Sprialing
by Grant Moser
August 2003
"looking for your imperfections / and hoping that you never find mine / i'll race you to the big rejection"
You feel that you're not supposed to like this sort of music today; at least not this pop-driven sound. It's a happy, jubilant, bubble-gum sound that refutes everything Gen X and it's new love of heavy, grinding punk stands for. But part of you still does.
Transmitter is eerily reminiscent of Ben Folds Five: "The Connection" and "The Girl on Top (of the Piano)", the first two songs, feature the piano-driven music, the happiness expressed through chords, the higher-than-normal-pitched singer's voice, the frequent tempo changes and fluctuations, and the spirit of loungey-pop music that is almost a parody of itself.
Of course, then it switches on you. "(I Don't Want To) Grow Up" (and "Lightning Twice" for that matter) is more of a straight indie pop tune with definite Beatle influences from their more poppy era. (Spiraling also are fans of the Pete Yorn-style parentheses in the middle of titles.) "This is the Road" is alternative rock with a healthy dose of teen punk beats. "Transmitter" is late 70's glam-rock arena rock - Yes or Boston. Computer bleeps and blips punctuate the landscape of the song, and then a quasi-Ben Folds shows up for a few brief moments.
Spiraling loves its synth music, and they make good use of it. And Tom Brislin (vocalist-keyboards) has some understanding of it - he toured with both Meatloaf and Yes over the past few years. The songs are tight, pop-hook filled, radio-friendly gems. Unfortunately, while this genre is a bit refreshing in today's retro-crazy world, it has the tendency to get old fast. The songs don't necessarily deteriorate in quality as the CD moves forward, but there's only so much one person can handle when it comes to Ben-Folds-pop-synth-alternative-modern-hybrid-music.
At least for me. At CBGB's on August 1, the crowd seemed to eat Spiraling up. While they sounded a bit off (it could be the trashed sound system after decades of rock), their spirit and their song's moods came off fine. I like Ben Folds - for a song or two - and then I need to try something else out on my ears. The CD is a pop treasure-trove, it just comes down to how much shiny, pretty, gold doubloons you want to carry around.