The Furious Seasons: Look West
The Furious Seasons
Look West
(Stonegarden Records)
L.A.âs trio The Furious Seasonsâ fifth release, Look West, gets deep into acoustic, guitar-led, fine songwriting, playing, and singing. Beginning with the sad pluck of âLong Shot,â David Steinhartâs voice pulls you right in, as do Paul Nelsonâs backing vocals in the chorus. Itâs a great opener. âWhatâs Coming Nextâ presents Jeff Steinhartâs simple upright bass playing, equally subtle acoustic lead noodling from Paul (an expert player, truly), and Davidâs fine vocals opening up the images and sense of regret. Jeff starts us off into the mid-tempo sway of one of the more upbeat movers here (pure Everly Brothers) on âSimple and Clean.â Once again Paul gets in as much fine backing vocal moments as precise leading. And as âSummer Flameâ opens with Nelsonâs soft leading and Steinhartâs almost-talking vocals from the outset, you feel youâre in for something special (and it pretty much is). This song captures what The Furious Seasons does best with sound and vocals, mining something we have all experienced, a full chorus of two-part harmony vocals and the acoustics complementing each other all the way through with the bass sliding cool under it all. âSo Glad Itâs Mineâ ends the set of twelve tunes. I like the light keys entering here, again the layering acoustics and Davidâs very honest delivery. Youâre not going to do better than The Furious Seasonsâ Look West when it comes to acoustic folk-pop.