Bryan Scary and The Shredding Tears "Flight of The Knife"

After slowly downloading single tracks, the time has come to reveal the new Bryan Scary album. After roaring out of the gate last year with the debut album, Bryan Scary and The Shredding Tears are ready to really spread their wings. The group has a flair for drama and here it produces a concept album worthy of comparison with mid 70’s Genesis “Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.” By throwing in everything and the kitchen sink in The “Flight of the Knife” it mixes the cinematic elements of Queen and XTC with the lyrical wordplay full of third-person narrative. This is evidenced on the opener “Flight of The Knife” with a variety of prog keyboards that recalls Tony Banks of Genesis. The story is something about a famous airship that visits planets and stuff, just read the lengthy libretto on the site. “Venus Ambassador” is a glowing mid-tempo song that adds classical piano catchiness with cool chord changes. The obvious single here is “Imitation of The Sky” with an amazing combination of piano, guitar riffs and rolling drums that will hook your ear faster than the “Ceiling on the Wall,” complete with a variety of harmonies and overlapping vocals. The supporting songs follow this theme and tell the story. “The Curious Disappearance of The Sky Ship Thunder Man” is the most operatic and is almost a musical show tune – it compares to 10cc’s “I’m Mandy Fly Me” with dazzling musicianship, and sparkling melodies. Then we get “The Purple Rocket” – a Sufaris meets Pink Floyd psyche-pop confection that has echos of Zappa all over it. “Mama Waits” almost sounds like a carryover from the debut album with a rousing circus organ solo. After a prog-rock intro, “Son of Stab” turns into a mashup of The Archies and Syd Barrett. The graceful piano work is awesome on the ballad “Heaven on A Bird” which includes a pysche-pop chorus Jellyfish fans will flip over. Like the last album, Scary uses so many influences, it can’t be pinned down on one type of style. Fans of early Genesis, ELO, Yes, Beatles and Frank Zappa will play this over and over. A truly excellent album that is an easy nominee for best of 2008 so far. Purchase direct from the label here.

Bryan Scary web site | My Space | Kool Kat Musik | Not Lame

Listen to “Son of Stab”