Neil Cribbs’ style feels refreshing as he bounces around from folksy beats of storytelling-driven tones to swing, with a bit of The Ramones and Paul Simons layered in among big, fat grooves thrown in for good measure.
Review by Danielle Boise
Atlanta singer-songwriter Neil Cribbs’ EP To the Left resonates on a completely different than your normal Tuesday release. Cribbs’ sound is not something easily definable, as he draws from styles of the past while bringing them into the present by adding his own twist to the musical jaunt, which creates a smorgasbord of delicious sounds for the listener’s delight.
Cribbs starts off with the song “Glass and Frame,” which I have to say is my favorite track on the EP; it has this “London Calling” baseline to the melody, with poetically sweet words interlaced throughout the whole track. “This lonely, lovely girl, whose life unfurls on the way the way to upside down,” is by far my favorite line on the whole album.
The next track is “High Road,” which has this acoustic-esque feel to it with heavy guitar use, yet has a mellow, but powerfully gorgeous sound that is full with a deep richness to the body of work.
The song “The Middle” adds a little Caribbean Island flair, making you just want to be on a beach with a your favorite drink in hand, surrounded by friends, family and sand.
“Old Time Story” has a big band, swing feel to the song that makes the listener feel like he or she should be jitterbugging or hand-jiving right along to it.
Lastly, the title track to the album, “To the Left,” wraps up the EP with an all-encompassing reverberation to it that incorporates a sound that can only be derived from Cribbs himself.
Normally, I would think that such eclectic taste in music comes from not being able to find one definitive style of composition and sticking with it, but this is not the case with Cribbs. His style feels refreshing as he bounces around from folksy beats of storytelling-driven tones to swing, with a bit of The Ramones and Paul Simons layered in among big, fat grooves thrown in for good measure. It’s as if every song is a puzzle piece that fits nicely together to create the perfect musical journey to sate the palette; with the use of wonderful, cheeky at times, lyrical wordsmith that envelopes the senses.
Neil Cribbs is having a CD release party at The Alamo in Newnan on Wednesday July 11. For more information on Neil Cribbs, his newest CD, To the Left, or to see where he will be performing next, visit www.neilcribbs.com.
