Like Michael Jordan's baseball career, the Grateful Dead's studio recordings were largely superfluous. The band gave the world legendary live performances, and that was more than enough.
Those analogies might seem a little big for the Quad Cities' Strange Neighbors, which has been around since 1994 and is led by singer-songwriter-guitarist Dustin Cobb. But given the band's new studio CD, Comfort Me, they seem appropriate. Comfort Me shows off many of the band's musical strengths but also reveals one major deficiency: Even in the studio, this is clearly a band best experienced live. And the CD's release affords you two opportunities to do just that - on Thursday at Bent River and Saturday at QC Live.
The CD is filled with sparkling musical moments: the sadly yearning guitar lead of "Fire," warmly expressive vocals, some sterling Allman Brothers Band-style guitar interplay. Comfort Me is never short on grooves and hooks, and overall it's a winning effort, buoyed by music that's danceable, fun, and stimulating, casual but also sophisticated.
What's apparent almost immediately is that even though it's mostly hippie/jam-band blood in the veins of this quintet, these guys aren't afraid of anything. "Real Good Dancer" has a funky ska texture that imagines the Red Hot Chili Peppers as a lounge act. You'll hear bits of reggae and Southern rock, and the hint of a hard-rock edge - sometimes in the same song.
That synthesis is strong, and far more successful than when the band tries to veer into new musical territory. "Freak on" and "Retro-Voodoo-Pseudo-Guru" are attempts at full-bore rockin' out, but they sound rote, and the band lacks the bile to give the songs the required bite.
Strange Neighbors excels at a gentler musical texture, anchored by the effective twin-guitar attack of Cobb and Nic Doak. Listening to Comfort Me, it's abundantly clear that this is a band that can really command a room in a live setting, able to dash off a trim, well-structured four-minute song or go off on a dizzying 15-minute jazz odyssey.
As competent and compelling as the music is, though, the lyrics are alternately weak and incongruous. There's a "reason"/"season" rhyme, and an angel-body motif shows up in two separate songs. The language is often vague and clichéd, and it suffers from a lack of insight and sharpness.
The album's second track, "On the Wing," begins with the couplet "Every time I'm lookin' through your windows / I'm afraid that you don't see a good friend." Now, maybe it's just me, but I get a definite stalker/peeper vibe here, yet the music has an innocuous groove that washes the danger from the words.
But it's probably a mistake to parse Strange Neighbors lyrics. When a band begins a song with the words "I like to party / I like to go places / I like to dance around to the music / And make funny faces," analysis is obviously counterproductive.
Strange Neighbors will be celebrating the release of Comfort Me on Thursday, November 24, at Bent River in Moline, and on Saturday, November 26, at QC Live. Both shows start at 9 p.m. For more information, visit (http://www.strangeneighbors.com).
The CD is filled with sparkling musical moments: the sadly yearning guitar lead of "Fire," warmly expressive vocals, some sterling Allman Brothers Band-style guitar interplay. Comfort Me is never short on grooves and hooks, and overall it's a winning effort, buoyed by music that's danceable, fun, and stimulating, casual but also sophisticated.
What's apparent almost immediately is that even though it's mostly hippie/jam-band blood in the veins of this quintet, these guys aren't afraid of anything. "Real Good Dancer" has a funky ska texture that imagines the Red Hot Chili Peppers as a lounge act. You'll hear bits of reggae and Southern rock, and the hint of a hard-rock edge - sometimes in the same song.
That synthesis is strong, and far more successful than when the band tries to veer into new musical territory. "Freak on" and "Retro-Voodoo-Pseudo-Guru" are attempts at full-bore rockin' out, but they sound rote, and the band lacks the bile to give the songs the required bite.
Strange Neighbors excels at a gentler musical texture, anchored by the effective twin-guitar attack of Cobb and Nic Doak. Listening to Comfort Me, it's abundantly clear that this is a band that can really command a room in a live setting, able to dash off a trim, well-structured four-minute song or go off on a dizzying 15-minute jazz odyssey.
As competent and compelling as the music is, though, the lyrics are alternately weak and incongruous. There's a "reason"/"season" rhyme, and an angel-body motif shows up in two separate songs. The language is often vague and clichéd, and it suffers from a lack of insight and sharpness.
The album's second track, "On the Wing," begins with the couplet "Every time I'm lookin' through your windows / I'm afraid that you don't see a good friend." Now, maybe it's just me, but I get a definite stalker/peeper vibe here, yet the music has an innocuous groove that washes the danger from the words.
But it's probably a mistake to parse Strange Neighbors lyrics. When a band begins a song with the words "I like to party / I like to go places / I like to dance around to the music / And make funny faces," analysis is obviously counterproductive.
Strange Neighbors will be celebrating the release of Comfort Me on Thursday, November 24, at Bent River in Moline, and on Saturday, November 26, at QC Live. Both shows start at 9 p.m. For more information, visit (http://www.strangeneighbors.com).
