Firefly
"Made Me Glad"
by Johanna J. Bodde
| FIREFLY "Made Me Glad" (Night Time Down Records)
www.firefly-music.com www.cdbaby.com/cd/firefly Firefly (the prettiest bandname I've heard in years) introduces their music as "Canadiana". Yes, of course that was to be expected after all our European shouting about " Americana "! The Canadians can be justifiably proud of the diversity in their music-scene, also Firefly, founded in 2003, does inventive things with a poppy variation of our beloved alt.country/rootsrock. "Made Me Glad" was preceded by an EP, so the CD - decked out in delicate artwork - is no debut but still a first acquaintance for me and a pleasant one, I can tell you that! The trio Neil Little (guitar), Nick Bailey (drums) and Jeff Appel (bassguitar) - they all sing - are being assisted on the album by guestmusicians Ian Murray (piano, B3 organ, accordion) and Jon Steen (banjo, pedalsteel), while Carlene O'Grady adds extra vocals. You could compare the CD with a roll of candy in different flavors, sometimes you think of R.E.M., or Map Of Wyoming, Gene Clark, The Beatles, The Coal Porters before they went bluegrass or just of Sting! All for just a short moment, as Firefly is most of all themselves: a band instigated by guitar with a strong rhythm-tandem, flawlessly fusing vocals and a good sense of humor! I had fun with "Like A Deer", "Hopeville" is - indeed - full of hope, "Even The Horse" sparks that homesick feeling, while "On The Way To Tulin" has film-images passing by. In the meantime a fourth man, Larry Guzik, joined Firefly. He is the proud owner of 26 (!) guitars, so I just suppose that the next CD will be even MORE interesting! And by the way, that first EP "Firefly" -sent to me after I wrote this piece- is also worth checking out: "An eponymous six-song EP wove lover's remorse, social decay and the wonderment of Northern Ontario together in 18 minutes." --- Written by Johanna J. Bodde, Dutch original of this review previously published on Real Roots Cafe, The Netherlands. ===== |
  |