REVIEW - Dutch Progressive Rock Pages  (www.dprp.net)

"The Tea Club were formed in 2003 in Deptford, New Jersey; Patti Smith's city of birth. The band comprises of Patrick McGowan (vocals, guitars and bass) and his brother Dan McGowan (vocals, guitars) who together with long time friend and drummer Kyle Minnick founded the band. Initially they started out as a four piece with James Berger on bass but Berger quit the band in 2005, so the remaining musicians decided to carry on as a trio. They recorded four EP’s one of which drew the attention of producer/engineer Tim Gilles, (a punk/hard core producer having worked with bands like Agnostic Front, Anthrax & Dog Eat Dog along with Red House Painters, Sussana Hoffs and Tracy Bonham). On The Tea Club's first full length CD this experienced producer succeeds in giving the album a dynamic, but crystal clear sound.

When listening to General Winter’s Secret Museum (a very cryptic title btw) it’s hard to believe that this is the band's first proper album as the whole CD sounds very self assured. Musically it is hard to describe the music of The Tea Club, there are traces of 80s King Crimson (the first guitar parts on album opener Werewolves, on Big Al and the Fripperian guitars parts during The Clincher); Jeff Buckley (the vocals in Werewolves and The Clincher); Oceansize, Aereogramme and Radiohead (on the beautiful Castle Builder) and the brilliant but very unknown Terraced Garden (the verses in Purple Chukz); and finally another influence I hear in the vocal department is Echolyn. But as I said we are talking about traces and/or snippets of all the bands mentioned because The Tea Club immediately show they have a style of their own, with the main attractions being the brothers vocals and their guitar playing. Patrick & Dan share the lead vocal duties and both have excellent voices. Their vocals also work very well together as can be heard during the many beautiful vocal harmonies that grace the album. For example Purple Chukz starts with a beautiful vocal melody where the brothers each sing a part of the verse.

Musically there is also a lot to enjoy. As you might have noticed none of the band play keyboards. The only track to feature keyboards is The Moon, played by producer Tim Gilles, and here fails to add anything. The strength of this song lies with the beautiful vocal harmonies, very varied guitar playing, tight drumming and up front distorted bass. So the keyboards are not missed at all, the band is more than capable of delivering progressive song structures, keeping the songs varied and the listener interested without them. So during the songs much happens musically. Let's take Werewolves for example. It starts with some heavy riffs with great drumming by Minnick, which after a while we are treated to a short instrumental part where the guitars weave around each other accompanied by some distorted bass and then a short loud vocal part. The track then transforms into a very atmospheric song where at first Patrick and Dan McGowan produce some nice vocal harmonies. Finally the tempo picks up until the song ends. Or Cool Smack which starts as a heavy Echolyn song, but also contains some beautiful acoustic guitar.

As I said the main attractions are the vocals and the guitar playing but Kyle Minnick’s drumming is essential to the bands sound. With all the changes in melody and tempo you need a talented drummer to keep everything together and that’s just what Minnick does. Listen for example to the instrumental middle part of Big Al. The Fripp like guitars are backed with strong but also subtle drumming. Excellent!

The Tea Club’s first album is a very self assured affair. This is modern progressive rock and it’s exciting to hear that young bands like Black Mountain, Oceana Company, Diagonal, Pure Reason Revolution, Zombi and now The Tea Club are using progressive rock as a start point while adding a lot of new influences and energy to it.

Btw: After recording the album the band went in search of a bass player. Becky Osenenko, a long time friend, fitted the bill, making The Tea Club a four piece band again.

Conclusion: 8 out of 10

LEO KOPERDRAAT"