Music Review: Stratospheerius - Headspace

Joe Deninzon is a classically trained violinist who plays electric violin in his current project, Stratospheerius. He is also the vocalist for the band and wrote the majority of the music. The other members of the band are Bob Bowen (bass), Mack Price (guitar), and Lucianna Padmore (drums). Each of these musicians has a long resume in performing jazz, rock, and funk.

This is a great CD, especially if you are a fan of the jazz violin. Three of the songs on Head Space are instrumentals. "Mental Floss" and "Yulia" are pretty and passionate respectively, and aptly show off the violin skills of Deninzon. "Gutterpunk Blues" starts off with a folksy soft mandolin but then kicks into heavy guitars. The song reminds me of Camper Van Beethoven's instrumentals on Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart.

The fourth instrumental is "Heavy Shtettle Part 2: Heavier Shtettle." Deninson co-wrote this piece with the band's former guitarist, Alex Skolnick (Testament, Alex Skolnick Trio). It has an Eastern European flavor and you can clearly discern Skolnick's influence in the music.

The remaining six tracks have lyrics. Three of these songs sound happy (major key, etc.) but this belies the sadness of the lyrics. "Sold Out" sounds like a break-up song to an A&R rep. "Old Ghosts" is particularly sad. The lyrics detail a return trip to Cleveland, the city where Deninzen grew up. He describes the people he once knew well, those who never left that rust belt town:

"They're just old ghosts, restless and unsure,
They're just old ghosts trying to find a cure."

Stratospheerius is currently on tour. You can find details at the band's myspace page.

Article Author: gette

Georgette Nicolaides is a writer, musician, and visual artist. She plays noisy violin in the ambient/psychedelic project Atlantic Drone and is currently reading about eight different books. &#@%$ ADD! …

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