First Listen: Bryan Gallo “The Party Guest”
Bryan Gallo has a small sense of my good friend Glenn Yoder to his voice. That is really the only comparison I can make. It’s subtle, fits well in the mix, and is nice to listen to over the course of a few tunes. The surrounding whirlwind of what one might expect in a indie/alt-country kind of a band. Harmonica is prevalent, and played very well. Keys, drums, guitars all spinning around the songwriter’s pretty voice.
Instrumentation is the strongest suit in this collection of tunes. There are some good arrangements in the collection of songs, well played solos, and there is a good vibe to the songs. Not sad, not quite upbeat, somewhere that lays in between. The only gripe I really have with the collection is that is really only has one speed. Gallo’s voice fits very comfortably where it sits, but over the course of 11 songs, they all start to bleed together a little bit. “All These Pretty Girls” makes an attempt to get above that range, but falls a bit flat for me. I just feel like that tune has been sung before.
When all is said and done, this is a good listen. I am not totally excited about the tunes as an 11 track album, but they are good, well recorded, and all the music is played particularly well. The songwriting is decent, there are a few good lines here and there that I latch onto. I think this is something that college radio would pick up and run with. Indie-rock kind of a feel, good to catch out at a bar with friends, and you go home with the CD afterwards because you dug the set. A really good effort here from New York based songwriter, Bryan Gallo.
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