How often does a progressive rock outfit sell an album's entire first
pressing within a month, leaving them with no stock to sell at the CD's release
party? The first band signed by Prog Rock Records has come through for the
label again, and after panic orders for re-pressings the release party was - by
all accounts - a big success.
It took repeated listens to pinpoint the characteristic that best defines
this music. Then as the 10-minute "The Prisoner" ended an elegant, emotive
section of guitar and synth trade-offs and moved through a tempo shift into a
big wall of sound, it was like someone had taken the brakes off ... and there it
was. The elusive adjective is energetic. This music is positive and
upbeat and these guys are always on the
go. Even in the slow sections you get the feeling they're just waiting to
charge out of the blocks at full sprint, and once they're on the go, don't
expect to hear the standard verse / chorus / verse structure. Each song starts
with a theme which is consistently developed and expanded until it takes on a
life of its own, exploring all sorts of musical soundscapes, never looking back,
always driven by that exhausting energy. It's clear that these guys honed their craft on-stage. Playing live
gigs week after week taught them to sweep their audiences along in a constantly
changing barrage of modern progressive rock driven by brightly colored sounds and
tantalizing ballads.
Little Atlas is led by singer and multi-instrumentalist Steve Katsikas, who
sings in a strong mid-range, and although you can hear he's stretching
in the high registers, he remains tone-perfect. He's at his
best when doing the softer or the lower-range pieces, like the opening lines of "Home", and you'll often hear him slipping in and out of falsetto
with the ease of a Steve Hogarth. And that singing
seems to be omnipresent on Wanderlust - there are several wonderful
instrumental passages but the signature sound is the singing which permeates the
majority of the album.
The music has the surface sheen of power-pop but you don't have to dig very
deep to hear the complexities here. Roy Strattman's guitar work is prominent and
particularly pleasing with well varied sounds, long solos and creative
technique. Katsikas's keyboards are also varied and imaginative with liberal use of piano,
synth and (simulated) Mellotrons. Guest artist Bill Ayasse is the
violinist for new York's Frogg Cafe. Listen for his solo on "Mirror of Life".
Claudia Sarmiento contributes a frenetic cuatro part. In case you didn't know, a
cuatro is a traditional 4 string Venezuelan folk guitar resembling a ukelele. (Yup - we also had to ask!) This
lively strummed piece comes
right after a wonderful guitar / piano trade-off on "Home", which is
probably the album's strongest piece. Other standouts are the 10- and 11-minute mini-epics
"The Prisoner" and "Higher", which take you through section
after section of head-nodding symphonic rock of the highest order.
The cover illustration and booklet are again courtesy of Xavier Cortes, the same Venezuelan
artist who did the artwork for Surface Serene. The bassist and
drummer are also Venezuelan - yet although you'll hear the occasional Latin
flair in the percussion, Wanderlust is modern symphonic rock all the way
through,.
The title track from Little Atlas's previous album Surface Serene
remains a classic, but the songs on Wanderlust eclipse the rest of the prior
record's tracks and show the maturity and confidence of a band that enjoys what
they do and no longer have to prove a damned thing to anyone.
Little Atlas has arrived.
Track Listing:
1 The Ballad of Eddie Wanderlust
2 Higher
3 Weariness Rides
4 The Prisoner
5 Home
6 On and On
7 Mirror of Life
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