Search - 100 Watt Smile :: Reason Flew

And Reason *Really* Flew

11/13/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"And Reason Flew is like a good art film. It describes places we go in dreams. Lots of layers. Lots of double-blind meanings. Lots of strange characters. Lyrically oblique, I'd like to set it on its side and look at is from a few different angles. Craftily crafted, I'd like to take it apart and try to put it back together again. Just to see what it's made of. Highlights: Flagrante Delicto: The riff in the chorus just tears my head off! It's like a force they were just barely able to control. It's dangerous and urgent.Birthmark: I love that bit of strangeness they lapse into in the middle and end.Dewlaps: The story of when love goes from "the lock of hips/and the thinking you could fly..." to "the knock on the head/and the wishing you could die..." Heartbreaking. The final wail,"Leave on, leave often" chokes me up every time. A truely beatiful song.100 Watt Smile has made a really great record."

Outstandingly rich, inventive and lyrical debut CD

Mind-blown in Minneapolis (p11babra | 11/02/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Once every decade or so a new band comes along that combines freshness with a seasoned professionalism to produce music that makes you happy and also touches your soul. 100 Watt Smile is one of those bands. Every track on this superb CD has colors and textures that make you want to hit the repeat button, but you end up waiting until the whole album has played, and then play it ALL over again. Truly music with "legs"! In fact this could be a legend in the making."

I Wish I could give this 7 stars! So good it hurts.

Jason A. Hoffman | Fort Wayne, IN USA | 10/02/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The pop sensibilities of Blondie, Fleetwood Mac and Cheap Trick, post-grunge rhythms with a dollop of Zeppelin, surreal and challenging lyrics, a dash of classical music, all mixed into a wild miasma of melodic energy, topped with breathy sugar-vocals. Vocalist/violinist Carrie Bradley brings her love of classical music and a masters degree in fiction writing into sharp focus with this guitar-based band, creating songs that shift elegantly from Breeders/Pixies-pop to intricate rock arrangements that only reveal their complexity with repeated listens. One of the many exciting aspects of this band is their use of the violin, making it an equal player with the guitars instead of the usual afterthought. This expressive instrument can turn from beautiful, legato melodies to a snarling banshee in a heartbeat, even rounding out the song "Face on Your Head" with an aggressive, feedback-laden solo as good as any guitar. Other classical influences include their mastery of dynamics, taking songs from soft to loud and back again with greater skill than I have previously found in rock music.Each band member is a first rate musician, handling the unpredictable yet natural music with ease. While I have so far concentrated on the technical aspect of this band, their music is not cold, intellectual progressive rock made for other musicians to admire. The music is warm and inviting, the vocals tauntingly seductive. To say that the melodies have strong hooks is an understatement. For instance, I woke up this morning with one of their songs in my head, a song that I had listened to about eighteen hours before. These songs not only knock around the skull for a while but they take up residence and start picking out drapes!"Birthmark", one of my early favorites, has a big rock groove and a powerful candy chorus with a symphonic theme that is tossed between the guitars and violin. Lyrics such as "Hard packed heads planted legs straight up/We grow in place like plastic vines/ Scalp your pass to the millennium/ For fifteen bucks and change" make the title track resound with the weariness of a resigned existence. The peppy "If You Won't Too" is backed by a Beatles beat and lines like "Run over me slowly/ For the moment I am breathing." Other songs discuss life, sex, death, and love with poetic insight, all backed by the same unparalleled music. Check them out for yourself at mp3.com or 100wattsmile.com for what is easily one of the freshest, most creative albums I've heard in years! You can get their new, unreleased album at their web site... equally as good as this one!"