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Yet another jam band with a silly name, U Melt (formerly a440) has recently released their debut album, The Unbelievable Meltdown (Nu-Q-Lir Music) proving, if anything, that there are worse names for a band than the String Cheese Incident.
They also prove themselves to be a young up-and-coming band with a knack for putting together catchy little pop tunes and a real pension for jamming. Another thing is obvious throughout: U Melt are not afraid to play. These guys have obviously studied their respective instruments and it shows on this album. The only element, in fact, that needs some work is the vocals. The album credits each member in this department, but none are terribly impressive. There seems to be no traditional singer in this group.
The first track, "Green Amber," begins with a long guitar introduction, reminiscent of the dual guitar lines the Allman Brothers would play in their heyday. Of course, the Allmans had the advantage of having two guitarists in the band. A couple minutes in, the vocals hit and quickly bring me back to the point that these guys, like many a jam band, just don't have very strong pipes.
The album covers reggae, pop, psychedellia, and straight-ahead guitar-driven jam throughout the ten songs. There are many obvious influences here, but most apparent is Phish--it seems as if guitarist Rob Salzer has religiously studied all of Trey's guitar licks and applied them liberally. This is a young band with clearly a lot of talent, but they need to use that talent to develop their own musical personality. The songs on this album tend to be a bit "jam band" generic and there's no actual standout track on the album. While somewhat entertaining, their songs just lack the punch they need to be really memorable. There doesn't seem to be a clear focus here, as if these guys set out to create something, but they just weren't sure what. After some extended time playing and writing songs together, U Melt certainly has the potential to create some really great tunes.
Sam Katz
JamBase | Boston
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