ONE INCH OF THE FALL

When ECHOLYN broke up after the "As The World" album Chris Buzby formed his own band FINNEUS GAUGE. ECHOLYN would eventually reform but not before Chris and his band blessed us with 2 albums, including this one "One Inch Of The Fall". I understand the band named themselves after a railway worker named Finneus Gage who sort of became famous back in 1848. During some blasting a small piece of pipe went through under his chin and out the top of his head.They dared not try to remove it, instead they cut off each end and sent him home. He apparently lived this uncomfortable and painful(headaches) way for 13 more years as a recluse. The music here is not that accessible, it has a Rio flavour at times with the drumming of Chris' brother John being the highlight for me.The female vocals are well done and suit the music quite well. Scott McGill is on guitar, enough said.

"Open Up The Fog Lines" opens with heavy guitar before the (at times) purposely off key vocals and dissonant sounds come in. Rio influenced no doubt.This is different but it works extremely well. One of my favs off the album. "In A Different Hour" is more uptempo with prominant odd metered drumming. I like when it calms down after 2 minutes followed by some incredible guitar.The calm passage returns 4 minutes in followed by an even better guitar solo. "One Inch Of The Fall" opens with vocal melodies and some tasty organ runs. I love the intricate drumming as the song settles down with vocals. Some nice bass 2 1/2 minutes in. Great sound 4 minutes in. The vocal melodies are so good. Impressive guitar after 6 minutes. More organ in this one as well.

"Biogee's Lament" is like organized mayhem. Haha. I can't say enough good things about the drumming. Lots of keys early but the guitar starts to take over 2 minutes in and actually dominates the rest of this instrumental along with the drumming. Keys are sprinkled in throughout. "Unsinkable You" has some nice bass lines throughout. The multi-vocal sections were the only times I thought of ECHOLYN during this whole album. "State Of Art" is where she sings her best in my opinion. I wish I had the lyrics for this song. This is a very melodic song with guitar shining as well. "Early Sun" has a melancholic vibe to it. Keyboard solo 2 minutes in. Nice jazzy tune. "Golden Pretzel" is my least favourite song as her vocals are so aggressive and hard to listen to. A Rio flavour to this one as well. Check out the prolonged guitar solo though. Oh my ! This is worth the price of the cd alone.

Easily 4 stars. Adventerous music done at the highest possible level. Highly recommended. Many listens required.