The John Steel Singers - Everything’s A Thread

New York – The John Steel Singers’ Everything’s A Thread is an album characterized by a psychedelic, chaotic, and occasionally hallucinogenic sound. Scott Bromiley, Tim Morrissey, Ross Chander, Pete Bernoth and Luck McDonald have created an album that doesn’t variety much in sound, but rather hunkers down in a direction, solidifying all that dream-like haze into a cohesive effort to produce a record that flows and fits together.

The harmonies of “Happy Before” formally open Everything’s A Thread. Something of an outlier on the album, “Happy Before” is one of the most outwardly energetic tracks. The following track “Everything’s A Thread,” with it’s persistent guitar and vocals, is a better example of the album’s sound: more drug-induced, but finds similarly breathy vocals awash in a psychedelic melody. The similarities between the first two tracks raise the question, on first listen, if the album will be formulaic. If it weren’t for a mini opener “The Needle,” which appears before “Happy Before,” the album would already seem somewhat repetitive. Everything’s overall dreaminess is only departed from in songs like “Common Thread,” where a fuzzy pep is punctuated by claps and bright synthesizers. The track proves that the John Steel Singers can appear more universal without wandering too far from the sound that characterizes their album.

The bassline of “The Marksmen” forms a catchy opening to an otherwise unexciting song. The backing vocals, provided by Little Scout’s Mel Tickle, add another interesting layer to the track that keep it from seeming fully repetitive of those that came before it. Their strengths as musicians really show in songs like this one as well as “There’s A Bird,” where the instruments are layered in tightly. “State of Unrest” is another of the more unique songs on the album; sounding more jam session than a song, it’s the track you imagine would be a blast to hear live. The slower “The AC” and looser “Never Read Tolstoy” both add dimensions to the album. The guitar work in “The AC” is impressive and seamlessly worked into the listless song, while the latter track brings the energy back up and the guitar again takes a well-deserved turn center stage. “Lambs” is a bizarre, almost trippy song that shines more in the instrumentals (especially the drums) than in the lyrics.

“TGI Tuesday,” like “The Marksmen,” deserves praise for it’s vocal tracks. The album’s usual mumble of voices is replaced by more pronounced, and frankly better annunciated, lyrics. Heavy on the rhymes, the song is charming in it’s simplicity, although it’s straightforward in it’s formula- the same followed by much of the album – with the exception of the occasional guitar break. It’s also one of the few tracks on the record that has a horn section.

Finally, the heavy “MJ’s On Fire Again” impresses on all fronts. The deep, rich vocals that open the song juxtapose with a tumbling guitar riff, while the soft harmonies of the song’s middle are as delicate and as they are first rate. The track again proves that Scott Bromiley, the band’s bassist, is a master at his instrument. It’s the perfect end track to Everything’s A Thread, for it provides the listener with both a sample of The John Steel Singers sound as well as their capabilities to play beyond their comfort zone.

Listen to more of their music at the John Steel Singers website.

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Zoe Marquedant

Zoe Marquedant is a Marylander now living in Brooklyn. She recently graduated from Sarah Lawrence College where she majored in Journalism and English literature. She is a freelance journalist, who primarily writes on music and culture. Her work can be seen in Boston Magazine, Highlight Magazine as well as on rsvlts.com, mxdwn.com and Baeblemusic.com. When not writing, Zoe is probably working her way through a new series on Netflix, researching new pie recipes and collecting dumb jokes (e.g. Two fish are in a tank. One turns to the other and says, "You man the guns. I’ll drive.") Follow her vain attempts at mastering social media at @zoenoumlaut