Innaway - Innaway

Genre rock Publisher Some External Links Official Website Some

A friend once claimed that all albums produced or recorded by John McEntire would sound the same. The criteria for his point of view included that the music would be instrumental, carry the same production values, and be "utterly fucking boring!" After listening to many of Mr. McEntire's projects, I can see the first two points being sometimes valid, and maybe the last rarely peeking it's head out at me. The music that Innaway has created on their debut album is far from dragging in both a sense of time and of interest. The album has reared comparisons to Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd and has lead the band to share the stage with Brian Jonestown Massacre and put them currently on tour with Echo and the Bunnymen.

The album opens up with the song "Threat Hawk." A solo blues harmonica with drums ala "When the Levee Breaks" joining shortly to accompany. As the rest of the song unfolds with softly sung lyrics about meeting and drinking turn into casual lyrics about intimacy, synthesizers and heavy fuzz guitar lines come in over rhythm guitar. The mood set is one of dark brooding, especially when the tribal influenced bridge comes out. The next song, "The Strings of North Egg," features two of psychedelia's favorite tones, a moog synthesizer and a flanged guitar. The vibraphone, doubled vocals, and orchestral arrangement (featuring a low level trumpet) all make for an auspicious feeling, albeit the dark overtone somehow still lingers. The lyrics involve loss and the coping of losing people. And then the distortion kicks in, low and heavy, recalling both classic rockers and the likes of Queens of the Stone Age and Kyuss. As the album progresses, more tonal elements are displayed, dissonance and feedback over a slow tribal beat, accordions playing over crickets rhythmic chirping, and lyrics that are both redeeming and maddening, adding to the Pink Floyd comparison.

As this album closes, the subtle grace of passionate, yet soft lyrics with genuine musicianship is present both on a track to track basis and as a whole, which is an increasingly tough accomplishment to attain. Innaway's debut is one of the few albums that can accomplish a blend of genres and still rock...which is why comparisons to early rock innovators hold their ground.