The Committee - Upside down and The wrong Way around

The Committee

Upside down and The wrong Way around
self-released; 2014

3.2 out of 5

By Ted ROgen

Joe Blythe (vocals, guitar), Karl Blythe (guitar), Nathan Holley (bass) and Owain Hiscocks (Drums) are the members who make up The Committee. The band plays music that I would expect to hear blasting from a local bar at 11:30 on a Saturday night. On their recent release Upside down and The wrong Way around they play a fairly straightforward mix of funk, blues and rock. The band’s biggest assets are the vocals. Blythe has a good voice that is enjoyable to  listen to. He has a nonthreatening tone that somehow feels inviting.

The recording quality on Upside down and The wrong Way around is about on par with a demo that you could shop around to labels. There were a number of things holding back the full potential of the songs but not too many things that you couldn't see some of the potential the songs had. One thing that took away from the listening experience was that tracks were at different volumes. This is something that should have been resolved during the mastering stage.

The first song “Thunderbird” is an instrumental track that sounded like a generic funk/rock song. It wasn’t bad but there was nothing here that defined it in any way. They begin to display some originality on “Good Old Stuff.” The band locks on to a tight groove during the verse where Blythe delivers. The chorus ends up sounding convoluted and sloppy because of the recording quality. “Orange Purple Skies” is a highlight amongst the batch. The song works on a number of levels and also happens to be incredibly catchy at points.

The other highlight was “Be All, End All,” which had a solid bass line as well as some slick guitar playing. Blythe delivers another solid performance but his vocals weren’t as fundamental to the song as on other tracks.

Upside down and The wrong Way around is a mixed album that displays a talented band but also lacks much of a signature sound. The band will want to up the ante on their next recording if they are hoping to compete with established bands.

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