\nkeyboard-driven quartet that puts Ben Folds, the Cars, Weezer,
\nRush, Death Cab For Cutie and Queen in a blender and hits frappe.
\nThe chief mad scientist is singer\/songwriter\/keyboardist\/producer
\nTom Brislin, aided and abetted by the audacious talents of
\nbandmates Marty O’Kane (guitars), Bob Hart (bass) and Paul Wells
\n(drums).<\/p>\n
Brislin’s songs are whimsical, self-mocking little character
\nsketches, drenched in irony and mounted atop a musical foundation
\nfull of energy and invention. This EP — the follow-up to the
\nband’s promising 2002 full-length
\nTransmitter<\/i> — features four completely distinct and, yes,
\nthoroughly entertaining tracks.<\/p>\n
The disc leads off with a taste of white noise and the chunky,
\nangular, proggy-sounding guitar riff that anchors “A Face For
\nRadio” (whose one failing is its clich\u00e9d title). Old-school
\nsynthesizer tones swirl in and out as Brislin throws all the snide
\nhe can muster at lines like “You got it made \/ What does ‘got it
\nmade’ mean, anyway \/ If you don’t make anything? \/ No, you do not
\nmake anything\u2026”<\/p>\n
“Ah Sugar” is pure novelty, and pretty damn funny at that. Our
\nnarrator, this time supported by an expertly textured backdrop of
\nkamikaze piano and faux-prog synths, whines his way through a trio
\nof addictions, starting with good old glucose. I laughed out loud
\nat the end of the first verse of this one; I won’t spoil it for
\nyou.<\/p>\n
(It’s also amusing to note that this is bizarre little number
\nhas the most proggy, Rick Wakeman-esque synthesizers on the disc,
\nsince Brislin’s biggest gig to date was sitting in on Yes’s
\nsymphonic tour a couple of years back, essentially warming the
\nkeyboard seat until Wakeman — by most accounts the wittiest man
\never to be in Yes — was himself ready to return to the fold.)<\/p>\n
Perhaps the most commercially-inclined — not to mention
\nbrilliantly titled — track here is “Texas Is The Reason,” a cut
\nthat kicks off sounding somewhat like Geddy Lee and The Edge
\nplaying a song co-written by Ric Ocasek and Donald Fagen. In other
\nwords, a frenetic bassline and airy, dynamic guitar figures,
\ncounter-balanced by a deeply sardonic yet appealingly demented
\nlyric.<\/p>\n
Closer “You Can’t Get There” starts out life as an atmospheric
\npiano ballad but builds into something much more interesting. The
\ncombination of rich harmonies, all-over-the-map piano flourishes
\nand thunderous guitar chords suggests Queen, but really, it’s a
\npiece that stands on its own, right down to the steady-building jam
\nthat closes the song out in style.<\/p>\n
Despite a multitude of influences, Spiraling is like nothing you
\ncan hear on radio today, and that alone would give me reason to
\ncheer them on. Powerhouse melodies, self-lacerating wit and bravura
\nmusicianship — now that’s what I call entertainment.<\/p>\n