Listening to this album reminds me of everything that irks me about the music industry and American radio. Good, verging on great, music that’s constantly overlooked and never given the attention that it rightly deserves. And all because some dude in a posh office is making the calls on what he feels we, the American people, should be spending our hard earned money on. Oh ho . . . but not here, friends! Here at The Ripple Effect, we will do battle against impossible odds and champion the artists who are so casually tossed aside by “big business”. We will take artists such as John Wesley, hoist them on our shoulders, and parade them through the streets as if they had just won the Stanley Cup!
Shiver is a rock album laden with lyrical paintings and great stories, acoustic guitars mixed in with the electric variety, musical virtuosity, and passionate vocals. You know, all the things that make music so cool in the first place. John Wesley is all about the music. No frills. Nothing flashy. A hint of a southern swag with an Americana flair, folksy without that twang. Just a good songwriter expressing every emotion with every note he plays.
The album opens with a great riff and some nifty bass work before Wes introduces us to his wonderful mastery of the English language. Gotta’ love the line about “challenging the very gods in the sky.” By the end of “Pretty Lies”, John’s vocals scream with the passion of his message. The musical break at the 2:41 point of “Used Up” reminds us why we love music . . . so much passion, man! “Always Be” treats us to some beautiful interplay of acoustic and electric guitars, bass rumbling neatly in the back of the mix. Then, we’re served some clever phrasing in a tale of childhood ideals with “The King of 17”. The lyrics, “I got twenty dollars/ it’ll get some gas/ we won’t get to far/ and we won’t get there fast/ but, it’s twenty dollars farther from here” paint a great picture of two kids just trying to get away. Every time that part of the song pops up, I have to smile and think, ‘If only it were that easy.’ The centerpiece of the disc is “Swing” and opens with a beautiful finger picking melody on Wes’ acoustic, but then takes a dark twist and shows us that John can pack some punch with the six string. “Your Round” is a strong tune that takes some shots at the senselessness of violence and is driven by a heavy and quite bad ass acoustic riff. Shiver is wrapped up by the beautiful and pleading “Please Come Back” . . . John’s voice works exceptionally well as it breaks and cracks over the chorus. Damn it, son . . . it brings a tear to my eye!
When I first heard of John Wesley, it was through his work as the touring guitarist for Porcupine Tree, so naturally, I thought that his music would sound similar. Far from it. Other than Shiver being mixed by the great Steve Wilson (Porcupine Tree, Blackfield, No-Man), there’s no outstanding PT sounds. In fact, I’ve tried to find another band or artist to compare John Wesley to, but nothing comes to mind. John simply has a unique voice, and thank God for that! It’s refreshing to hear music that doesn’t immediately make one think, ‘Oh, that sounds like so-and-so.’ As mentioned before, this is no frills, no fluff rock music. It’s that rare type of music that can pick you up and get the blood flowing, as well as mellow one out after a rough commute down the bumper to bumper speedway. You should enjoy it.
I’m gonna’ go ahead and set John down now. That parade was murder on my shoulders. - Pope JTE
www.myspace.com/johnwesleymusic
http://www.john-wesley.com/
Comments
A new favourite, Thanks.