Ever seen an owl smoking a cigarette? We hadn't either . . . until we bought the album "One Time Bells" by French Kicks, which featured cover art of an owl doing exactly that . Ever heard straight eighth notes played with only down strums on an oddly synthesized guiter? Yeah we have too . . . lots of times. Luckily, that was only the first track which was rightfully called "Wrong Side". The music quickly gained some clout with syncopated rhythms with a west coast jazz feel.
It's hard to see the owl - but you get the picture! |
Ever had a California style Cabernet Sauvignon with dark fruits and a bit of oak? We have too . . . lots of times. Luckily, like the music, this vino had something more to prove.
The wine we drank this week was a 2006 Hilltop Vineyard Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon by J. Lohr. So what else did we see? Or taste? Or hear?
As it turned out, neither our album nor our vino was as stereotypical as we first imagined. As we sipped our cab, it evolved from a confusing configuration of fruit and maple syrup to a fully-understood palate of dark fruits and light French oak.
The music was a little less typical--French Kick must be a local NYC band, because we have most certainly never heard of them (if you have, let us know your thoughts!) Their first song, "Wrong Side," started the album out safely, with an edgy rock riff, some dissonance, and Jett-like vocals. However, the group took some changes on tracks like "Down Now," which build upon jazzy rhythms and simplistic piano melodies in a way that was super-futuristic and interesting in the percussion, and "Close To Modern," which featured a fresh falsetto vocal quality and total disco fever.
Gotta love Nick dancing disco! |
Nick's Review
Audio
"One Time Bells" definitely started off a bit stagnant with a simple down strum guitar pattern, showing hints of dissonance and a pretty boring vocal that didn't blend in well with the rest of the music. However the second track "When You Heard You" sucked me back into the listening mood. It showed hints of cool jazz style rhythms with heavy influence of French impressionistic dissonance--the kind of music you only come to appreciate with multiple spins.
My favorite song was track 5, "Close to Modern." It featured a falsetto vocal that reminded me of The Darkness, which is a band I really enjoy. The best part of the falsetto was that it was a different vocal type than the rest of the album (whose vocals were pretty Ho-Hum at best).
The instrumentals in this band were very intriguing. They were dissonant and simple, yet gritty and peppery. The vocals just didn't blend in correctly and left me straining to hear much of the time. In all honesty I really couldn't tell what the lyrics where in any of the songs.
Reminds me of a rookie album by some of my favorite bands, think Incubus.
7/10
Vino
Ask my wife what term I use after drinking a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and she'll probably say that I say "I'm feeling cabbed out". You know that heavy feeling you get when you drink a cab with too much oak and it starts to bog you down?
J. Lohr's Hilltop Vineyard Cabernet didn't have this overly burdened effect on me but it was close. The nose was nice with hints of blueberry, jalapeno pepper, and a finish of maple (like a pancake that has let the syrup soak in). The maple syrup characteristic was very intriguing and definitely peaked my interest in the wine.
The wine itself was very palatable not too cumbersome and typical to it's varietal. Medium bodied and with a nice balance of alcohol even at 14.9%.
As this 2006 Paso Robles Cab opened up it released it's berry potential. For those of you thinking fruit bomb think fruit bullet, with just a bit of oak that melded in nicely with the fruit.
Dark and slightly chewy this is probably a wine for new world cab drinkers, but I think a fan of Bordeaux could appreciate this wine. I would definitely try this wine again and I'm sure it would be a definite crowd pleaser if it were poured at a wine event.
88 pts.
Maggie's Review
Audio
I think I liked this album a lot more than Nick did. When writing my reviews, I usually throw in a lot of band names to compare the music to, so that our readers have a good scope for reviewing the tracks. This time, no groups come to mind. To me, that constitutes an original musical creation.
I didn't think that the opening track was boring at all--in fact, it was a great track for the group to lead with. "Wrong Side" is probably the most uptempo, adrenaline-pumping track on the album . . . even if it is a bit contrived. It does show some of the interesting instrumentation that the group uses throughout the album, however.
That instrumentation is developed in later tracks, which combine a tribal-sounding percussive aura with futuristic synthesizers and piano. Not one of the tracks could be heard on your simple-pop rock station . . . that is, with the exception of the vocals.
Vocally, not much is going on. Think All-American Rejects or Jett. It's not bad, but it's not good. Overall, I really enjoyed their creativity, but felt that the album lacked a purely melodic, simple, beautiful track.
8.5/10
Vino
Now, when Nick mentions his usual line during a cab tasting, it is "I'm feeling cabbed out." My personal line is "Man, this is pretty good." I won't lie-I love California cabs. You can call it simple, fruit-driven, or uninteresting if you'd like--but I appreciate flavor that makes me say "wow." Simply put, J. Lohr wasn't the best Cab I've ever tried, but it wasn't bad.
I loved the strong, syrup-y flavors of this wine (showed up only by the smell--WOW). It was like standing in the meeting place of a vineyard, an orchard, and an ocean, taking in the smells, and getting intoxicated by the beauty. The nose was definitely better than the actual taste, however, which was great, fruity, and bombastic, but left me desiring more creativity. It had those great blueberries, strawberry jam, fruit syrup-y flavors . . . but it didn't evolve into much. Great party wine for a group that enjoys wines, but not much of a conversation starter.
90 pts.
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