Drummer extraordinaire for Zao, Jesse Smith has blessed us with his first solo album. While every Zao fan knows that Smith can play the drums, he also proves he can do a decent job on the bass, guitar, and vocal end of the musical spectrum by playing all these instruments on this album. While you might expect a metal album from the drummer of a popular metal band, Jesse Smith serves up something different and original instead.
Mixing elements of indie rock and hardcore, Through the Eyes of Katelyn is the angry, outcast child of both worlds. Songs like "Aug 15" and "It's Tuesday Night and Mr. Judgment is Out of Cigarettes," for example, depend mostly on acoustic guitar and clean vocals. Other songs like "This Day, This Month, This Year" and "My Last 12 Words to You" layer thick walls of distortion with dual tracks of Jesse singing and screaming, often at the same time. Although the result is disconcerting at times to say the least, it makes an interesting mix. The best song here, "Play That Beat" is a nearly anthemic rock song full of blistering riffs, awesome drumming, and a biting commentary of metal kids:
Hey Kids, you wanna rock?
You better grab your Nikes
This sport is made for jocks.
First you wear 'em big
Then you wear 'em low.
First you swing 'em fast
Then you swing 'em slow.
Cause you've got to play that beat...
We don't like the music
We just like to dance
This heavy metal puts them in a sleepy trance
They will run around and kick you,
They will kick you in the face.
It doesn't matter to them
Get hard or be disgraced.
Cause you've got to play that beat.
The production, though rough and muddy at times, suffices. The cardboard CD case, however, is annoying with its fragility, but further proves that Smith wants this project to be different. With solid songwriting, decent musical abilities, and interesting insights, Jesse Smith in fact pulls off something decidedly different and wonderfully fresh. While the style may prove inaccessible for many, those who slip inside may yet see the world Through the Eyes of Katelyn.
4 tocks
Other coverage for this album
HM Magazine #79Reviewed by Doug Van PeltWhat has Jesse Smith done? Did Brett Detar's departure for The Juliana Theory get to him? Did it make him sing, "Anything you can do, I can do better?" This solo project is lush full of dreamy vocals, deceptively trance-like raw romping that lulls you to mellowness one minute, then slams you with brick wall distorted vocals and guitars that buzzsaw your brains out. What a wonderful project!…Bandoppler 1999Reviewed by John SantJesse Smith showcases his talents with promise in this, so-close-to-really-good, CD. Imagine the child that would be produced from the combination of the Deftones and Dear Ephesus. Sounds weird, yes, but the result is actually quite pleasing. The music is often melodic, Jesse uses a lot of acoustic guitars, while he sings a la Chico Moreno (Deftones). That is then contrasted with blasting screams…Decapolis 1999Reviewed by ConradI wasn't sure what to make of this album. This album ranges from one extreme to another. On one side its intense, slow, quiet rock, then all of a sudden the song kicks in with distorted screaming vocals, then it gets soft again. This to me is good background music - it creates a feel, and intense feeling. I've actually had it on in my room when I was just hanging out doing whatever. This album at…Decapolis 1999Reviewed by TimThis album makes me anxious. From the slow boring music to the hard annoying music, it just frustrated me. The distorted vocals were just not that great. However, they do have a few really good guitar riffs. Overall, a lot of people will enjoy this, and a lot of people will hate it....It all just depends on what mood you're in. CDecapolis 1999Reviewed by Tom BastianThis CD kind of got on my nerves. Some of it's pretty cool, and stylistically it's kind of all over the place. But they seem to always want to mess many of the songs up with this like distorted screaming vocals. They even mess with their guitars on a few songs and distort them all up at times too. A few cool riffs thrown in throughout the CD help to make the CD a little more enjoyable. I did like…The Phantom Tollbooth 1999Reviewed by Josh SpencerWith the much-anticipated side project of Zao's drummer Jesse Smith, we're treated to something I've never heard before: the quietest of emo indie rock laid next to a hybrid groove/metalcore sound. It's exhilarating. Sometimes the two sounds take turns caressing and pummeling your ears, and sometimes they're tracked simultaneously in the mix so that you hear melodic strumming and whisper vocals…Similar sounding releases
2002City of CaterpillarCity of Caterpillar
2002In The Face of WarSelf-Reliance Is Self-Destruction
1997ConvergePetitioning the Empty Sky
2004ComityThe Deus Ex-Machina As a Forgotten Genius (Andy Warhol Sucks)
1996Six Feet DeepThe Road Less Traveled
CrucibleDemo
