UNIKORN ON THE COB

LAND OF CHOCOLATE is a 4-piece project that includes Jonn Buzby of FINNEUS GAUGE, and Jordan Perlson of ECHOLYN. This project originally started after Jonn, tired of playing drums, decided to write some songs on keyboards for a future solo project. After finding 3 other musicians interested in his compositions, the "solo idea" quickly turned into a band effort.

"Unikorn on a Cob" consists of 10 tracks that average about 6-minutes each. The vocals, which really stand out here, seem influenced by ECHOLYN. For those of you not familiar with ECHOLYN's vocal-heavy style, try to imagine the vocal interplay found on most GENTLE GIANT albums mixed with a unique sense of dissonance that is quickly likeable. The music, on the other hand, is a different story. It's hard to describe, but if you can imagine a modern style of progressive jazz-fusion (light on the jazz) influenced by GENTLE GIANT, and some of the musical passages found on DREAM THEATER's "Scenes from a Memory" you'll have some idea of what these guys sound like. The interplay between guitar, keyboards, bass, and drums is tight, somewhat frantic, and eclectic. Not to mention, that the production is top-notch (Brett Kull of ECHOLYN produced the CD).

What really impressed me here is that as prog as the music sounds, I could see these guys playing in front of college kids, and actually get respect. Their overall sound is modern, heavy (yet not metal), and catchy. In my opinion, the lyrics seemed to have been written for a wider audience rather than for prog fans. They tend to talk about relationships, or feature gen-X humor. My only warning here, is that a couple of tracks are a bit too commercial. Otherwise, this is some good stuff, and I recommend LAND OF CHOCOLATE to fans of ECHOLYN, and FINNEUS GAUGE. If you're not familiar with those two groups, the band website has some sound samples.