When I first heard the first single released off of Under The Influence of Giants' new album, "Mama's Room," via iTunes' free download of the week, I thought, 'Scissor Sisters, Part Two.' And while lead singer Aaron Bruno's vocals sounded very similar to the Scissor Sisters, rest assured that UTIOG will NOT leave you feeling the least bit 'comfortably numb.'
I wanted to give them their due shot and listened intently to what would quickly become a staple in my mp3 collection. In short, UTIOG is a fun and engaging, auspicious beginning for a band that hails from L.A. The foursome exudes a funky, harmonious sound that they ramp up and unfurl into their own unique sound all the while taking their "influence" from "giants" of past, present, and the future—namely, with themselves. They are an awesome rock group that exemplifies and forges down a path that many try but so few actually garner much success.
After all, UTIOG are "influenced" by such contemporary and legendary "giants"—The Rolling Stones, The Bee Gees, Rob Thomas, Michael Jackson, Talking Heads, George Michael, EWF, Prince, even Madonna, to name a few.
What I truly appreciated and loved about UTIOG is their grassroots approach. It was about getting back to basics and culling each member of the bands "influences" when they were growing up, thus allowing that profound love to bleed through on each track, then taking certain characteristic sounds customary of those artists and cleverly carving out their own niche and presto, UTIOG's play-back-ability churn out a rockin' 11-track, funk-laden assortment of tunes.
The arrangement is certainly kick ass, courtesy of producers Brad Smith and Chris Thorn, two guys who know a thing or two about rock. Both gents were part of Blind Melon, and thus have aided and abetted in keeping that fantastic sound that so many fans in heaps and droves followed when Blind Melon were still around. Smith and Thorn are one helluva dynamic producing duo as they helped to mold UTIOG, successfully bridging many generations of talent and verve and spliced together a really killer sound under one roof.
Stand-out Tracks—well, actually the whole frickin' CD but alas, I'll choose but a few.
Track 1—Ah-ha: A cool, sub-three minute song with high-pitched vocals on the chorus grabs a hold of you but doesn't ring your neck to get you to like them.
Track 3—In The Clouds: A cool hybrid-sound of the Killers and Jet but jacked up with a deep bass beat.
Track 4—Stay Illogical: A harmonious song reminiscent of The Bee Gees. I kept playing this one over and over. Try whistling to the chorus, too.
Track 7—I Love You: This particular track reminded me of the mid-90s group, The Lightning Seeds, a British-Pop group, as well as Tears For Fears.
Track 10—Faces: I've been playing this one in my local dive bar on one of those 50-cent Internet juke boxes. It has a great rock sound and vocals.
The harmonies are ethereal and the lyrics are uplifting. UTIOG beautifully and seamlessly marries each track as well as the CD as a whole to form some inspiring groove-infused sound, easily putting the 'fun' back into 'funk' as well as the 'pop' back into 'popular'. Highly recommended!
