FOR DISTANT VIEWING

Few albums have quite captured my attention and interest as much as Little Tybee's 2013 opus For Distant Viewing. The band, who have been around for about six or seven years now, have steadily been releasing quality albums every two years since their origin in 2009, but it wasn't until just a few months ago that I discovered the band. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, the band, who defies just about every genre convention someone puts them in, would have flown completely under my radar had it not been for their unique guitarist ' Josh Martin ' who plays an 8-string guitar, an odd instrument to accompany an indie/experimental/chamber pop rock band, or however you want to categorize them. I saw Martin in an instructional video he released for Ibanez describing 'glitch tapping,' a remarkable and incredibly technically difficult guitar technique that he himself thought up, or so he humbly puts in the video he's been practicing but isn't sure if anyone else has been doing it. His techniques give an entirely new voice to a very well-explored instrument, and even in the short snippets of Little Tybee songs he plays in the video, I could tell I would like this band.

For Distant Viewing, which is the band's third album, covers an immense amount of ground for a 44- minute long album. Like I mentioned earlier, there is no easy genre tag for this band, and there is no band quite like them that I've discovered yet. If there's one theme they keep throughout their music, it's that they are immensely melodic and unbelievably catchy. The music is undoubtedly progressive and in some places quite experimental, but there are more than a few songs on this album that pleasantly played in my head for days on end (I was very happy it was this way!). The album contains motes of dozens of genres, but the band seems to revolve around a core few for their unique sound ' the play between the violin, acoustic guitar, and piano gives the band a folky sound, while the clean electric guitar tones gives it an indie rock edge, the song structures and melodies give them a pop-rock feel, and the technical arrangements have a progressive tone throughout. In one, obsessively categorizing term, I suppose one could call the band an indie folk progressive pop rock band, but even then it would not quite encapsulate the entirety of the band's sound.

Another thing beyond the incredible uniqueness of the music that I love about this band is that each song is meticulously crafted to perfection. The band has said in a number of interviews that they bring the album on tour before they even record the album, allowing the band to play the songs live, honing and perfecting every tone and melody so that when they enter the studio, not only are they incredibly well rehearsed, but every note for each song has been proven to be exactly in the right spot. For this reason, each song is remarkably listenable. I love the element of progressive rock where the album is considered a single piece, and which songs themselves are isolated, they don't feel 'whole' without the support of their fellow album mates, with concept albums and rock operas being a perfect example of this. For Distant Viewing, however, seems to encapsulate both the pleasure of listening to an album through-and-through and also being able to pick a song out of the lineup and just play it, enjoying it for what it is. Each song compliments the other and the album flows gorgeously, but taking a song out of its context does not hinder its integrity whatsoever. Songs like 'Mind Grenade' and 'Hearing Blue,' which are personal favorites, could be played on repeat for hours on end I would still enjoy each song as much as if I listened to the entire album.

In addition to this element of completeness the album seemed to have, the album seemed to feed all the things I love about music in just the perfect amount. While I might listen to Scenes for a Memory when I want a heavy dose of technicality and a good concept or Blackwater Park if I want something truly heavy or Spirit of Eden if I want powerful melodies, For Distant Viewing seems to present everything in just the right doses that I'm satisfied. 'Mind Grenade' is an intensely catchy pop song that has just the right amount of experimentality to keep everything interesting and fun to listen to; 'Hearing Blue' is incredibly technical but still has a strong and gorgeous melody throughout; 'Fantastic Planet' is mellow, slower, and full or gorgeous songs, and even 'Left Right' is a bit heavy in its own way and has a strong base in jazz rock and even a bit of the avant-garde in some of the chord voicings. Little Tybee manages to mix all of these in while not trying to make it seem like they're using the song to showcase any one style. While Dream Theater's 'Dance of Eternity' is quite obviously a show of the band's technical prowess and not much else, Tybee touches on a myriad of elements in music while never focusing too long on one to make it seem worn out or overused.

For Distant Viewing, for me, is just about the best example of lighthearted, enjoyable progressive pop rock. Little Tybee doesn't take themselves too seriously, and you can tell just by listening to the recording that they truly enjoy what they're doing. I first discovered this album when I was going through an emotionally tumultuous time, and I can promise that this album stayed on repeat for hours on end and I just seemed to enjoy it more and more on each listen. The melody, the instrumentation, the subtle technicality of many of the parts, and the overall maturity of the songwriting showed that Little Tybee is a forced to be reckoned with in the music world, and I cannot wait to hear what they come out with next. 5 stars.