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Lauren K. Newman
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Postulate I
Greyday Records
Release: 4/11/2006
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Rated:
Review by:
Morley Seaver
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Oh man, I love this record! Well grounded in her punk roots, Lauren K. Newman wrote and recorded three records in the summer of 2006 and this is number one. The astounding part of this story is Lauren played every instrument and each song was captured after only one or two takes!
Starting out drumming in punk bands, the self-taught Newman decided to also take up guitar. Somewhere along the way she also learned to write songs. Postulate I is a record that has an aggressiveness along with a restlessness that drives the music in odd places. Vocally, Newman will never be confused with Sarah McLachlan, but she does such justice to the material, you find her singing completely endearing.
There are 13 cuts and all of them percolate with a palpable energy. The first track "Hope/Fiction," which is among my favorite tracks, has a chorus that stops the song in its tracks before taking off with an excellent solo that is as tasty as you can get. "Prognosis" follows and is another awesome track. The guitar, once again, takes your attention, as Newman nimbly crafts chord after chord that is gritty but fluid and doesn't take away from the vocals.
"Long Road Psalm" is the next jewel on this record. The verses go on swimmingly before hitting a mesmerizing chorus, which is just basically some high-pitched harmonizing. It is like an old T-Rex background vocal (which was actually Flo and Eddie of The Turtles). "Facilitator" has some of Lauren's best singing in it, which leads into "I Can Think of a Better Question" that has some of her best screaming.
The remaining cuts all score well with each having their own personality and not being mere cut-outs of the others. For people looking for something that is singer-songwriter based but not like most of the more passive artists out there… I would highly recommend this record. |
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