The Indian Tower
Drag City, 2006
rating: 2/5
reviewer: jspicer


I love power trios. There's nothing like cranking up the bass on the stereo, feeling the vibrations, and whipping out your strongest air guitar. Pearls and Brass would be the ultimate guys to jam with, if The Indian Tower wasn't so bland and predictable. Where's the pounding bass? The awesome drum fills? The blistering guitar riffs? I can't jump around the living room to this! Relying on classic rock parlor tricks, Pearls and Brass have managed to take an otherwise promising album and keep it on the corporate line of mediocre. From track to track, the same uninspired drumming, the same lazy bass lines, and, worst of all, no major riffage. Not even a little skronk or a dirty mistake. For all the fuzz and all the roar, there's nothing ominous or fearsome about the lackluster "The Face of God," or the misplaced acoustic ballad "I Learn the Hard Way." Save for the acoustic detour, the rest of the album comes across as the same song split over 10 tracks with no change or even the slightest hiccup. It's rare when rock of this ilk misses the mark, but somehow Pearls and Brass have accomplished just that with ease.

1. The Tower
2. No Stone
3. The Face of God
4. Black Rock Man
5. The Mirror
6. I Learn the Hard Way
7. Pray for Sound
8. The Boy of the Willow Tree
9. Wake in the Morning
10. Beneath the Earth
11. Away the Mirrors