(Artwork care of Karen Ramsay (www.karenramsay.com), profile photo care of brianlackeyphotography.com)

Thursday, June 4, 2015

What's cool? Post Paradise, "Ordinary"

Driving guitar and silky cello power a solid new single 

This is not a humble brag, but as a music critic, I get around a hundred emails a day promoting an overwhelming variety of bands. That's one of the ways I find out about all kinds of under-the-radar acts and their music. Occasionally, though, the system tosses out a surprise. This time, it was a local Ft. Collins band, Post Paradise. I've seen these guys several times, but haven't gotten around to reviewing their show. Fortunately, their PR people at LaFamous Press brought them back to my attention with a track from their upcoming EP.



"Ordinary" starts with a tight nervous energy spawned by the one-two punch of Nick Duarte's driving guitar and the edge of desperation in his vocals. "A heart, a flame/ An ordinary name/ Too smart to believe it." The band joins in for the second time through the opening lines, creating a relentless sense of inevitability; the ride has started and we're buckled in. It's a solid song, but Amy Morgan's cello makes it anything but ordinary. She flows between the registers of her instrument, first offering silky bass accents and then sawing through some higher notes to support a staccato guitar strum.

Morgan enriches the band's sonic palette, but Post Paradise builds on it with songwriting that takes advantage of all their players to develop stronger dynamic changes and a range of melodic motifs that are both non-trivial and catchy. All of this serves to remind me of how much I've enjoyed their performances, and spurs me to catch another show soon -- this time for more than just my own enjoyment.

No comments:

Post a Comment