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By Jen Procop
Glen Closer
Rating:
Glen Closer’s second album had sizable shoes
to fill. Pine View Grocery; their first release made music critics prick up
their ears…and their suspicions. Was Glen Closer’s debut album just a case of
beginner’s luck or did this New Jersey rock trio have real talent? I put their
follow-up self titled disc into my CD player and it didn’t take me much longer
than a few tight guitar riffs on their first track ("Get up and Go") to know
that this album is generous.
I am having a fatal attraction to Glen
Closer.
With their progressive harmonies and honest lyrics, this album is a blend of
modern rock, 60’s folk and small town Americana. Joe Rubin, Jim Baeszler and
Johnna White are all talented musicians and their riffs, hooks and arrangements
are tight and uncompromising. The most effective tracks come when Johanna White
takes control of the microphone and her striking voice on “Brave” is one of the
best on the album. Rock tracks like “Supernatural” and ‘Hung by a thread” mesh
really well with the sixties beatnik feel of “Our Yard”. The only thing this
album doesn’t have is the “big one”- one song that just blows your mind and
leaves you feeling dizzy. To make up for it, it does offer ten tracks that you
can listen to in succession without having to maul the skip button. In terms of
attraction, who needs the big one? I will take long and perpetual over short and
intense any day!
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