the silver seas - high society
This band really, really likes the music of their parents. Not that that’s a bad thing. The songs range from Van Morrison to Steely Dan, from Roy Orbison channeling the Beach Boys to maudlin George Michael (“Cowboys and Angels”), to some soft-groovy light-rock rash that made my skin crawl. Don’t get me wrong: I like their influences. Heck, we’ve all got secret CDs stashed under the mattress that we don’t tell our friends about, that we pull out when we’re feeling vulnerable and alone. (Except for me.) However, there’s a difference between being influenced by a past musician and being a cover band. There’s a difference between recycling a decade and re-recording it. The Silver Seas sound like they’re doing K-Tel’s Best of Lite Rock, until they start believing what they’ve been shoveling and try and write some original (albeit still elevator-ish) tunes. These songs, of course, make my skin crawl even more. High Society is out on the Silver Seas aboard the Titanic, and heading very, very rapidly toward an iceberg.