Hero by Edward Sharpe and the Magnificent Zeroes

Over the last month or so I have been seeing quite a few references to this band. Rolling Stone raves about them which does not always mean I will like them, but at least it means that it might be worth seeing what all the fuss is about.

Today I gave a full listen to both albums thus far released by Edward Sharpe and The Magnificent Zeroes. They should be given an award for a name hard to forget. Certainly Magnificent Zeroes is one you will not forget easily.

This band makes some very interesting music. Often referenced as a throwback band with a lot of sixties vibe I found, on certain songs, to see that. A female singer is featured prominently on many of the tracks and I found that the songs that featured her most prominently were the ones that would have felt at home with the Woodstock Generation. Much of the time though I heard a lot of the same things that can be found in today's folk revival from the likes of The Avett Brothers and Mumford and Sons.

On their second album Here, Man on Fire is the first song and is a hit in the making. Well, perhaps not a hit, but a popular song on Alt Radio which is the bands home. On One Love to Another we hear the significant influences of Bob Marley and reggae music. Certainly One Love in the title and the accompanying sound makes it clear that the band knows full well who they are being influenced by in this song. Another standout track is a song called Child that is simply one of the best new songs I have heard this year. Sounding like a cross between a southern twang and early acoustic White Stripes this song is one that will get in your head. Also strong is I Don't Wanna Pray which sounds like it belonged on the soundtrack to O Brother Where Art Thou, a hand-clapping beat and one that again will be an earwig in your head. My foot is tapping as I listen to it again as I write this.

When Spotify then played me their first album which was self titled, the first thing I noticed is that the featured song on that album is one that I, that we all most likely , have heard already. Home is a nice, rhythmic song, that is pretty much irresistible, and has been featured on a commercial that we all have heard on NFL Commercials. Another strong song on the album called Janglin' has been used on Ford Fiesta commercials. It used to be that selling out by putting your song in commercials was frowned on, now it has become one of the easiest paths to success. Also strong is the song Jade, which one can again here the White Stripes influence but in this song the most relevant influence I hear is Ray Davies and the Kinks.

Certainly a band that one can hear this many influences from is a band that can be varied and broad in their musical choices. I think this music was interesting, but more than interesting they are actually not just musically, but also lyrically strong. The music is often music that gets your feet tapping and certainly is far and above much that one can hear these days.

Edward Sharpe gets and A plus from me, nothing close to a zero. Strong music, gives one hope that good music is still being made. Of course the influences for the most part going back a generation or two it seems even The Zeroes know that you have to look backward to make good music.