CD Review

For better or worse, when it comes to musical taste most casual ears (mine included) believe in love at first impression, while simultaneously having the tendency to dismiss a negative experience after just one go round. While I encourage the former and admittedly suffer from the latter (on occasion) I plead with those of you afflicted with the musical attention deficit to ingest music in varying states of dizziness and attentiveness before you discard. What a tangent- and I’ll bet the band is sweating by now, and pissed that they wasted a promotional copy on this wandering hack…You can not make a case for ignoring animal you rock star (self-released), the latest release from Athens, Georgia based, partially sad everyman with an uber hip sound, Count Kellam. For those on a first name basis, just ‘Count’ will do. This was the quintessential ‘love at first listen, when you have hipsters over for red wine it’ll just so happen to be in the speakers- complimenting your comfortable lighting and thrift store sweater’ kind of record.

Ladies and gentlemen I’ve seen the future of rock and roll, and thankfully it sounds as if he grew up on a steady diet of The Beatles, Jeff Buckley, Mad Magazine, Mountain Dew, Members Only jackets and scary movies. This is to say that he writes songs that are catchy, hypnotic, nostalgic, forward thinking and crafted with a hyper-caffeinated precision and painstaking attention to detail. He has that undeniable it. It’s the synthesizer on “I’ve Got a Dream Farm” and the industrial punk confusion of “The State of Our Union.” It’s the beauty of the house warming melodies on “Painted” (featuring Hope foragoldensummer’s Claire Campbell) and lyrics like “The end for her is now / so that she may find some rest / this cancer in my heart / will begin now I guess” (from “Karma on Ninth St.). It makes animal a rabid record- fierce and unpredictable.

Count has emerged from the shadow of former band mate Bain Mattox, of the band with the same name- a Southern USA regional stud in the world of well-produced multi-instrumental, completely emotional pop rock. Make room Mattox, Count is fixin’ to conquer that corner too. File this effort under: exotic, underwater and stratespherical walls of sounds you couldn’t recreate in your head after an afternoon in a fuel induced Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Love Liza haze in a dental supply warehouse located next to the Mobil station. Yes, two inhalant references in one sentence are required to describe the morose madness and subtle wonders on animal.

for more info see countk.com