Ipsum loredum praticl doh politico kind in bein dah way por dem per longus timus. JTW mite o sayo bein bornt tobe obnoxica et tu serioux. Tisto hapennze half unos namos Johnny. Talkus indle auf dem ginsti lostus inus the workus environs por do expendibility. Mais no seeum in Iraq parce que paradus ikum sillius we bein. Speken of deh sillius dat tin mindus of me radio asso asso butus sayin dis an dat. But den whatus matterus anywayus for endus we bein to deh endus por dem per politico kind. Notta know par dus affectionadus "lick from head to toe" beus onum una kind. Be needus whatn be we needus. Syonna esion. Syonna esion.

Ultra-melodic lead guitar, strummy acoustic, snappy drums, and expressive bass-lines propel a set of songs, brimming with lyrical optimism.

The Silent Boys plays instantly hummable, soaring and jangly pop, wrapped in a melodic web of bass and guitar and reminiscent of 80's greats like the Cure, the Smiths, Echo & the Bunnymen, New Order, and the Chills.

Memorable and moody guitar pop highlighted by melodic and angular guitar lines. Hints of the Cure, the Smiths, the Felt, the Bats, New Order, Love Tractor, early REM and the icy vocals of Joy Division and the Chameleons.

The Silent Boys are an 80's indie-pop band not because they're trying to recreate the sounds of the 1980's, but because they actually started as a band in the 1980's. That's not to say they haven't evolved over the decades. Listen to "One Step Closer" (2007)and you'll know that they have. But what's important here is that you understand their roots. The Silent Boys started writing and playing their songs in the late 1980s. They would play local clubs, parties, and the usual fare. But their real passion was heading into the studio, which they did at every occasion. About 40 songs in all were recorded. This album is a compilation of their top 25. For every Silent Boys fan, this album of 1980's archive recordings is a must-have.

The Silent Boys disbanded in 1991 after John had moved to Hawaii for a teaching job. Wallace put down his guitar for the next several years until in 1997 the cocoon surrounding his songwriting juices popped open like a cola can thrown into a campfire. Across a continent and an ocean, old-fashion cassette tapes flew. Then in 1999, John flew himself back to Richmond for a long overdue recording session. The result was a set of seven songs, which sat idle in the studio for the next decade because Wallace was too busy writing many more songs, which evolved into the initial Silent Boys albums. A full 10 years later, however, these seven precious songs are finally seeing the light of day. The expected release date of "Princess by the Sea" is sometime in February. Stay tuned!

Over the two years after the Gitter album, JA wrote another two dozen songs. These were all to go on the Sonic Paint album, but squeezing that many songs onto a single album had its problems. The solution was to collate the softer and more lyric oriented songs onto a second but related album called Sonic Poetry. Now poetry itself does not usually lend itself well to music because of melodic constraints. "Sonic" poetry, therefore, is written backwards. First there is the melody. Then words and sentences are chosen for their flavor and feel as much as for their meaning. This results in such phrases as: "At the center of each rainbow you'll find the back of your head; like your shadow it travels with you to this halo you are wed". Good stuff!

An academic colleague remarks that John Andrew's music reminds him of Leo Kottke, not because of any similarity in guitar playing but because neither of them can sing. Left-handed compliments such as these lead John Andrew to voice lessons. Two years later there appeared a few subtle but welcomed improvements, such as a wider range and warmer tone. But why not play around with changing the voice altogether? For that you will hear the ear-candy performances of nephew Graham on tracks 3, 7, and 8, and nephew Mike on track 5 (plus his sax on track 9). The songs on Sonic Paint were meant to be a bit more edgy. In the end, playfulness overruled and the result was a blend of fast to slow, somber to racy, reflective to reactive. A cross-section of musical ideas. A gallery of musical paintings each with its own flavor and feel.

The most welcomed and significant upgrade on this album is the addition of the highly talented drummer Joe Netzel. With drums comes energy of which there is plenty on this album. The flavor of this energy runs from the dark ominous title track "Glitter" to the swing of "Heaven". The cover features the intense gaze of John Andrew's three year old daughter with the Sun reflecting off her straw blond hair. Listen for her cameo appearance on Track 8 of the previous album In a Moment. The lyrics of Glitter move away from the vicissitudes of love relationships toward ponderings of existentialism, influenced, no doubt, by John Andrew's wife who is a practicing Buddhist. This is not music one typically hears on the radio or for background music at parties. But for long car rides it's a talkative but warm companion.

After 30 years of writing songs, it was about time that John Andrew created an album. A compilation of all his past favorites? A few were permitted, but the freshness of the present moment dominated. Because he was simply experimenting, JA didn't think to find a drummer and instead artificially sequenced the drums himself. It sounded great compared to what he had done before. Oh well. The notable exception is with "Holiday" for which he used the John Morand drum tracks of an old Silent Boys recording. What a difference! Speaking of "Holiday", the band Burlington, consisting of JA's nephews Garth and Graham, recently transformed this song into ultracool on their soon to be released debut album "Time Zones & Dial Tones". It makes one wonder about the potential of some of the other songs on this album. In summary, In a Moment was a commendable start, filled with nuggets, and worthy of the archives.

Purchase the collection of John Andrew's first four solo albums bundled together at a remarkable discount.

Purchase the collection of The Silent Boy's first four albums bundled together at a remarkable discount.