SAFETY IN NUMBERS

Escaping the American heartland and presently touring the american coasts with memorable live performances, this is Umphrey`s Magee. Starting out as a jam band with over 400 plus gigs under their belt, these guys have put together back to back masterpieces. With tight vocal harmonies, great syncopation and infectious grooves this band delivers the goods. From the wonderful cover artwork to the notes within Safety in Numbers would be a fine addition to any proglover`s collection. On this album you may hear nuances of Gentle giant, Happy the Man and the other American heartland band Kansas.This band is not locked on the retro or derivitave target. They truly have evolved their own sound and personally I hope this is indicative of the future of prog rock. They claim on their website The Beatles were a strong influence and at times you can hear that playfullness in the music which really elevates a band over the mundane. My personal favorite song on the album is Believe the Lie which happens to be the first song on the album. This song reminds me of Happy the Man. All songs are quite good though and none could be considered filler. This is great American prog for the now.