Glass Rock - Talls Firs Meets Soft Location

  by Jon Rogers

published: 11 / 11 / 2009

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Review

At first glance the album title might appear to be rather surreal or abstract but it actually makes sense when you know that it refers to the two bands – Tall Firs and Soft Location – that make up Brooklyn’s Glass Rock. According to the press release the two bands met up in a “hummus hut” (not quite sure what one of those is) and this album is the result of that meeting with the whole thing done and dusted in two three-day sessions which were “fuelled by laughter and sandwich delirium”. Unfortunately though Glass Rock manages to sparkle without shining. There’s some fine, gentle, jazz-light, folk-ish playing but it’s all well, just a little dull and uninspiring. It’s just pedestrian and just ends up going nowhere. Like going for a walk round the block. You’ve seen it all before with the same sights and smells and ultimately you end up back where you started from. You wander around but go nowhere. Ultimately Glass Rock seems to be just a front to highlight the talents of Soft Location’s singer Kathy Leisen. Her voice is way up in the mix – to the detriment of everything else. And while she can hold a tune and has great timing she’s splashed liberally over everything. Musically, it’s like some inoffensive dinner jazz waffle. Nicely executed but is rather uninspiring. It floats by but doesn’t amount to much.

Track Listing:-

1 Glass Rock
2 Ghost of a Dream
3 Possession
4 Blue Spider
5 Beach and Swimming Pool
6 Golddigger
7 Lion Dance
8 U R Not Lonely
9 Open Air
10 Take It Back