Search - Expert on October :: Expert On October

Track Listings (14) - Disc #1
1. sir isaac
2. dream parade
3. plain august
4. beauty queen
5. fone book function dance
6. how comfortable is stewart? --
7. blues general
8. built like prince
9. 12 stories
10. your own disappear
11. ashford mill
12. arms around the moon
13. selling smiles
14. bar below town

CD Details

All Artists: Expert on October
Title: Expert On October
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Original Release Date: 1/3/2000
Re-Release Date: 5/1/2000
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 659057066622

Synopsis

Album Description

Reminiscent of the vital roots which made Pavement, Ben Folds Five and Radiohead modern rock forces to be reckoned with, Expert On October strives to craft songs that perfectly describe a moment or emotion. Tracks like the jangly "Bar Below Town," the slacker anthem "How Comfortable is Stewart?" and the dissonant waltz "Selling Smiles" take simple, detailed stories and wrap them up in thick harmonies, odd chord structures and unique instrumentation that steps outside of the normal garage-band formula . Unlike most, the band isn't afraid of delicate ballads, as the Rufus Wainwright-inspired "Beauty Queen" demonstrates. And sometimes Expert has to get goofy, adding strange incidentals like the Jon Spencer-esque "Blues General" and the Tom Waits homge "Fone Book Function Dance" to the mix.

CD Reviews

Full of surprises.

William Hooper | Effingham, IL USA | 08/29/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Like the Killers? Let me introduce you to their ancestor that gets considerably less lip service than their ultra-ancestor ska band, Attaboy Skip. (Ahh, the day will come when eclecticism no longer smells like irony.) Ladies and Gentlemen, witness the drumming talents of Ronnie J. Vannucci and multi-instrumental ruckus of Ted Sablay. Caleb Lindskoog and Taylor Milne assist to provide a huge wall of guitar and a tower of song.

This band is one of the greater musical anomolies to emerge from Las Vegas' stagnant funk-metal-punk scene. This is a very satisfying album to listen to for several reasons.

1. The writing is decent, verdant and wavy with themes of self-deprecation, faith, depression, adulthood, idleness, nerdiness, and beauty.

2. The music too shares in the thematic movements: at times beautifully played and textured, sometimes noisy, paranoid, sketchy, violent, volcanic, apathetic and it even has it's moments of silliness and pointlessness. Like life.

3. The strings and slide guitar are great, too.

4. It's not an everyday album, but that's what makes it special. (Like an anniversary.)

5. PLAIN AUGUST! YOUR OWN DISAPPEAR! ARMS AROUND THE MOON!

Oh yeah, go look for "The Silver State", since you are probably well acquainted with the Killers already."