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Confessions of a
disillusioned listener: I Love CHARIOT
By Paige E. Wessel
I have a confession to make. I
have recently become somewhat disillusioned with a large portion
of today’s mainstream rock/pop music.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t
consider myself an authority in this music genre, but most of
the “rock” songs I hear while scanning radio stations in my
morning commute are driven by a formula that includes one
overpowering drum beat, blaring electric guitar or
synthesized music, screaming vocals, and that “7/11” chorus.
(Seven words sung eleven times).
Ok, so I’m exaggerating the
redundancy of such artists, but it was in this jaded mindset
that I was pleasantly surprised to stumble across
singer/songwriter Gavin DeGraw and his 2004 CD Chariot.
DeGraw’s music debuted on a large
scale almost a year ago when a freshman WB show “One Tree Hill”
chose his song “I Don’t Want to Be” to serve as a theme song for
the show’s opening credits. Although this practice can be a
death nail for some artists, (remember The Rembrandts?), it is
my belief that DeGraw’s sound will outlast the run of this show.
Three aspects of DeGraw’s music
distinguish his sound from other artists in the rock/pop genre.
First, he understands the importance of the piano as a rhythm
instrument in addition to the drum beat, a practice jazz
musicians have understood for years but seems to be forgotten by
many rock musicians with the exception of artists like Billy
Joel and Elton John. It is this layering of rocky piano chords
and drums that drives many of the tracks on Chariot. The
piano is DeGraw’s primary instrument, and he plays it skillfully
and with abandon.
In combination with this
instrumental sound, DeGraw’s raw voice carries and dances over
the basic melody line. Although his tone and sound is quite
different, his voice stands out in the same manner as U2’s
Bono’s, breaking and challenging the listener’s expectations. He
doesn’t feel the need to scream many lyrics, but often uses his
vocals to move the listener away from an anticipated ending to a
verse or song.
DeGraw’s unusual lyrics compose
the third distinguishing factor in his music, serving as poetry
that discusses common musical topics like relationships and
identity with a rhythmic quality previously seen in artists like
John Mayer, Dave Matthews and Bob Dylan . Some of his lyrics can
be repetitive at times, but many of his verses grab the
listener’s ear to tell a story in an unusual way. DeGraw’s song
“Belief” illustrates this well, including the lyrics:
Tonight, you arrested my mind
When you came to my defense
With a knife
In the shape of your mouth
In the form of your body
With the wrath of a god
Oh, you stood by me
All this praise should not signal that DeGraw’s
music is faultless. He seems awfully fond of a
three-and-one-half to four-minute time limit for his songs,
occasionally ending a song just as it starts to get really
interesting. Another danger in his style is a tendency for many
of his songs to sound the same, but I think time will tell that
he can break beyond one sound. The same criticism could be
applied to The Beatles, but I would argue that the nuances in
their songs that distinguish one from the other, and I think
DeGraw could follow this model.
One aspect of Chariot worth mentioning is
the fact that it is sold in a two disc special edition where the
original album is accompanied by a disc titled Chariot
Stripped. On this disc, DeGraw reworks all of the songs
featured on his first disc to give each song that “unplugged”
sound and adds a bonus track that covers Sam Cooke’s “Change is
Gonna Come.” This may seem like a wasted endeavor, but the
second disc provides listeners with a more easy-listening,
soulful sound than what is heard on the first disc and
illustrates the musicianship DeGraw is cultivating. (Equally
enticing is the fact that the two-disc set comes at a fairly low
price of $10.99 plus tax.)
Gavin DeGraw’s Chariot definitely merits
a B+ rating, offering listeners a promising young musician and a
change of pace in the rock genre. |
