The Contrarian

In addition to being the music editor and blogger for Seven Days, Casey Rea is also a musician and a studio craftsman. Recently, he put those two latter skills together for his new ambiant pop five-song EP on Burlington's Icebox Records. For the album, Casey goes by The Contrarian and the disc is called Soft Rock.

Normally, ambient tunes aren't my thang. Ambient bands get so caught up in creating a rich textured and haunting sound that they forget about melodies and rhythms and wander directionlessly through their newly created "ambiance". Next thing you know, 15 minutes of your life is gone forever with nothing to show for it.

Soft Rock is different. Casey did a good job creating a dramatic soundscape but he also built nice acoustic tunes dab smack in the middle of that atmosphere. If you liked Greg Davis & Sebastian Roux's Paquet Surprise, you'll enjoy The Contrarian. However, I would say that Soft Rock does a better job of sticking to the song structure than Paquet Surprise did.

Knowing Casey's love for all things cheesy in the music world, I'm not surprised he went with the "Carpenters font" for the album cover. It also obviously goes with the soft rock theme. And I'm guessing the 35th anniversary thing is also related to the Carpenters 1971 self-titled release.

The Contrarian | Soft Rock Two
The Contrarian | Soft Rock One