October 19, 2008 - 9:11pm - john kereiff "CITY OF GREY" The Savannah Leigh Band (Factor) *** ½
The debut disc for this alt folk combo is feisty and gloomy. Recorded at Mushroom Studios, where so many of our favorite 70's bands (Doucette, Heart) laid it down, "City Of Grey" is surprisingly warm.
SLB are Vancouver-based and the title is a comment on the city. Calling this folk is too broad a stroke. Acoustic in nature you'll feel the jazz/pop undercurrent too of this talented band; Savannah Leigh, vocals & piano/ Diego Zargoza, guitar & vocals/ Adam Jones, bass & cello/ Brendan Krieg, drums & percussion, plus help from their friends.
"City Of Grey" is atmospheric and moody, much as Vancouver feels, but without the frantic desperation. It's a cross between Sarah McLachlan and the first New Bohemians album, but with a dark melancholy all its own.
"COG" is also mature sounding, major league stuff with none of that beginning keener's enthusiastic but overly earnest, somewhat artless delivery. The musicianship is sublime, and I particularly dig it when Savannah strolls up to a note to say "hi" instead of nailing it dead on.
So, yeah- the title sums up the band's city of origin and it's an accurate picture of the overall sound of the disc, superb company when you're felling ‘grey' yourself.
KEY CUTS: "Polygraph", "These Words", "Music Is His Mistress" (could be a hit, I'd also like to adopt it as my unofficial theme song)
**********************************************************
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Sunday Morning Coffee:: The Savannah Leigh Band
Right now, the roots/country/Canadiana scene in Vancouver is booming. With acts like Steve Dawson, Cameron Latimer and Roger Dean Young, the city is soaked in the reverb of pedal steel, much like the ever present rain that floods Vancouver in the winter. Although the Savannah Leigh band may only use pedal steel to add some atmosphere on a few tracks, fans of the more established roots acts in the city are going to fall head over heels for the sounds they create.
The four-piece (stand up bass, acoustic, drums and Savannah Leigh on vocals) stretches the expectations of the scene - whether it's the sweet (but somehow depressing rocker) about the Vancouver rain (City of Grey), an organ heavy, hand clap filled number (Music Is His Mistress - think Grace Potter), a driving, moody pop gem (After a Drink), or straight ahead folk songs like You Were There or the beautiful Under the Stars - the band constantly challenges the listener, but never stray far enough to take the listener out of their comfort zone and change the flow of the record.
But even with all these styles, it was tracks like Killin' Time and These Words that grabbed me right away. The jazzy pop arrangement of the former reminded me of Salena Catalina (and that is always going to be a-ok with me) and the staccato delivery and stand up bass of the latter builds a solid foundation for the catchy track. All in all, the record plays like a good book; constant shifts and unexpected changes that keep your attention.
*********************************************************
Discorder Magazine
Vancouver's Savannah Leigh Band plays a slightly bluesy kind of folk rock - very smooth and unassuming - and City of Grey is a fitting title for this album. On a musical level, things are straight-ahead, as excitement occurs rarely with hooks few and far between. This, of course, could be part of the concept - to channel, both lyrically and musically, the bland loneliness that can take hold during winter in the Pacific Northwest. The title song certainly succeeds in this:"I've got a broken umbrella and ten bucks to my name / my shoes are second hand and my shirt is the same / I think I've lost my social graces / and I have a funny way of forgetting faces / 'Cause when the clouds roll in, you know that they're here to stay." Leigh's not basking in depression, just trying, as she informs us directly, to "discover a way to stay sane."
Via a series of soft choruses, softer harmonies, shakers and twists of old-school country (as well as a Feist-esque number, vocals lightly distorted and all), Leigh's contemplative, matter-of-fact tone reaches its apex in 'Polygraph': "Your heart won't admit what your cheeks cannot hide / why continue to lie?" Underneath the almost too-perfect instrumentation and angelic vocal delivery, it's a scathing song - a needle in the hay of an otherwise introspective, inoffensive record.
Mark Hewitt
Discorder Magazine, July/August 2008