Sometimes you can get more attention with a whisper than a scream. It makes you lean in and focus on the sounds that are slowly making their way into your ears. That’s the affect Mellowdrone has on the first track “C’mon Try A Little Bit,” from their debut Box on 3 Entertainment/Red Ink/Columbia (say that mouthful five times fast), and on numerous occasions throughout this pleasurable listening trip.
Having been spun for weeks in the office’s CD player, it’s a miracle the damn thing still plays. Box has all the classic elements for garnering critical acclaim on this year’s top ten list: hooks that hit a synthpop nerve, melodies that ride the magic carpet though the midnight sky, and a chemical formula that permeates the brain, sticking songs in your head like glue.
The L.A. foursome also have a bit of sarcasm and bite, which they thankfully portray quite often. This includes the aptly titled “Fuck It Man” along with “And Repeat,” where lead singer and the band’s songwriter Jonathan Bates croons ever so sincerely, with fingers crossed behind his back, “Oh please can I shake your hand / So I can grow up to be just like you…I’d honestly slam my hand in a car door to shut you up.”
On “Bone Marrow” and “Beautiful Day,” Bates comes back with colossal choruses that could mend wars between countries. He also fluffs his vocal feathers when at times, he carries the tune past the point of turning blue, which is quite impressive, even if it is a trick pulled from within the recording studio.
While all the chaos is going on around us today, Mellowdrone has grown an amazing red rose that sprouts up amidst the rubble and garbage; bright, fragrant and velvety rich with thorns blaring.
