TINYFISH

Folks noted my complete disappointment with Tinyfish's second work, and made a lot of comments to me to the effect of, "Well, Tinyfish must've changed then." Upon hearing the band's debut, I find it is indeed a completely different affair. This is a fine album- good progressive pop music without any of the pretentiousness. Not every track is a gem, but those that aren't consume very little time. And the centerpiece, "All Hands Lost," is a five star effort in and of itself. While my feelings about the band's second work haven't changed, I'm glad I didn't judge the group based on them, because this album is definitely worthy of attention. Check it out.

"Motorville" Following a strange spoken word introduction, Tinyfish explodes into action, kicking things off properly with a smooth and electrifying guitar solo. There are some tasty subtleties throughout, including gentle keyboards and some really cool light bass.

"Fly Like a Bird" Velvety guitar is the key instrument in this laidback song. It's a pretty good number, though not as ingenious as much of the other work.

"Nine Months on Fire" I adore the introduction to this, which is almost Oriental in a way, and then the band produces a fuller sound that's really interesting, especially with those strings in the background. It's a remarkably varied piece, with heavy hitting chords followed by more even passages. The smoky guitar work towards the conclusion is the gravy.

"Too High For Low Company" This song begins low key, with a nice vocal and soft-spoken clean guitar and some excellent bass. It is punctuated by grungy sections, however, and contains a strange bit of guitar (at least what I think is guitar) in the middle.

"All Of The People, All Of The Time" This terse track consists of a telephone call as spacey electronic music fades in (how's that for being on hold?). Though it's a bit corny, I give it points for including an excerpt from The Price is Right.

"Build Your Own Enemy" Having a slight Porcupine Tree sound (in the vein of the softer tracks on Lightbulb Sun), this song could have benefited from some more vocal harmonies I think, but regardless maintains my interest, keeping things steady with a deep bass and some light acoustic duty hanging out in the background.

"God Eat God" This short song, with its clever pun of a title, is not really to my liking, as it's more or less an unremarkable pop song, although it's certainly not unpleasant.

"Sundried" This change of pace has various strings and vocals- a real treat, I wish it were expanded upon.

"All Hands Lost" The highlight of the album begins with a charming guitar and bass- a striking introduction that piqued my interest immediately. It has a slight country tinge- one might be inclined to compare it to The Eagles. The whole song is awash with brilliance, from the powerful instrumental sections to the convincing vocal performances. It's a modern, hip track that takes no time at all to appreciate, yet will beg to be heard again and again.

"Tinyfish" So Tinyfish is a band, an album title, and a piece of music! This final work reminds me of "Brothers in Arms" by Dire Straits, especially with that gritty, bluesy electric guitar lead over the meditative, atmospheric background.