8 Songs

Thirteenfour, from Saratoga Springs NY, plays epic rock music. Despite the quietly prolific songwriting of Nathan Solomon and Jason Tousignant, these 8 songs are their first to make it on to a CD. The songs on this record aren't short little pop/rock ditties. Every song builds slowly and steadily. Then there'll be a guitar solo, a long one. Following more verses, there'll be another guitar solo, longer than the first lifting towards an even higher plateau. There aren't any ballads on this one. If you like rock guitar, you should have this record. Jason Tousignant's slippery lead guitar playing makes the obvious nods to the most well known of classic rock guitars gods: Page, Clapton, Beck etc.. but it's the odd juxtaposition of more modern players that is truly interesting. Imagine that Slash from Guns & Roses made a Pink Floyd-esque concept record with Trey from Phish and you're getting warmer. Lead vocalist Nathan Solomon sings his tenor with high theatrics, constantly improvising around a melody that's always there like a hologram. The classical influenced vocal style, range and technique of Freddie Mercury and, surprisingly, John Denver wear the raw, emotive 1990's fashions of say, Eddie Vedder or Layne Staley. The backing band is tight and dynamic. Bassist James Gascoyne is joined by drummers Chris Carey and Steve Candlen alternately. Somewhere swimming in the veritable sea of guitars, is the subtly nuanced additional guitar playing of Chris Kyle. Recorded and mixed by Jason Brown, formerly of the powerhouse rock band Fixer, the production is clear and punchy, very guitar and vocal forward. Wow, did you really just read this whole thing? That means you're probably going to buy it. Awesome!