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  Steady Your Hands (2005) REVIEWS |
GOODMORNING VALENTINE "Like good homebrew, Goodmorning Valentine makes you nostalgic, happy and wistful.... Sounds like the seeds you spit into the yard last summer that have grown up into a tangled garden. What a sweet taste they have." -THE FRONT (Pittsburgh) "Less-is-more lyrical tales of revelation and resignation.... Down in an uplifting and inspiring way though, in the way that great down can be, this is music for late nights in the dark holding on to the one you love." -AMERICANA UK GOODMORNING VALENTINE'S eclectic Americana embraces the upbeat rhythms of Motown and '60s rock & pop, and pays tribute to the world-weary musings of later decades' songwriters like Costello and Waits, all the while artfully setting unforgettable melodies and spare lyrics against a sophisticated chamber-pop backdrop. In 2003, songwriter Joey Beltram thought he'd made Philadelphia his home. But following a six-month "temporary" return to Ohio (to record Goodmorning Valentine's debut Easter Park), he found he couldn't leave the extraordinarily talented musicians he'd assembled. Two years later, the band boasts an exciting live show, a loyal regional fanbase, and a sublime new calling card of an album, Steady Your Hands. Especially endearing is the participatory atmosphere of their live shows, wherein friends and a revolving cast of bandmates clamber up on stage to sing or shake a tambourine. Bass player Elizabeth Allen adds sweet harmonies and the occasional flute solo, while Matt Haas (formerly of Six Parts Seven), Jake Trombetta, and Brody Rauschenberger bring a wide palette of melodic and percussive elements (typewriter clicks, birdcalls) to their rich tapestry. Goodmorning Valentine have played venues throughout the Northeast, sharing the stage with the Black Keys, The Damnwells, Neva Dinova, Magnolia Electric Co., and many others. We were thrilled when Joey handed us the new Goodmorning Valentine record. We'd heard Easter Park and seen the band's exciting shows, dug their confident rock and roll jams and classic arrangements. So it was no surprise to us that the songs on Steady Your Hands were so strong. But we were bowled over by how much Goodmorning Valentine's recording talents had developed. A 14-month project, Steady Your Hands is the product of devotion and mishap. In 2004, the band scrapped early versions of the songs due to "technical buffoonery" in their basement studio. They moved operations to Cleveland's Magnetic North Studios, where engineer Chris Keffer captured the band's dynamic live sound. Goodmorning Valentine completed the vocals and ingenious instrumental overdubs at their Akron workspace. The album boasts some great singles, to be sure, "City Lights" and "Girl" among the more up-tempo. But then every song is a gem: the disillusioned portrait of the club scene ("Rock and Roll Boys and Girls"), the working man's heartfelt tribute to the weekend ("She Comes Saturday"), and the evocative Satie-ish waltz of sun and shadows ("So Long..."). We especially enjoy the Gram Parsons-ish "Invitation," whose tongue-tied Romeo decribes himself "waiting on some shadowed girl/to play against my little world/to sing against the ribs that give/away at any chance they get." Steady Your Hands is a succinct and artful collection of tuneful vignettes and cinema-like interludes that temper despair with joyous dance. Goodmorning Valentine raises a toast to our collective heartache, mourns the turn of seasons and love's unraveling, and rejoices in music's redemptive promise. This is a remarkable album. LISTEN ORDER GOODMORNING VALENTINE WEBSITE GOODMORNING VALENTINE MYSPACE |
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