drexel
River of Chowder
© 2006 David B. Sparks, Brian Pelfry (634479371684)
CD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.
"Dayton, Ohio's Drexel is truly one of a kind. Tom Waits is the most reasonable touchstone, but there's a severity to their whimsical flamboyance that makes Waits seem almost mundane in comparison.
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"One guy you never heard of's bereft, derelict, falsetto tales of southern Ohio over another's rolling piano and whatever else comes to hand ("Big John's House," "Practicing Preachers").
Robert Christgau recommends drexel's River of Chowder in his June, 2008 Music Consumer's buying guide.
Blender/Rolling Stone Magazine
"Describing Drexel in a manner that sticks is like trying to pin a corsage on your epileptic girlfriend before the prom. Utilizing Sparks' Fozzie Bear-meets-Chuck-Cleaver voice and Pelfrey's airport lounge electric piano, the pair imagine a world where the first Tom Waits album is produced by Van Dyke Parks, co-written by Laura Nyro and Carole King, hipped up by Burt Bacharach, and draped in the tiny unironic piano dramas of Randy Newman and the sophisticated hillbilly sheen of Jim James without a single self-conscious hesitation. Like caviar, scotch and stamp glue, the first taste might come as a bit of a shock but repeated exposure will surely elicit a grudging appreciation for Drexel's quirky charm."
Brian Baker
Amplifier Magazine
"If you're searching for the feel-good hit of the summer, don't look here. But if unbearable showers of truth delivered via a keyboard and stream-of-semi-consciousness sermons that rival Zappa's best impromptu monologues are your thing, then come witness Drexel and buy a copy of River of Chowder. And maybe a bedpan, too. Dig It: Ween, a very drunk Trans Am fronted by an even drunker Mojo Nixon.
Mike Breen
Cincinnati Citybeat Newspaper
"Dayton, Ohio's Drexel is truly one of a kind. Tom Waits is the most reasonable touchstone, but there's a severity to their whimsical flamboyance that makes Waits seem almost mundane in comparison. "Monolithic Beast" starts out as a soulful lounge ballad in deep space, but eventually transforms into something roughly akin to lo-fi show tune. The band is an acquired taste, but totally worth the effort.
Matthew Perpetua
http://www.fluxblog.org