First Summer on Earth
The World Inside
Sequence of Events
Seven Head Division
Two groups on one disc - the connection here is that Joel Votaw (bass) and Brian Moore (guitar on both, vocals on Sequence of Events) appear on both selections.
The World Inside is basically Jesse Sprinkle (vocals, guitars, drums, piano) and guests. The CD has almost a British alternative pop feel to it, although Sprinkle is hard to pin down to one style. His voice varies from Moody Blues to John Lennon to EMF. At one point, he has an ethereal, almost Michael Penn-like tone.
"To be loved" has a familiar rhythm, almost like a Counting Crows song, although Sprinkle's vocals are of higher quality than Adam Duritz. This sums up the first seven songs on the CD - an alternative slant. Tracks 8-10 are wildly different from the others.
"Do you lie?" opens with heavy metal guitars, then slides into almost a hardcore section. "calls" begins with an EMF-style piano intro and then is a series of answering machine messages over background music. This is not particularly amusing, or original, having been done by Chagall Guevara ("The Wrong George"), and more recently by Poundhound ("Rise and Shine").
Overall, Sprinkle does a quality job of vocals, and his unpredictability adds something to this disc.
Seven Head Division does tracks 11-16 on this disc. Although it seems as if this is just an EP tucked away at the end to fill space, Sequence of Events should not be ignored. Brian Moore's vocals have an alternative/hard rock sound to them, while the music recalls Smashing Pumpkins.
"Value" asks us to "pray for me, I'm on my way," as Moore pleads for help in the style of Gavin Rossdale (Bush). "Song for the Cycles" has a Radiohead feel, while "Monday Morning" reminds me of Silverchair. "To be Healed" is much the same, sounding like a mixture of Bush, Smashing Pumpkins, and Stone Temple Pilots.
Obviously, I think Seven Head Division stands up to a lot of what is featured on today's radio stations.
The World Inside: 3 tocks. Seven Head Division: 3.5 tocks
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by Bert GanglWhile sharing disc space seems more the domain of an EP than a full-length effort, the pairing of The World Inside and Seven Head Division for the 16-song release, Untitled, actually works well due to the largely intersecting paths of the bands represented. Jesse Sprinkle met Seven Head Division drummer Andy King at the Cornerstone Festival near the end of Sprinkle's tenure as drummer for…
