OurStage

Signs of Life’s organic and intense vibes don’t pull any punches. They are direct and visceral, with none of the pretense and few of the trimmings. At a time when gimmicks rule the day, SOL’s straight-on approach is a good thing. Led by Josie Crosby on voice/rhythm guitar and Tom Champlin on lead guitar, the band blazes with rootsy righteousness, ala Crazy Horse or early Jefferson Airplane. Crosby’s voice is a force of nature—growling with anger, then fluttering wispily—and Champlin’s leads, sublime for a few decades now, have retained their magic even after all these years. Beneath it all is the steady work of rhythm section of Chris Hackett and Bill Lawing, who approach their tasks with sparse but potent consistency. As a whole, the band smokes, with full mastery of their instruments and the knowledge of what makes a song move. The opening “Peace Breathes” kicks in with some gutty guitar and vocals; Josie and Tom stretch out nicely on “Wishing For,” and the closer “The Road,” starts out as a trot and finishes up six minutes later with a Skynyrd-esque solo from Champlin. As it fades out, and Champlin continues to rip, you get the sense that he and the band can and will play on into the sunset. Forget the pop hooks … Forget any pretense of commercial rock. These are tough, taut, triumphant songs, with passion pouring from each groove and sweat from every note. -- Bob Gulla

gns of Life has a tough live act to follow: their style lends itself to live performance where, as a band, they are as tight as a drum. Bands this tight can easily find themselves dropping a record that's been hopelessly overproduced: not the case here. "Waters Rise" is recorded live in the studio, and singer-guitarist Josie Crosby's voice, which swings from a menacing lilt to a breathless, stop-on-a-dime sway, drifts when the ears want it to carry and provides the tension on which the whole thing is built, wherein rich minor-key vamps, rolling grooves and post-roots power ballads mingle with Crosby's lyrics, which switch between minimalist ballads of confession and what could almost pass for lost texts of Lao Tzu. The live style of studio recording also brings out the performance of drummer Bill Lawing, who drives the band with an urgency that would likely be absent in a dubbed performance. Among other things, "Waters Rise" is a masterpiece of pacing: it sounds as though it was recorded in one swoop, soup to nuts, gutsy and genuine. There is barely a breath between tracks. The first half of the disc is dedicated to straight-up stompers that wouldn't be out of place in any bands repertoire: 'Peace Breathes' introduces Signs of Life as a band that never met a minor key they couldn't play the heck out of. 'Porcelain Bride' is the best song on the album, as relevant an example of songwriting as it is as a crawling bar-band groove, replete with an ominous harmonic minor scale that will stay in your head forever, but is only the second catchiest hook on the record. On 'Six Strings,' an otherwise straightforward jam with a clever change or two, Crosby and co-singer Tom Champlin crank out a guitar feast worthy of Television or even the Allman Brothers. 'Little Faces' begins the thematic second half of the album, the focus moved from hooks and grooves to the band's ability to be the sum of its parts. Crosby's songwriting is never better than on 'Love Survives,' the shrewdly understated protest 'Wishing For,' and 'Earth's Fingers,' a restrained prayer on which the band reinvents the Pixies' soft/loud dynamic to suit their roots-inflected ethos. The guitars are in charge again on ‘A Bet,’ the best full-out jam on an album full of them. Signs of Life is practically unplugged on 'The Road,' a delicate and introspective reflection on mortality and spirit. Translating the best of a phenomenal live act to a studio is a difficult task with traps on all sides, but Signs of Life has done it with "Waters Rise," a rolling and tight collection of loaded grooves, minor key vamps and post-roots power ballads with a distinctive primal punch. -- G.W. Mercure

Where did you all come from? I felt like I was listening to an undiscovered band from the 70's (I mean that in a very complimentary way). Strong lead vocals, and really, great guitar breaks - the tone of the production is very "traditional" and honest sounding - good work there!