What part does Spock’s Beard play in the evolution of one of the most exciting new talents to come out of American progressive rock? None really. But Neal Morse certainly had a hand in the rise to notice of this Philadelphia band. Morse wanted interesting and of course talented bands to support him on his latest tour and so took the perhaps unique step of allowing bands to submit YouTubes of their music to him for consideration. After viewing this particular band Morse was sufficiently impressed to fly down to meet them, and in short order they were playing to massive crowds, warming the audience up for the ex-Spock’s Beard frontman.
Which is pretty amazing when you consider that The Twenty Committee have only been together since 2012, and this is their debut album. Not only that, but it was apparently written and recorded over just two weeks. You certainly would not think that, given the musical excellence here, which lands the album, according to ProgArchives, squarely at number
A lifeblood psalm --- The Twenty Committee
Now before you ask, no I don’t know what the band name means and also no, there are not twenty of them in the band! This is a five-piece, and the music is based mostly around compositions written by frontman and keyboard player Geoffrey Langley. There aren’t any huge prog epics --- though there is a ten minute song --- but the fifth and final track is a suite of five movements, which together make up about twenty-two minutes. The band are also one of the few I have seen, even in the progressive rock sphere, to utilise that most celtic of instruments, a harp, in their music.
“Introduction” opens proceedings with taped conversation snippets that cross over on top of each other, getting a little confused before piano breaks through and then the vocal comes in with attendant guitar. It’s a short track to start and ends by returning to those multiple voices, then “How wonderful” is the first proper track. The vocal of Geoffrey Langley sort of reminds me of those seventies soft-rock singers like David Cassidy and Christopher Cross, with a rich, full tone and a lot of emotion. Nice vocal harmonies which put me in mind of the early work of the Eagles, and the song mostly rides along on again a piano line, helped by guitars, of which there are two, one played by Steve Kostas, the other by Justin Carlton, while Langley handles the keyboards and organ work himself.
Good solid percussion from Joe Henderson and the song itself is a sort of mid-paced effort with some nice strong guitar at times. Great bubbling keyboard solo in the fourth minute, then a guitar riff very reminiscent of Steely Dan’s “Reeling in the years”. Things kick up a little more for “Her voice”, with a sort of funk/jazz style, and of the single tracks here this is the longest at a few seconds over ten minutes. Some really nice guitar work here, parts of which sound like they have heavy reverb or some sort of distortion on them. It gets a bit freeform and edging over the precipice of space rock even into experimental at times around about the midsection, and in truth the period from the fourth minute or so into the sixth is pure instrumental but really to me seems to be almost pure indulgence.
This makes the song certainly two to three minutes longer than it needs to be, which is a pity as in general it’s a good track and reminds me of Jadis at their best, but there’s a little too much self-congratulatory “look-at-me!”-isms on it for me to take it all that seriously. An opportunity missed I feel. And just as Kostas and Carlton had to have their moment on the guitar, so too Langley must show how great he is on the keyboards as the song winds to its close. Too much in the way of egos taking over from the music. A real pity. “Airtight” is a slower, acoustic number on which the band seem to settle down and put their egos away in (rather large, one would assume) boxes and just get down to it. I hear the harp of Richmond Carlton --- whom I assume is the brother of the guitarist --- who usually handles bass but here puts in a nice turn on the infrequently used instrument.
It’s a lovely little ballad and to be honest the best I’ve heard from The Twenty Committee so far. Langley’s vocal is almost lullabylike here, though that’s not to say that the song would send you to sleep. Far from it: it bounces up a little on funky guitar in the third minute and also seems to owe much of its melody structure to the Alan Parsons Project in places. A nice almost twenties-style piano takes the final minute before the rest of the band come in for the finale. I could have seen this be a decent single, even if it is slightly too long for radio at just over five minutes.
That takes us to the suite, which runs under the umbrella title of “The knowledge enterprise” and starts off with the “Overture”, a bouncy, uptempo piano-and-guitar piece quite reminiscent of mid-seventies Genesis. Some truly spectacular harp from Carlton gives the music its own unique identity though, and then the guitar goes almost metal as keyboards join the mix. Part two is “Conceivers and deceivers” and rocks along nicely with a great hook and a piano that reminds me of Hothouse Flowers at their best. The Jadis influence is still strong though and I can hear the guitar work of Gary Chandler and the keys of Pete Salmon in there. Langley’s vocal comes in and again it’s crystal clear and powerful. Halfway through it slows down, so much so that you would expect this is a new movement but not so. On gentle piano the tempo reduces but only for a short while before it kicks back up again. A very Genesis riff near the end, then we’re into part three.
“Tonight” segues directly from the previous and slips in quietly on acoustic guitar and a soft vocal with some exquisite piano and what sounds like violin but is I think synthesised. There’s a certain Country style about this, some really nice vocal harmonies adding to that feel. It gets a bit heavier then as it heads towards its close, taking us into part four, “With these eyes”. This is a much harder, rockier piece, jumping along and causing the feet to tap. There’s a lot of staccato guitar and machinegun percussion offsetting the quieter moments, and it’s a pretty good song, or section, or movement, whatever you like. Good guitar solo there near the end before the suite closes with the final part, appropriately titled “Finale”.
TRACKLISTING
1. Introduction
2. How wonderful
3. Her voice
4. Airtight
5. The knowledge enterprise
(i) Overture
(ii) Conceivers and deceivers
(iii) Tonight
(iv) With these eyes
(v) Finale
The first time I heard this album I quite liked it. The second time I liked it more. The third I began to wonder what I had heard in it the first time. As I reviewed it now I realise that perhaps it’s not as great as I had thought it was originally. Oh don’t get me wrong, it’s a good album. But is it good enough? I actually at this point still don’t know. There are good, even great moments but to balance that there are some equally meh moments and I’m not sure whether the album manages to transcend itself and become more than the sum of its parts, or whether it relies on the better tracks to hold it together.
I guess Neal Morse saw enough potential in this almost embryonic band to afford them their big break, so maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about. It would certainly not be the first time. However I really find it hard, now that I’ve listened to it through for the review in one sitting and not as part of a playlist, to get that excited about it. I find myself wondering if their next release will be more cohesive, and really think the best I can do on this one is give it a rating of
5/10.