| The
Review |
I must admit that what caught my attention to this band
was their name - Agent Cooper, what sold me on Agent Cooper
was their new release A Beginner's Mind. A pleasant surprise
to say the least, AG has been a frequent flyer in my car,
mp3 player, home entertainment system and laptop. I am very
impressed with AG's ability to produce high-energy progressive
rock without the pomp and pretension. In an interview with
keyboardist Eric Frampton, he stated "We bring two things
to the table, as far as I'm concerned: a song-oriented approach
that is a bit more accessible than some other offerings out
there and a sense of humor - we don't take ourselves too seriously."
And I think that is a perfect description for AG.***
The CD begins with an aural festival of eastern sounds
and atmosphere that explodes into "East Indian Sun" and most
powerful and mighty tune with a wall of sound approach. Dissonant
melody lines weave in and out of power chords and Hammond
organ/strings pad while atop the heated air is vocalist/guitarist
Doug Busbee clear-cut vocals belting out a vision of confusion.
Being a big fan of the now defunct band Course of Empire,
AG has replaced them in my library as tracks like "Shallow
Disease" are like COE reincarnated. Heavy riffery and a pulsing
chord crunch provide the base for a dynamic chorus that washes
and splashes black angst on the shoreline. My favorite aspect
of this piece is the discordant organ flourishes that accent
the action of the story. "Timing Crucial" is enthusiastically
all over the place with lighting fast passages broken up by
adept and tasteful instrumental interaction. The main riff
is by far one of the tastiest I have heard in a while. The
bass playing in "The Heat" is out of this world! Sean Delson
keeps a break-neck pace with the main theme of this tune and
throws in a little "slap" to make it interesting. The instrumental
in the middle is pure prog with unison patterns flying and
a funky solo from Frampton to give it levity. My favorite
tune has to be "She Screams" with an allusion to Styx with
it's mini-moog arpeggios. This is a beautiful tune with arsenal
of instruments to make this tale of loss, rejection and juxtaposition
that much more significant. The CD ends with a somber "You
Know" - a tune that highlights the talents of the band that
my not be detected based on the style of the previous tracks.***
I asked Frampton about touring and unfortunately his
response was "You've got to have major regional followings
built up to make the economics of touring worthwhile, and
this is prog we're talking about, so..." Progressive music
festival developers - invite these guys to your bill and have
the joint buzzing with a new fresh energy that can't be ignored
or sloughed off as pap. Awesome stuff! By the way, Mr. Frampton
chooses homogenized.
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