STAY FOR THE ENDING

DISTRICT 97 avant-garde sound unlike any other genre; modern progressive rock, new prog.

"Stay for the Ending" puts its feet in the dish directly offering a convoluted, nervous rock where Leslie's voice denotes common progressive voices; here it is soft, plaintive, playful, rhythmic, like a very complex tune, a bit on a more symphonic RUSH; a strong sensation of swirling music; the break with a crazy prog metal solo and a melodic keyboard, it starts strong. "Mirror" with the limpid, liquid, progressive intro; the riff that follows sets things on fire, the phrasing drives the point home, the tune does not fit into the conventional progressive shackles, here it is energy, flexibility and worked harmony; the piano, the tune of a Joe JACKSON who would have thought rock rather than pop; the violent break with drums and guitars before being joined by a solemn piano; Leslie and Jim for a PORCUPINE TREE-style finale and an enjoyable crescendo, a slap; At one point I thought I heard Peter GABRIEL telling you this. "Many New Things" and the opening slap, ambient air inviting lethargy, electronic pad which drifts on a new wave pop tune à la Björk, striking; the Frippian redundant bass of Tony LEVIN in a dream; a Crichtonian guitar solo yes SAGA is in my ropes, in short it continues. "Crossover" yes, a juice from MEER that I loved recently, a fresh sound, hold the keyboard which plays it "perfect" like Adam HOLZMAN playing with WILSON; ah the heavy break chorus à la 'Thrak' which accompanies Leslie, it seems out of tune but it's super worked, complicated, disorienting and hilarious. "Divided We Fall" starts with a nervous rock, pop tendency with Jim who comes to help with the vocals; an enchanting air going towards hushed groovy-jazzy and hard atmospheres, all well mixed; you have to take the time but it's very innovative, well done.

"Life Cycle" spatial, watery, crystalline intro; a Wilsonian bass to set the mood, a de facto ballad with a finale which will swell towards a more tense style and Leslie who delicately places her voice on top. "X" intro you will have understood, reading the following title; bass, thrumming bass, ethereal and "X-Faded" arrives, rock like Chrissie HYNDE at the start; very quickly a cavernous riff comes to throw trouble; Leslie in a loud voice, you have to get used to it, I admit, but afterward it's fun, not to mention Nirvana, sublime; piece navigating on musical sweetness/revolt and an explosion in the chorus which gives humidity in the back until the tribal finale. "Deck is Stacked" riff a la SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, SCATTERBRAIN on 'Here comes trouble', rhythmic, energetic, deep heavy groove, always a sound of the master JACKSON in the background; a break with a Zappian solo, on a well- struck FAITH NO MORE; prolonged listening, as in the days of prog, causes the sound to blend pleasantly; here is a drum solo in our time, amazing for daring to put Jonathan forward, he deserves it with this distinctive and singular hit "The Watcher" metronomic wooden piano; percussion by Jonathan, Leslie in a cappella; it finally rises to an agreed tune, the prog magic is in fact working; Tim's imposing bass; observer and creator of an avant- garde sound Leslie imposes; the sharp riff countering a childish piano melody just before the instrumental debauchery, a jerky explosion caught up by this piano; two-part finale with a captivating jerky sound.

DISTRICT 97 the group not the film with a 7 less, although in the film it was a crazy, incredible, caustic atmosphere; diverse musical themes, varied influences which give a unique sound; themes about the human experience with its ups and downs; a sound amalgamating various and new progressive rocks; a composition where the musical performance mixes and manages to give a new, prodigious sound; WALLENBERG who worked with ALAN PARSONS is not there by chance; a summary of progressive rock that ignores future criticism, an album with the sensitivity of MEER, with the angry side of a PORCUPINE TREE, a RUSH, a Joe JACKSON, a very beautiful album.

I've been a fan of District 97 for a long time, from about the time of 'The Trouble with Machines', through 'In Vaults', but I kind of lost sight of them after that. 'Screens' passed me by, but I've always been impressed by the complexity and power of their music, and especially with Leslie's powerful vocals - it's not easy to sing this music, with its complex structures and shifting time signatures. I imagine that Adrian Belew had this problem in his time with King Crimson.

Now they have released 'Stay for the Ending', I'm back onboard, big time! This is a great album that is likely to be overlooked and underrated. The song structures are as complex as ever, with powerhouse vocals from Leslie and Jim, and brilliant interplay between Jim's guitar riffs and solos, and Andrew's keyboards. It sounds a bit weird to say this, but they make prog rock accessible without any making compromise. It's always a temptation to edit out the angular riffs and unusual time signatures in a bid to become more popular, to expand your audience. This is, happily, not the case with District 97. I do really hope they reach a wider audience though, as their brilliance, accessibility, and abundant virtuosity deserves more attention. This is a thoroughly enjoyable album that has the best of both worlds - great vocals and powerful, moving music.

Good luck, guys!

District 97 are back with their fifth album, with exactly the same line-up as they had for 2019's 'Screens', Leslie Hunt (vocals), Andrew Lawrence (keyboards), Jim Tashjian (guitars, vocals), Tim Seisser (bass), and Jonathan Schang (drums & percussion). That is the only other album I have heard from the band, and although I felt it was very clever, I just could not warm to it at all as I felt something was missing. I commented that their hearts must be in the right place, as Hunt is best known for being semi-finalist in the Top 20 of Season 6 of American Idol, and she joined the band very soon afterwards. No-one is in prog for money, so to move from commerciality to this genre shows a real desire for the music, and here she has the opportunity to show exactly what she can do with a band who appear to have moved strongly into prog metal with dynamic runs and blistering guitar.

Hunt is always in control, and it takes someone with serious chops to be the vocal focus when they are in this band as this is a significant release with a great deal going for it. The songs switch and move, and everything I felt was missing from the last album is here in spades with powering performances from everyone and songs which are consistently interesting and changing direction so one is never sure what is going to happen next as keyboards and guitar vie for dominance, yet there is also a lot of piano underneath. It is heavily layered, with a very rich palette indeed, yet never feels too bombastic or over the top. Drummer and percussionist Jonathan Schang said, "After 15 years of leading District 97, I'm thrilled that we continue to push ourselves to new heights in every realm of our music making. This is the strongest collection of songs we've ever assembled." Compared with their last release I certainly see where he comes from with that statement, as while it is not a perfect album, the introduction to "Many New Things" being a fine example, there is a great deal here to enjoy. On this album Hunt certainly puts forward a case for being one of the finest female prog singers out there, and this is an album which will certainly intrigue many progheads, especially if they are interested in great interplay at speed combined with great vocals.