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By: Mike Akers
South County, Rhode Island's The Attic have been playing together for two years and the depth of their mutual musical appreciation on their debut, In The Red (self-released in late November 2007) is due to their heavy touring schedule and a lot of hard work offstage, too. The four-piece has duel lead/rhythm guitarists, bass and drums, and they share vocal responsibilities between the three guitar players on the album, which gives the listener a variety of harmonies and flavors.
In The Red features a heavy portion of jam friendly, improvisational jazz, funk and blues-inspired rock & roll. In keeping with their live focus, the loud guitars and classic rock sound of The Attic is definitely a very enthusiastic debut. The strong harmonies of the three vocalists weigh in right away on "Wearing Thin," and their jam influence finds the opening track well above the traditional four-minute standard.
"Promenade," the first extended jam on the CD, takes an instrumental approach with heavy guitar licks reminiscent of early Trey Anastasio. "Eggs to Stone," perhaps the most radio friendly track, has more of a classic rock feel akin to Neil Young & Crazy Horse in 1978. Jam-minded listeners will certainly appreciate the album's variations on funk, jazz and classic rock.
"The Loneliest Monk" into "Von" is an instrumental that changes tempo and exemplifies The Attic's contagious energy. This pair primes the listener up for the final track, the heavily progressive "Barking the Dog," possibly the best cut but also the least radio friendly, "Barking the Dog" clocks in at just over sixteen minutes.
In The Red is an extremely promising debut and introduces the world to The Attic in true color with no-holds barred. It carries their abundant stage presence into the studio realm with real clarity, and hopefully primes listeners to check this band out in their natural setting.
JamBase | Rhode Island
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