Thursday, May 13, 2004

Winged Life: Like "the second coming of Neil Young's Americana/folk stylings"

The group Winged Life are like "the second coming of Neil Young's Americana/folk stylings" according to a review in Up & Coming Magazine (from Fayetteville , NC) by Brian Dukes:

    "In fact, the seamless musicianship on Winged Life harkens back to a time when bands were ... well ... bands. Remember Crosby, Stills, Nash (and Young)? Remember bands that knew how to play music, and could take turns at various instruments with equal exuberance? Well, that's the fell that Winged Life exudes - a competent confidence in the music. They play a tambourine for heaven's sake! Can you recall the last time a tambourine was used in any other genre other than bluegrass?

    That leads me to ponder what niche to fit these guys in? They're not really bluegrass - but they are what bluegrass ought to be. They're not country, nor are they rockabilly. Perhaps Winged Life is a culmination of what's best in all these genres. It's like the second coming of Neil Young's Americana/folk stylings, but with pop sensibilities and lyrics that don't so much preach at you as they narrate.

    Winged Life is a delicate, precise album that doesn't waste anything. Every effort is made, and successfully, to insure that listeners pay attention to the music. And not just one facet, but the entire composition. The best examples of this come early on, with 'A Hush,' 'My Good Deed' and 'Whipping Boy' providing a one-two-three combination of excellent tunes that are hard to get past - you want to keep hitting replay. It's 'Wedding Bells are Breaking Up That Old Gang of Mine' that rings home best with listeners. It's something that could have come straight out of the best of Bob Dylan or Neil Young.

    It's a slice of Americana that may be one of the most well-written songs this year."


More on Bob Dylan and Neil Young and their musical influences on one another.


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