"Alex ebert could easily double as some kind of indie-rock messiah. Fronting his new band, the 11- or 12-member strong Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Ebert appears onstage shirtless and barefoot, strands of shoulder-length hair tied back in a faux crown as he conducts his smiling, face-painted ensemble like a giddy choir director. At those moments, he is no longer Alex Ebert, hard-partying lead singer of the dance-rock band Ima Robot ; he becomes Edward Sharpe, his boyhood alter ego, and his band is his family. His agenda, as 1960s as it sounds, is little more than love and honesty." - the la times
My friend Cat Fish wrote me the other day to say that she'd seen the most amazing band, and had taken pictures of their performance for my site. Only catch was I had to review them!
Initially, I wasn't too gung-ho about these guys. Another buddy had mentioned that they were great live, but their recording didn't hash up. Still, I felt obliged to look into it. So I headed to their Myspace, where I was greeted by the music video you see below. For the first minute-and-a-half I was totally weirded out. It seems like something out of a monty python movie. However, once the music kicks in, the awesome videographic visuals (put together by Ebert's mother!) absolutely won me over.
During high school I was a big fan of IMA Robot. When I started listening to Edward Sharpe, I could have sworn that I recognized the vocals from somewhere, and pretty soon I'd pinpointed it to that oldschool dance-party band. Still, I didn't realize that it actually was the same guy until I started writing this article. Since that discovery, my respect for this man's versatility and full on metamorphosis has, well, increased dramatically.
Haunting back to some older times, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros bring a raw and emotional freak-folk feel reminiscent of Devandra Banhart, but all of it's own. I won't be half surprised if these guys gain some serious underground momentum one of these days.
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