CD Review

The debut album from Savannah, Georgia's Perpetual Groove strikes you with conviction and purpose. The fastest growing jam based act of the South in 2002 has been capitalizing on the energy of their live shows and just recently released their debut album, Sweet Oblivious Antidote. In the studio their sound brushes with the rave culture, but instead of becoming an in your face dance affair, it's a re-awakening of the spiritual side of sound. The music demonstrates a joyous and rejuvenating quality that is celebratory and carries a positive emotional connotation: one that is contrived upon the infectious guitar sounds of Brock Butler and intricate keyboard work of Matt McDonald. Although the lyrical side of their music is few and far between, it strengths lie within their musical compositions that splash in diverse realms of jazz, world beat, trance and techno that summon to carry the listener onward.

"Three Weeks" builds around the cool vocals of Brock Butler and his creative loops presenting a kaleidoscope of colorful sound. Butler's guitar seamlessly floats on top of the loops leading into a resounding techno breakdown, while the guitar continues to stab away with precise humming bird effects, resulting in a dash of catharsis. The tune flows into "Perihelion" with a spacey ambient intro that eventually hits a sweet funky jazzy mid section providing the overall piece a sectional fugue quality. Keyboardist Matt McDonald provides a swirling foundation on keys and leads a nice segue into "Sun Dog" a tune that provides teases of sunlight, with it's blissful piano interlay that continues to jam further. The fourth tune, "TSM2" builds itself around feel good lyrics, a catchy beat and shows the band's strengths beyond but in the songwriting category. Butler has an inviting voice, but seems to tease us with it, by only opening up at certain spots throughout. "Teakwood Betz" futher explores the bands trance fusion side and divulges head first into a hypnotic jam that can only go so far on record, and shows why the band excels in the live setting. "Astro Monkey" and "Robot Waltz" are certainly what their names imply but seem to run dry in spots, and might better be reserved for a live disc. "Walking In Place" is a nice mellow jazzy lyrical number resulting in a welcome breath of fresh air. It's vital for a band to be able to change the pace without sounding forced, but Perpetual Groove can legitimately pull it off with Butler's compelling vocals. "Playground" dabbles in jammy waters that only die hards might want to tread. "Title Track" concludes as a divulging anthem sampling the discs strongest sections and building them into a well-represented tune.

This debut is only a hint at what the band accomplishes in the live setting and why they have been overwhelming live audiences all over the South. Fans of various genres of jam/groove based rock will find this offering a refreshing addition to their sound library.