A little over five years ago The Casket Lottery and Small Brown Bike released a collaborative 12" EP that proved to be more than a split recording as the two bands collaborated on most of the songs giving listeners quite a good record. Now, in hindsight, this effort served as a portent of things to come with the release of Able Baker Fox's album, Voices. This new band is comprised by Nathan Ellis (of The Casket Lottery, Coalesce, and Jackie Carol), Mike and Ben Reed from Small Brown Bike, and Jeff Gensterblum, also of Small Brown Bike; and the group sounds almost exactly as one would expect given their collective past history and the previously spoken of past EP. The announcement of Voices was simultaneously unexpected but exciting nonetheless at the possibilities of what Able Baker Fox could produce; and the album is everything that one, or rather I, would hope it to be.
The jangley guitars that are joined by the familiar voice of Ellis prove to be a great opening of the album in "October," and the nice dynamic of mixing in Ben Reed's vocals really adds a nice interplay of sounds; the music is very angular sounding and the bridge soars with a great mix of music and the duet by Read and Ellis. If you have ever seen the movie, High Fidelity, then you know the rules of making a mix tape "
hit hard and then take it up a notch
"; Able Baker Fox definitely knows the movie as "Stuttering" kicks up a notch or so with its bellowing vocal part and super guitar line. The band makes great use of multiple vocalists in this song, and it works very well for them in a call and response fashion that makes the arrangement powerful sounding; "Stuttering" is one of my favorite tracks on Voices because of its mix of great music and vocal arrangements.
Keeping with the High Fidelity mix tape rules, Able Baker Fox takes it down a notch with "What Doesn't Kill You." The song is very reminiscent of The Casket Lottery's quieter material mixed with some of the catchiness of Small Brown Bike, and it truly shows how easily the two styles go together with excellent results. "Twenty Centuries" has a great driving rhythm that propels the song just right while the "gang" vocals set the song apart from other tracks on Voices while the band somehow makes it sound catchy and tuneful at the same time. The guitars have some shining moments here as well (a slide guitar makes an appearance) packing quite a punch in the less than three minutes that the song takes to be performed. "Blind Writer" is an incredibly moody piece that stands out amongst the blaring loudness on the record as it makes a better utilization of dynamics than some of the other tracks. The melodies that the band place in the song are real good and the dynamic changes truly make the song a highlight onVoices. The closing track, "Whispering" has a rather ominous guitar tone and the mood that the music generates is kind of conflicting, which I guess is what emotion can be at times; I just do not think I have heard a song that sounds such a way - and I think that my words are not doing the sound or the song itself justice.
Fans of both The Casket Lottery and Small Brown Bike will have plenty to enjoy on this record as their fingerprints are dotted all over the course that Voices takes listeners. Able Baker Fox lays down a record that stands on its own merits. The album is catchy and tuneful while still maintaining an edge that prevents it from being a pop rock record. The music is well written in all its jangley, angular guitar driven glory that is supported ably by a solid rhythm section that keeps the tracks moving. The best part of Able Baker Fox's Voices might be its succinct and infectious songwriting that never leaves listeners thinking that a single track is filler while providing several stand out tracks at the same time. Do not miss out on this record this year as it is a good one to kick off the year.
