Clarke Leaves a Mark on Berklee
Clarke!, of the Berklee School of Music, is something you wouldn't expect. In fact, the LP The Falling Out produces an entertaining sound that we haven't heard out of a college band in a long time. Lead guitarist and singer Devon Geyer has been producing albums since he was seven years old, and his most recent one is about to be available on iTunes. The Falling Out was meant to have a good rock music feel. Devon noted that the Berklee atmosphere influenced him to go back to what felt right. "People get so into scales and degrees they forget how to write the songs," he commented.
"Play on Rag," is an opening track that defines the obscurity of Clarke! at it's very best; a classical cabaret sound, horns and piano clearly prevalent with the drunken ramblings of whomever was around Geyer while recording. Recorded on an old 1929 reel-to-reel recorder, "Play on Rag" utilizes the machine by recording the first few bars then crossfading out as the digital recording came in, giving the song an old drinking song feel. The grandiose show that is produced for us is then overshadowed by morbid lyrics throwing us off the blissful sound with cryptic messages like "play until your fingers bleed." The meek yet cultured voice of Geyer creates a folk feeling that compliments the brass and string instruments effectively. The opening track gives us a sound that is a strange lovechild between Beck's Guero, The Beatles' Sgt. Peppers and even a touch of The Muppet Show theme. A simple sense of music is used to define the opening track, but The Falling Out continues, the listener finds that Geyer has simply sent them on a musical journey that they won't want to end.
"Shoop Do Wah" is a song with a flashy name and an even flashier sound. Whistles and guitar upstrokes dominate the song to create a very happy, poppy sound; the technical presence of the bass in the song is the only instrument that contains a flowing melody that diverts from the simplicity that Clarke! is. The lyrics "shoop do wah" over and over create a very calm mix of 50's class with a modern pop feeling.
The title track, "The Falling Out," begins with simple strums of a guitar and a single voice echoed over the haunting rift. This 9-minute epic builds up over simple drum beats with guitar shredding, reaching its musical high point at about 8 minutes. Clarke! manages to keep us on the edge of our seats with "The Falling Out," which sounds like a funeral march turned riot. Geyer noted that the song started in a very simple process. "I started with two notes and gave them a distorted, eerie feeling…I would say that this track is very Sonic Youth inspired." Even the ghostly voice of Geyer takes a vicious turn near the end of the song, his mellow snarl now a full blasted vocal-cord breaker.
Clarke! creates a well-liked sound that people can hear and associate with due to the fact that the music isn't over or under-played. Not to mention the vocal works of Geyer are a blender of plays on phrases. Geyer has not only had success with Clake!; his side project TeaNOTWar is taking off. All of their songs are going to be featured in the independent film An Endgame by Anthony Rocco and Alex Berenbeim. Play until your fingers bleed, Clarke! because we'll be listening.
