On its debut release, Cleveland's Mr. Gnome introduces itself to the scene with strength. Composed of Nicole Barille on vocals and guitar and Sam Meister on drums, the duo creates a dynamic five-track disc that is an extremely satisfying listen. Though it is firmly rooted in rock, Meister's drumming flashes occasional hip-hop flourishes, and he has no trouble mixing up his beats, particularly on "El Marko" and "T.L.S." With her knack for unique melodies, Barille's smooth and powerful voice is the duo's greatest asset, shining brightest on the title track. Her guitar work is up to par as well; syncing and playing off the drums, she creates beds of sound that are sometimes thin and beautiful, but more often thick and full of teeth. In the current musical landscape, there seems to be no shortage of talented two-piece rock acts that have a big sound. Mr. Gnome can hang with any of 'em. By Joe Minadeo

Every once in a while a band comes along that tries something new and actually pulls it off. Mr. Gnome does that. Yeah, it's rock so it's not exactly reinventing the wheel but if you take Queens of the Stone Age, make them a bit more ethereal and substitute a female singer, you kind of get an idea of what Mr. Gnome sounds like. They never really cut loose like QOTSA did on Songs for the Deaf but you never feel like the band is dragging or boring. There seems to be some Eastern influences at times, some of the intervals kind of lend themselves to stereotypical "desert" music and Sam Meister's rhythms during the "interlude" of El Marco sound very influenced by some kind of ethinic music. Those of you who have read my reviews in the past know I put a heavy emphasis on vocals and lyrics and this band did not disappoint in either department. The lyrics are spares but the songs don't drag because of it, a mark of true skill, and Nicolle Barille's vocals are hauntingly incredible. She makes excellent use of a varied pallette of textures and colors, precisely matching them to what the song calls for. What makes good music? It's when all the parts just sound right. This band sounds right. ~Jack Marck

With Nicole Barille on guitar and vocals and Sam Meister on drums, Mr. Gnome's lineup comes across as an inverted White Stripes.  But while the latter band howls and stomps, Mr. Gnome glides through catchy and crunchy hard rock arrangements, thanks to big sonic blasts of aggressive elegance.  On this five song EP, the Cleveland duo showcases a knack for squeezing big hooks into hard driving numbers without sacrificing edginess.  The muscular riffs of opener "Druny Stoney" show off Barille's impressive strength as a vocalist, "Echoes On the Ground" balances the band's intensity with dreamy breaks that feature Barille's whirling falsetto, and "T.L.S." comes doused in heavy drums that move in syncopated stabs and beats.  Elsewhere, "El Marko" and the closer "Westown" both feature post-modern prog rock arrangements that arrive in burning starts and smoldering stops.  Promising work

The world of hesher metal has been dominated by men for about as long as it's been in existence. Stoners raised on equal parts, Zeppelin and Sabbath, have been cranking up the distortion and filling out the ranks of bands like Fu Manchu and Queens of the Stone Age for more than a decade, and it doesn't look like there'll be room for girls to come join the party any time soon. Fortunately, Mr. Gnome's singer-guitarist, Nicole Barille, doesn't really care. On "Echoes on the Ground," the Cleveland duo's debut EP, Barille and drummer Sam Meister craft a sound that falls somewhere between the bands mentioned above and trip-hop standbys Portishead and Massive Attack. The overall feel of the album is dark and sludgy, but is punctuated by bright and explosive moments. Each of the five tracks are built off a similar formula. Barille's overdriven guitar grooves ride a start-stop math rock beat laid down by Meister. It would make Pittsburgh math rockers Don Caballero's drummer, Damon Che, smile and White Stripes' drummer, Meg White, extremely jealous. The Stripes, along with their garage-bound contemporaries The Black Keys, thrive off blues-driven minimalism, which is something that the Mr. Gnome's sound thankfully steers clear of. "Echoes" starts out with a guitar riff that could have easily been transplanted from the latest Queens release, but after a minute it's clear that this album is headed in a different direction. The song quickly establishes a musical dynamic that's common throughout the whole album. The alternation from Barille's bare, angst-ridden vocals to brief instrumental outbursts of frantic drums and a spastic mini-guitar solos become the dominant theme. At first, the sound of Barille's voice chiming in over the murky guitar line that kicks off the record was difficult to comprehend, but by the end of the first song it starts to feel essential. The third track, "El Marko," is probably the best example of what Mr. Gnome is all about. It starts out with a spiraling guitar lead that is shortly picked up by Meister. It is then taken into a dark closet full of distortion and anguish, and yanked back out again when Barille kills the guitar fuzz and replaces it with her soulful croon. Wherever PJ Harvey is right now, she's probably welling up with pride. The recent sounds coming out of the Cleveland scene can be best described as loud and fast, which makes "Echoes on the Ground" a compelling deviation from that tired Midwestern formula. By: Peter Cottell