The Reveling- Tributaries

The Reveling is such a great band- carrying the punk rock torch from Brooklyn, the band just released their first full-length record. Tributaries is a strong album that I honestly fell in love with from the very first track. Sean Morris has a very memorable voice, the back-up harmonies always rock, and all the instrumentals consistently entertain me. They released Tributaries as a 12" and CD on June 21st, so I'm getting to it a little late... But what can a girl do? RIYL early Green Day, Alk 3, or Face to Face.

The album starts off so incredibly strong with "Revival." It starts slow, but you can tell right away that the band has so much power. The vocals are really what stands out to me- not only is Sean's voice so addictive, Dennis (bass) and Dave (guitar) do a great job with the harmonies. If I had to rate the drums superiority in ratio to the rest of the song in animals, I'd probably give it a unicorn. Does that even make sense? I guess what I'm trying to say is the song is drum heavy and I appreciate it. The guitar at the ending is also probably the coolest way to end an intro ever. It fades right into "Charlotte Thompson," which has some of the best lyrics on the album. It picks up the pace quite a bit, for you speed demons out there. The two guitarists work together perfectly in an interlude of sorts, and I love it.

"Plaster Saints" gets the award for the catchiest song on the album, and is up there for lyrics. It shows how easy it is to write such simple songs and still make it so complex. "Last Act" is a really powerful song and I physically can't sit still to it. Not to mention, who DOESN'T love "woah-oh-oh?" Cause I know I do. I think it might actually be my favorite on the album. Watch- I'll say that 3 or 4 times in this review.

"Black and Tan" is awesome. The melody is incredibly addictive, up-beat and almost cute. The guitar solo makes me smile.

"Unglued" is another song that really shows off the musical talent of these boys. They blend so many different sounds into one big meshed up melody, and I adore it. The ending is really, really abrupt, but that's cool man.

Songs like "Chasing My Tail" show off the extreme vocal talent of Sean, not to mention the kickass harmonies of Dave and Dennis. This album is really a different sound- it clearly stems from a lot of greats, but they have a really original sound and push a lot of boundaries. What happens when you mix punk rock with strong male pipes? What happens when you make a strong, in-your-face song a little cute? What happens when you mix pop rocks and coke? I made up the last one, but you get the point.

I am a huge fan of this album and I'm impressed with their ability to have such a distinct sound on their debut. I can't wait to hear more from these guys!

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By the way, yes, this is the Bear, and yes, my hiatus is over. Thank goodness the first band I got to listen to didn't suck, right...? ;)

-Bear