Mikey LP and I stumbled into each other sitting on the grass at First Festival, waiting to watch The Moans kick off their set. A stocky, well-spoken man, we get to chit chatting about the awesome day we both have had so far and music in general, Out of the blue, he whips out a copy of his new album, Under the Overpass and hands it to me. Recorded at Red Light Recording in Salt Lake City, as Mikey put it, whenever he had the time to do it, it features Mikey doing a most of the musicianship on this venture. He is backed up on select tracks by Kris Frankon on drums, Owen Smith on saxophone, Jeremiah Jacobs on piano, Chris Jansen on bass, and Dino Vidovich on additional lead guitars.
The front cover is very true to its name, featuring one of the many concrete overpasses that adorn the landscape of Sacramento. It gives you a familiar feeling just looking at it, but also draws you in with its simplicity. Soon enough, The Moans kicked their set off and we were both transfixed as the sun set on that awesome night.
Later on, as I climbed in my car on the following dreary Monday morning to go to work, I popped the album in to give it a good listen. Because, lets face it, where else do you get to really listen to music, other than your car?
Well, sleep still weighing heavy on my eyes, the album bloomed into my ears slowly, in the sense that my brain had its cobwebs shaken loose. The alternative rock feel was chipping away at my semi-consciousness. By the time I got to the 3rd track, "Can We Dispense with the Pleasantries?", I was really hearing what was going on musically. This upbeat song gave off a very Hootie and the Blowfish and Dave Matthews vibe, which lent itself great to Mikey's higher range. It was delicate, but catchy. It was followed up by "Gone Too Far", which featured some solid acoustic playing by Mikey and very good back-up vocals that gave this track a very Peter Gabriel feel to it, with its airy acoustic melodies. Right after this came "Cradle This Guitar". This is the track where Mikey's voice really takes off. Backed up by the full list of musicians I mentioned, it gives off a solid, alt-rock building action that got me hooked from the first note. It was like you turned all of Dave Matthew's Band up to 10, threw in an organ, and made Chris Cornell sing lead. The whole track just oozed soul and you can't help but feel Mikey's love for his music on this one.
The album continues to keep you interested by weaving its way through all sorts of alternative rock influences, bringing the rock back to the forefront with "Slip Away (Sunet)", which brings some good, old-fashioned crunch to the mix, but still keeps a driving, catchy melody that makes you want to sing along and tap your steering wheel. The album leads on to "Passing Time", which really brings out Owen's sax playing, along with Mikey's acoustic. It really shows off the Peter Gabriel and Hootie and the Blowfish vibe again, but doesn't hold back from before.
The final track, "High in the Desert of a Thousand Suns", brings everyone involved on this album together for a thunderous goodbye that rounds the album out perfectly,
This album did more for me that morning than any cup of coffee could have. I was humming along to it all day, and I have already added it to my car rotation of CD's. I would heartily recommend you do the same.
Also, Mikey LP has put together a 10-piece version of The Krooks for the last night of Sacramento's Concert in the Park series on July 21st, so be sure to check them out at this awesome free event at Cesar Chavez Park.
More importantly, this album is an obvious labor of love for Mikey, and it shows in its musical quality. Seeing this stuff played live will not be a show to miss, that's for sure.
Also be sure to check out his Souncloud here, for plenty of extra music, too!
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