REVIEW: Pat McGee Band, Revel (McGee)
- Arabella Clauson
The problem with independent music is the insurmountable challenge of widespread distribution. Without the luxury of excessive budget record label publicity departments, promotion workers getting the word out to the media, and a small army of dedicated staff members to champion a single artist, independents often find themselves grasping at the fringes of a modern industrial machine.
Enter Pat Mcgee, a young singer/songwriter who has made quite a name for himself on the mid-Atlantic East Coast five years of constant touring. A master storyteller, McGee is the bleeding-heart sensitive guy big enough to channel his feminine side, and his earnest songs and striking good-looks have swept many a female undergraduate off her feet. Billboard calls him the "East Coast college darling," which is entirely accurate as the young band delivers an exciting set of infectious, roots-rock grooves on McGee's second independent release, Revel.
Recalling a more subdued Dave Matthews and the fluid acoustic grooves of the Freddy Jones Band, Revel is either a great collection of driving tunes, or relaxing background music for a perfect first date. Raucous college boys should take notes and learn how to woo those women from Pat Mcgee, who seems to have a firm grip on everything: the smooth bedroom voice, the steady subtle rhythm section, twisting three-part harmonies. He's a high-class, easy on the ears roots-rocking stylish smooth-talking salesman without the polyester suit, connecting people to their stories through ultra-smooth, polished songwriting far beyond his years. If he were a car salesman, he could probably have even the most reluctant customer driving out of that lot in a '76 Duster.
Passion lauches the album with a toe-tapping upbeat saxophone intro before McGee practically throws an invitation through the speakers: "I'm trying to ask you to open up your senses/To all the fine things that tear down your fences/Put up by, and kept by those who don't always listen." Well, once those senses are open, the disc just gets better, sometimes recalling an extremely upbeat James Taylor ("Passion" and "All Around Us") as the band explores different sounds and styles through acoustic instruments and occasional bongo percussions. McGee proves himself adept at writing everything from danceable foot shuffling boogie to the hearfelt ballad on "Rebecca" and "On Your Way Out of Here" before ending with the extremely touching memorial, "Elegy for Amy."
Fans of the Dave Matthews Band, James Taylor, and Freddy Jones Band should take note, as some of them clearly play a stylistically influential role on Revel. Merchandise and sound samples are readily available through the website http://www.patmcgeeband.com or by calling (703) 941-1496.
