Glee

Review by Darren Gawle

Bran Van 3000 aren't just your average band, no siree. They refer to themselves as a "collective" in the liner notes, and, considering that Bran Van 3000 is comprised of no less than (wait for it...) twenty-six members, this makes sense.

So let's cut to the chase, then. Bran Van 3000 should appeal to fans of Land of the Loops and/or Soul Coughing... er, but, then again, I've played Glee for some fans of the aforementioned bands and they hated it. Well, any band that covers this much ground, genre-wise, is bound to incorporate something you don't like sooner or later. Listening to Glee is like flipping your stereo tuner for an hour and putting a beat to the results -- and the amazing thing is that it works.

Check out opening track "Gimme Sheldon" for evidence of this, or "Willard," which shifts from Appalachian folk to chilled-out breakbeat in less time than it takes to say "kitchen sink." "Drinking in L.A." supplies some sun-fried cool, despite some really big soul vocals, and "Lucknow" is a claustrophobic acoustic experience par excellence.

The only glitch on Glee, then, appears to be a cover of Slade's "Cum on Feel the Noise," which is too smooth and quiet to sound like anything more than an attempt to prove that Bran Van 3000 could do it, rather than to prove that they should do it.

Artist Contact Info: 457 Richmond St. West, Suite 101, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5V 1X9