Pearly Gate Music Big Escape

Right, so I was more than a little baffled with the first track off Pearly Gate Music's debut album. It is dubbed "˜The Golden Funeral' and after listening to it, it's little wonder why. I felt like I was marching behind a procession and if that was singer Zach Tillman's intention, then give credit - he succeeded. Still, the first listen made me beg god where the hell the song was going. It was almost cringeworthy. Several spins later, I now confess that the little brother of Fleet Foxes' drummer, Josh Tillman, couldn't have opened his solo record more perfectly.

The soft hisses, the eerie, old school vocals, and finally the vintage structure of "˜The Golden Funeral' finely demonstrate the ambiguity of what lurks on the rest of the album. The veil quickly lifts with a more upbeat, poppy jingle called "˜Big Escape' which tips its hat to the earlier days of rock'n'roll, giving nods most significantly to the Beach Boys. A benedictory teeter-totter of emotion floods "˜Navy Blues', and hey, Zach Tillman is back to giving his respects to a loved one who has left this life. Quite simply, this song is another slow burner, and although the music and acoustic plucks aren't exactly earth shattering, it flows well with the spirit overshadowing it.

Okay, so while there may not some really spine-tingling songs to get under your skin here, Tillman's work bubbles over with a mix of several genres: folk, blues, rock, and punk. I guess in one way you could also classify some of it falling into the Americana category as well. After all, "˜Bad Nostalgia' reflects the kind of song you\rquote d hear out coming out of a high-tech jukebox from a retro dinner in the US, where the burgers are saturated in ketchup and fries are still called French Fries.

In conclusion, Tillman's effort is a grower, but once you catch onto it, you soon realize the beauty within it. I suppose it's an album slowly being pried from purgatory. It's by no means hell, but it's not completely heaven either.