Friday, June 20, 2014

Album Review: "Everything You Knew Before You Knew Everything" by Static in Verona

Everything You Knew....
Normally when do I an album review, I listen to it in the car or on my headphones so I am sequestered away from all distractions and I can feel the music. I then take notes on a single page.

I only have six words written about this album playing in my ears, but it's really so much more than those six words.

Static In Verona is a solo project by Rob Merz. I say solo project in the truest sense of the word.

He is handling all of the duties on this album from top to bottom. I've always been of the mind that even if you wrote an entire album and had hired hands play what you can't, it's not a solo album. Consider all of the albums by bands where one or two members wrote everything, but didn't play on them...

Rob Merz or Static In Verona
This record is a pop album.

Not too long ago in my life I would never have been willing to spin this album, much less review it, but times change.

The term pop, to me, brings singers like Mariah Carey to mind. Simple vocal lines over a synth drum beat...an album that can be written and recorded in an afternoon.

This isn't like that. Yes, there are some electronic pieces of music, along with crunchy guitar, drums, violins, horns, and who knows what else.

How long has it been since pop music actually was music?

Well, Static in Verona is bringing it back.

The six words written on my notebook: flowing, mellow, diverse, happy, groove, moody.

This album flows like a river. When a song is done, it moves into another like Led Zeppelin. It's mellow. This is the perfect soundtrack to sitting in your backyard in the rain.

It can easily bring to mind what you once had.

Diverse...this album breaks my cardinal rule, it's longer than 45 minutes. Led Zeppelin (the masters of the album achieved perfection in less than 42 on every album basically.) Yet, even after crossing into the very long album territory, it still holds up. It does that because it's not the same thing over and over. It's like a parade of music.

Happy, though not precisely the poppiest tunes, it feels warm and full.  Groove, this album will keep your foot tapping.

Moody...it's up and down...

Release: 3/25/14
Genre: Indie Pop
Label: DIY
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