NPR: "Sweet harmonies and catchy, carefully plotted melodies... the kind of music that leaves you humming and feeling a little better about the world."
Music Row Magazine: "Buy and believe. Quite an amazing arrangement accomplishment... This is one highly addictive record."
The Big Takeover: "'Halleluiah Chorus'... the best crazed Viking anthem since Led Zeppelin’s 'Immigrant Song.'"
Connect Savannah: "One of the coolest pop/rock bands I’ve heard in years... I can’t stop smiling when their album is on. Tremendous."
The Tennessean: "(It's) uncommon for a young, unsigned band to pull out as instrumentally ambitious an album as The Mezzanine as gracefully as they have — when tuba bleats, cello swells and flute flutters appear, they come off as smart adornments, never gratuitous ones."
Years ago, a brash, young group of rock and roll misfits went from club to club persistently persecuting the musical sensibility of anyone who deigned to pay a cover charge to see them.
This maltreatment of music fans continued until one fateful night, on a dark road when they found themselves blinded by a powerful light. As they poured out of their van and onto the street, the light spoke to them saying, "Go to Murfreesboro, Tennessee and find my faithful analog servant, Brian Carter. He will guide you on your new musical path."
The band did as they were told. They studied and learned from the aforementioned Mr. Carter, eventually releasing The Mezzanine, a full-length album that has received critical acclaim from the likes of NPR, Music Row Magazine, The Big Takeover and WOXY.
Their latest Carter-engineered venture, Gentle Giant, is a quaint three-song digital single that features two new recordings in addition to a home-recorded acoustic demo. Much like The Mezzanine, these songs experiment with instrumentation and arrangement, acknowledging that less can indeed be more. Church organs, reverb-drenched vocals and carefully placed floor tom hits occupy musical space that their younger selves would have reserved for more conventional methods.
Does this mean that The Nobility are musically redeemed? Maybe, maybe not. However, if the life of any given listener is improved by .001% during the two and a half minute span each song encompasses, they will have taken a significant step in their journey to rock and roll righteousness.
The Nobility are (as represented on this recording):
Brian Fuzzell: drums/percussion
Ben Harper: bass
Stephen Jerkins: keyboards, vocals
Sean Williams: vocals, guitar
I should've just stuffed you guys in my pockets and took you home with me because I miss you guys already! Sigh.
I actually pulled a stomach muscle or something whenever I ran from Walgreens back to Bread and Bagel, and was in pretty bad pain for most of the show, but I jumped and screamed and sang and cheered anyways. :D
I also have the Happy Birthday, Michael song on camera. Bwahahaha. Come back to me, gentlemen! Come back!!
If you had any idea how incredibly excited I am to see you guys tomorrow, you would probably prefer that I didn't show up at all. It's a little overwhelming.
