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Description
Formaldehyde Blues Train
Saturday, April 14, 2007
at Southpaw
Park Slope, Brooklyn
Burrow Magazine Launch Party www.burrowmag.com/southpaw.htm…
Southpaw, Brooklyn www.spsounds.com/
Formaldehyde Blues Train on YouTube... www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuJMz4…

Review from Down Under...

Formaldehyde Blues Train seems a fitting moniker for this amped-up, high-energy and eclectic band from Brooklyn. The songs are very inspired and diverse, no two sounding the same. The production of each song varies nearly as much as the content, spanning rockabilly, punk, blues, surf, as well as alluding to other genres.

From the gritty Voo Doo Nectarine, which features disgustingly dirty slap-back delay on the vocals and cutting, rhythmic guitar stabs, to the high-energy Grizzly Dick with its overtones of punk and surf-rock, to the demented groove that is Captain Dog, with stoner-rock-esque chorus and solid, moving pentatonic basslines under the guitar's chugging command, to Black train, which from the "Doppler" guitar onward through the driving drums, builds up quickly to lead us to believe that we are steaming through the Pennsylvania mountains in a ungoverned steam engine, traversing immense gorges on a rickety bridge as railroad ties fly off in every direction. Or that's just me anyways.

The band does have a centrally blues-oriented sound, but never goes so far as to stick with a rudimentary 12 bar format. There are always original twists that steer it clear of having that homogenized blues sound that we have all heard before. The moving basslines and solid, often fever-pitched drums keep the songs moving along nicely and give them something that most blues tracks lack altogether -- dancability.

Careful and subtle use of effects overdubs and mixing lends to the replayability of the songs. Tremolo effects can be heard on the guitar in Black Train if you listen hard enough and at the right time, as well as a drenching wet reverb on some guitar bends. The harmonica break in Captain Dog lends even more to the "psycho train" feeling of the band and various other small sonic injections keep your ears perked throughout the listen. The songs sounded pretty good through laptop speakers, but many things were not truly noticeable until listened to through decent headphones. The MySpace MP3s are of noticeably lower fidelity to the discerning ear, however.

It is obvious that this band is an amalgumation of the many influences of its evidently seasoned members. Their decision to innovate rather than fall into the restrictions of any particular genre keeps them fresh and palateable. I would love to hear these songs in the dynamic context of a full-length album. But as a demo, the 4 selections are nonetheless complimentary to each other and flow very well. I would also love to hear these songs in concert. We'll see if they're still kickin' by the time I make it to Brooklyn.

Actor-mo-tron - Sydney, Australia

Description
Formaldehyde Blues Train
Saturday, April 14, 2007
at Southpaw
Park Slope, Brooklyn
Burrow Magazine Launch Party www.burrowmag.com/southpaw.htm…
Southpaw, Brooklyn www.spsounds.com/
Formaldehyde Blues Train on YouTube... www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuJMz4…

Review from Down Under...

Formaldehyde Blues Train seems a fitting moniker for this amped-up, high-energy and eclectic band from Brooklyn. The songs are very inspired and diverse, no two sounding the same. The production of each song varies nearly as much as the content, spanning rockabilly, punk, blues, surf, as well as alluding to other genres.

From the gritty Voo Doo Nectarine, which features disgustingly dirty slap-back delay on the vocals and cutting, rhythmic guitar stabs, to the high-energy Grizzly Dick with its overtones of punk and surf-rock, to the demented groove that is Captain Dog, with stoner-rock-esque chorus and solid, moving pentatonic basslines under the guitar's chugging command, to Black train, which from the "Doppler" guitar onward through the driving drums, builds up quickly to lead us to believe that we are steaming through the Pennsylvania mountains in a ungoverned steam engine, traversing immense gorges on a rickety bridge as railroad ties fly off in every direction. Or that's just me anyways.

The band does have a centrally blues-oriented sound, but never goes so far as to stick with a rudimentary 12 bar format. There are always original twists that steer it clear of having that homogenized blues sound that we have all heard before. The moving basslines and solid, often fever-pitched drums keep the songs moving along nicely and give them something that most blues tracks lack altogether -- dancability.

Careful and subtle use of effects overdubs and mixing lends to the replayability of the songs. Tremolo effects can be heard on the guitar in Black Train if you listen hard enough and at the right time, as well as a drenching wet reverb on some guitar bends. The harmonica break in Captain Dog lends even more to the "psycho train" feeling of the band and various other small sonic injections keep your ears perked throughout the listen. The songs sounded pretty good through laptop speakers, but many things were not truly noticeable until listened to through decent headphones. The MySpace MP3s are of noticeably lower fidelity to the discerning ear, however.

It is obvious that this band is an amalgumation of the many influences of its evidently seasoned members. Their decision to innovate rather than fall into the restrictions of any particular genre keeps them fresh and palateable. I would love to hear these songs in the dynamic context of a full-length album. But as a demo, the 4 selections are nonetheless complimentary to each other and flow very well. I would also love to hear these songs in concert. We'll see if they're still kickin' by the time I make it to Brooklyn.

Actor-mo-tron - Sydney, Australia