On their second release for Five Minute Walk, Black Eyed Sceva (pronounced "See-vah" for those of you just tuning in) continues to show the promise that makes them stand out among the modern rock crowd. This album is half-studio/half-live, with a couple of neat surprises, but mainly just a reliable (if short) follow-up to their impressive debut of last year.
The first cut, "Ryan's Driveway," highlights two of Sceva's strengths. First, there's the lyric: a debate about creation and evolution between songwriter/vocalist Jeremy Post and a group of non-Christian friends. Post, aside from having a wealth of experiences to draw upon, possesses a singular gift for giving his lyrics a "you are there" sense of urgency, particularly when relating stories from life. Second, there's the music, which remains somewhere between Better than Ezra and Toad the Wet Sprocket (whose keyboardist again produces for Sceva here). The basic guitar/drums/bass sound remains tight and melodic, managing an impressive amount of noise for three guys with apparently little overdubbing.
Among the new cuts, "Twain" is the other standout. This song, previously recorded for Sceva's independent self-titled EP, returns in a punchier version which shows the growth of the band since then. The lyrics, a warning against the humanism which biased Mark Twain's writing, show a wry wit:
Twain, the riverboat genius Shipwrecked when he ran into God... The pen that Sam dipped in the ink has since dripped And it's staining everyone who reads it.
As on Way Before The Flood, Post fares less splendidly with less specific lyric subjects, here represented by "Ecumenical" and "Soapbox."
The live half of the album is anchored by "Adrien James," the compelling tale of paternal abandonment which was the high point of the previous album. "Confirmation Day" benefits from a more up-tempo rendition than previously seen, and "Nailholes" retains the mystic atmosphere of the studio version in its affirmation of faith without sight. A cover of The Police's "Invisible Sun" is a nice album ender, lending the song an implied Christian bent simply by its juxtaposition with "Nailholes."
The only worrisome thing about this album is the relative paucity of new tracks-only four songs, a whole year after the band's last release. One hopes that financial pressures won't force the band to put out albums more frequently than they can fill them with the sort of quality that they've served up thus far. Black Eyed Sceva has the makings of a band with strength and vision for the long term, and a musical attack to match. They should be allowed to mature on their own schedule.
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