THE POETS DOWN HERE
Present Magazine + November 3rd, 2009
Finding a common thread on The Indigo Sessions, a self-released record from Kansas City’s The Poets Down Here, is a daunting task. There are a lot of interesting things at work on the album, from lead singer Emma Jo’s bluesy set of pipes, to the screeching metallic guitar riffs, to the groove-infested drums and bass. The band will be performing their self-described brand of “progressive alternative” music this Saturday in a battle of the bands at Aftershock in Shawnee, with the hopes of finding a diversified enough ear to appreciate the many voices involved in making their debut release.
The dichotomy of influence is easily heard on the opening track, “Indigo.” In many ways the song is a blues-based rock and roll number. It kicks in with a straight-forward beat, but is underscored with some flashy guitar work that harkens back to an Eighties style of heavy metal. The technically taught fretwork sounds misplaced until the bridge, where the metal motif is revisited.
The band, which has been playing together for a little over two years, has a logical explanation for the miscellany in their sound. “I’ve always been heavily influenced by Bruce Springsteen,” Emma Jo said. “But our bass player is really into bands like Duran Duran, and our drummer is into more groovy rock like Led Zeppelin, and our guitarist is really influenced by bands like AC/DC.”
With all of those chefs in the kitchen, the songwriting can only be collaborative. “We’re like Pearl Jam,” Emma Jo, the band’s sole lyricist said. “Any one of us could write a hit song at any moment.”
If there is a hit song on the record, “Crowded” may be it according to Emma Jo. “It’s the song that seems to get everyone going.”
The song opens like a hip R&B number, complete with effect-laden vocals and a catchy bass line, but descends from time to time into a much harsher sound before reconnecting to the earlier vibe. The bifurcated style is echoed in the paradoxical lyrics of the chorus: “I’m standing / standing all alone in a crowded room.”
For the most part, the album, which was recorded at Moon Pie Studios by Gary Gray, is very driven and aggressive. There are very few lulls in the action, and Emma Jo has a penchant for penning songs that alternate between very verbose verses and slower choruses where she can open up the vocals a little more. There is a classic ballad in the bunch, “Crazy Without You.” As you can imagine from the title, the song lands on the repeating thesis of the record, the longing for unrequited love.
There is no shortage of talent compiled for The Indigo Sessions. It is clear that this quartet of high school friends (Emma Jo and bassist Garret Cox were actually in the same kindergarten class together) is apt and skilled at what they do. Maybe cohesion is overrated in a post-modern musical landscape, in which case, The Indigo Sessions is a promising jumping off point for The Poets Down Here.
- Chris Weaver, Present Magazine
Rock & Reprise + August 31st, 2009
"Gawdam! It's Saturday night and I'm sitting here in Oregon listening to Emma Jo & the Poets Down Here thinking, hell, Kansas City ain't that far away and the Poets have to be playing somewhere, right? The old credit card in my pocket is itching--- for emergencies only--- but a music fix is an emergency of sorts and in my dreams I am on the plane, awaiting touchdown (and winning the lottery) and a quick ride to wherever they're playing because I need to see these guys play Crowded in a crowded room. It is rock's answer to CSI Miami's club scenes, lights flashing while music pulses and vibrates you into submission, only in this case it is pounding rock and not electronic sludge. I swear to God, when you turn it up you have to move just to avoid nosebleeds and a rash. Maybe not all the tracks on The Indigo Sessions are like Crowded, but only those in the best of shape could handle a full album of full-on, stomp your feet music like this. Need a defibrillator? Just slap headphones on, hit play and the heart start will start beating. Crank it up and the molecules move on their own. If they don't, give it up. You're dead. Crowded is not the only rocker on the album, to be sure. Two Bad Hearts is like getting beat up in a back alley, Kyle Scheel's drumming and Garrett Cox's bass pummeling you about the head and shoulders while Brett Cox's leads shred the eardrums. So Long is rockin' blues amped up, and Alive Tonite, more toward the mainstream, gets the heart pumping along the lines of, say, Boston's Era For a Moment (if you haven't check them out, you should). And strangely enough, Cruel and Unusual is cruel and unusual, but in a good way. The rest is straight up good ol' rock & roll, perfect for the twelve ounce curl or the mojito hop. They even take in a breath or two here and there, slowing things down to Earth speed just to prove they are neither alien nor from bizarro world. There is something to be said about music for comparison's sake (don't get me started on sequencing, something ignored by people in this digital pick-your-music-on-a-song-by-song-basis world), so when I hear rock, shall we say, less-heavy (the bluesy You Are There) lead in to the blistering So Long and then the beat-heavy, just short of manic Crowded (the garbage can cymbal smashes at the end of each chorus are icing on the manic cake), I appreciate the versatility. The truth is, though, that they are at their best when rattling windows. Emma Jo hits her vocal stride when the beat is strong and the Poets machine gun the chords. One can only imagine what they are like when barreling down the rock highway on the same track, but it must be comparable to being steamrolled. When I first started listening to music, the accepted gifts a la Kansas City were blues and barbeque. If Emma Jo and the Poets Down Here stay on track, they might very well make a few lists as well." - Frank O. Gutch Jr., Rock & Reprise