THE ESSENCE
The Essence (John Epperly)
Reviewed by Holly Day

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Cool, kind of jazzy, kind of bluesy, kind of sleazy-sounding rock that crawls along such at a maddeningly slow groove that it makes getting anything practical done while listening to it impossible. The trio of John Epperly, Mike Barbour, and James Ratcliffe play together like they've been jamming together in smoky basements for years and years, sharing a wonderful chemistry that falls somewhere between a drunken musical orgy to an actual professional-sounding band. For being such an obviously low-budget production (home-burnt CD, photocopied cover "art" - the band's name on a folded piece of paper shoved into the case), this is an oddly satisfying record, incredibly complex musicwise and recorded just as well in a cool, echoey, lo-fi kind of way.

[Pick this up at artists.iuma.com.]

© 2003 - Holly Day