"First, Welcome to Florida is, in fact, a NH band; SW-NH to be more specific. Second, "FreshSqueezed" is not the first album from this young quartet. they are certainly fresh, none are out of college yet.....hell, none may be in college yet....Anyway, there's enough stuff in the opening five cuts to provoke furthur and repeated listening.
But, none of it is perfect.
There's sort of (a) lo-fi, jam band, R.E.M. thing going on. For example, take the initial EP that REM released more than 20 years ago - Chronic Town. The guitars are solely in the high end and the bass and drums are understated, yet there's something wonderful about it, like "Boxful of Cars", which is now an REM classic. Welcome to Florida opens this CD with "Open Wide", not nearly as good as that early REM, yet it has a similar vibe. There's a sparse musical feel while the vocals aren't Julliard-quality, which is fine. In fact, the singer (not sure if it's Chisholm or Pelletier) somehow aptly fits with this musical arrangement.
For the most part, there is a funky, bouncy lead from C and P's guitars. The sparseness and high-end prevalence certainly lends itself to a lo-fi sound, but the bouncy guitars and rhythems allow for a jam band vibe, which, in certain instances, is undeniable. It doesn't come together any better than on "Dependable Me". Its lyrics aren't the most provocative or memorable, however the song itself is. The subtle steel drums supplied by drummer JZ MacMartin is great. It's obvious to me that MacMartin is the most musicallly mature of the four. His rat-a-tat- military snare of "Broken Boy" is unusual for a pop song, but it is perfect. In a wonderful collaboration, the fragile vocals, percussion, and superbly-played flatpicked lead melody makes "Broken Boy" the best tune on the album.
This is a group that can certain(ly) mature into something substantial. Welcome. J "
