Seattle-based singer/songwriter Scott Andrew weaves tales of abandoned locales on his debut EP Where I’ve Been. Performed with The Walkingbirds, which is basically Scott Andrew in a DIY home studio (plus two guest musicians on a couple tracks), the CD shows him fusing country and folk to a rock ‘n’ roll spine. This helps create the anthemic feel of the opening track, “Gravel Road Reqiuem.” The one truly relationshippy number, “The Big Lie That Solves Everything,” riffs on regret, “and I see how everything I've been saying's/coming back to haunt me in the end.” The upbeat rhythms of “Brickyard Bend” belie the melancholy at the heart of this tale of long-forgotten small towns. “Cast the Net Wide” takes a different tack, setting a gentle pace for a more hopeful lyric, “Cast the net wide, love/Let me begin again.” “2 A.M.,” perhaps the most somber piece on the album, works equally well as a post-9/11 lament as a “don’t-let-the-bastards-grind-you-down” style dirge. Andrew closes the album with his most promising track, “Everything They Say,” which sounds musically richer and more original stylistically than the preceding tunes. He really seems to take advantage of the production here, adding dimension to the piece by using a less predictable percussive approach.
Andrew’s melodies are catchy and his lyrics visceral – “broken bottle playgrounds” and “watches the ground fall away from the plane.” Though the one drawback of the polished production is that it fails to fully capture the raw energy of his live performance, which is highly recommended if you have the chance. On the other hand, the CD comes packed with extras, including photos, bonus tracks, an annotated equipment list (a must-read if you’re into DIY recording), and a brief backstory on each song (a lot of people feel that removes too much mystery, but I’ve dug that kind of minutiae ever since Sting spilled the beans on every song from …Nothing Like the Sun).
For more information, or to just listen to the album, go to www.scottandrew.com
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