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If it takes more than a decade to release your debut album, calling it a greatest hits collection isn’t necessarily a misnomer, right? In the case of Gleeson’s debut, The Very Very Best of Gleeson, the wait was more like fifteen years and, thankfully, it wasn’t for naught. Fifteen years ago, power-pop wasn’t exactly topping the charts and it still isn’t, but that’s really of no concern for Ty Chandler’s brainchild. While Chandler may have been sitting on Gleeson’s tunes for years, his other labor of love – Almost There Records – was putting out a steady stream of some of Austin’s best power-pop in the interim. After all, this is a guy (and label) that has gone so far as to host Big Star, Cheap Trick, Mott The Hoople, the Who, and the Kinks Hoot Nights. What did you expect his band’s album to sound like? Something other than mostly ridiculously catchy power-pop with an Austin-fried edge? Get real.
It’s actually not shocking that – given fifteen years – Gleeson came up with a bit more than a Cheap Trick knock-off. Opening with the decidedly un-power-pop psychedelic instrumental noodling of “Intro” and the piano balladry of “Close To Your Heart”, The Very Very Best of Gleeson appears at first glimpse to be a grab bag assortment of Chandler’s favorite influences. That’s not too far from the truth, but the vast majority of the album serves up the big open chords and tight hooks of Chandler and Raul Vela III’s guitars, beginning with “First One To Bleed”. Many of the songs, including the infectious “Step In, I Meant To”, could stand as accompaniment from some wistful-yet-fun movie scenes where people are running on the beach, or maybe driving in convertibles, or about to get kissed for the first time. Or maybe, like in the case of “It’s Alright”, this is the fuzzed out jangle rock that REM meant to make when they recorded Monster.
Yet interspersed throughout the album are some musical non-sequitors that make Chandler’s gang a little more interesting. “For What You’re Not”, a mournful acoustic ballad, breaks up the steady string of buzzing electric guitars. Sadly, the tune pales in comparison to the electric work of the band, and though Chandler’s voice is solid, it could use the support provided by those beautiful harmonies that pepper the rest of the album. But if “For What You’re Not” is a slight misstep, the gigantic surprise is the sprawling “Call To Arms”.
At almost eleven full minutes, “Call To Arms” is Gleeson’s stunning work of completely baffling art. Opening with yet another couple minutes of chugging rock and perfect vocal melodies, Gleeson takes a turn towards something completely unexpected. Breaking down into a piano solo, with arena rock style slow motion drum fills, and an orchestral bridge, “Call To Arms” somehow becomes a mini-rock opera. And then the swelling strings get a bit darker and a tad bit evil, with Chandler sounding more despaired than elsewhere on the album. But, almost as soon as it might get depressing, some sort of upbeat choral arrangement breaks through the clouds and gloom, a series of perfect whoa-ahs sing commiseration for Chandler, somehow a Brian May guitar solo peaks out, and then the tinkling piano is back.
Is your head spinning yet from reading this schitzophrenic description of this single mind boggling track? If not, consider that the song is only about halfway done and there’s still a chugging Crazy Horse stomp for about 45 seconds, a huge classic rock break down a-la The Who, and then some organ with distorted vocals over a rattling, cracking snare beat. Oh, and that sonic whiplash immediately transitions into strings and soaring vocals again! After tossing out every monster rock trick in the book, Gleeson returns to their absolute strength: huge guitars with hooks that’ll melt into brains. Running through riffs that seem to have walked off Pete Townshend’s fretboard and into the studio with Chandler, “Call To Arms” ends with two minutes of ostentatious brass, strings, guitars and glory. The other fourteen tracks of Gleeson’s debut deserve the title “The Best of Gleeson.” This one track is undisputedly the very, very best as it succeeds not just in theory, but also in practice – much like the band itself.
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