REVIEW - James Russell  (www.progarchives.com)

"It is such a rush when you find one of those “new” bands that makes you smile uncontrollably, one of those bands that feels truly authentic, without the slick commercial gloss of bands whose business has been churning out product for decades. A band whose warmth makes you feel like you’d be welcome at their practice space if you showed up with the beer. A band whose energy makes you feel young again. It doesn’t hurt when the material they play is as fresh and provocative as it gets. You will be hearing more about The Tea Club, I assure you. They were a late addition to my "best of 2008" progarchives ballot, I only wish I would have had more time to spread the word before the deadline.

“General Winter’s Secret Museum” is the full length debut of New Jersey’s The Tea Club, formed in 2003 by teenage brothers Patrick and Daniel McGowan. Successfully seduced by their parent’s prog collection the guys enlisted their friend/drummer Kyle Minnick to form the foundation of their new band. I admit I was unable to follow the history of the bass players (forgive me, guys) but it appears that spot is now filled by Becky Osenenko. I don’t hear many of the influences that other writers mention when speaking of The Tea Club but I have my own answer for those who ask me what they sound like. While I would fervently preface that TTC sport a highly original personality, I could tell people that one possible description could be as follows: think of the vocal and guitar sound of the most recent Anekdoten album (A Time of Day), add the triumphant swagger of my beloved Minutemen (Double Nickels on the Dime), color the sound wall with just a bit of Kayo Dot’s provocative freedom (though much more accessible and frankly, much more fun), and finally sprinkle a bit of honest-to-goodness Pixies/Breeders/Muses melody into the mix. You will be not bludgeoned with fabricated rage, you will not be subjected to 14 minutes of egghead dissonance, and you will not forget you are supposed to be enjoying listening to this. If it isn’t obvious to you yet, yes, I love the Secret Museum (and may show up at their space to hang out with their friends….what kind of beer do you guys like?) Sorry, to the music!

The vocals, both solo and the harmonies, are marvelous. But I don’t hear the Beatles like other writers do, I hear superb lead vocals as good as Thom Yorke or anyone else at emotional articulation and well-timed falsettos. And in the harmonies I hear the Texas based Midlake (Trials of Van Occupanther.) The guitar sounds vary of course but in the softer atmospheric moments the sound makes you visualize a spider web, the chords often appearing similar, but closer listening reveals the notes to be different and more complex. Subtle pattern shifts and effective layering of the two guitar parts in these moments hold you in trance. Where other writers keep mentioning King Crimson, I believe they sound more like space-punk: gorgeous meditative, spacey guitar-scapes droning on for a bit, balanced with a rock that feels to me punk-inspired (as I felt about the excellent J’accuse album.) Minnick is as good on the kit as the McGowan brothers are on the guitars/vocals, playing with passion but also with the maturity of someone twice his age. There’s no slop on the floor around these guys and yet the music is so much warmer than the stringently mathematical types. When the big bass parts and the drums throw their weight at you it feels like running across the beach into the water full speed seeing how long you can run before you fall into the waves, that resistance of the water as you hit it, the band can be that forceful just seconds after putting you in trance. Just don’t expect to hear a bunch of shredding here, this band is not about light-speed note manufacturing. They are about the building and diffusing of moods and crafting that approach into a reasonably sane framework that is enjoyable to listen to, I believe for that reason they are well-placed in Crossover. (At least until we have our punk-prog genre dedicated to D. Boon.) Picking the standout tracks is impossible for me as I like them all but if I had to I would name “Castle Builder” and “Will o’ the Wisp,” both of which project that ethereal magic which grabs me by the throat. The album seems to get better as it goes with the second two-thirds being unbelievably strong.

The lyrics are good as well. I don’t pretend to understand all of the things they’re talking about in the more “out there” lyrics but I like the poetry of them. I do understand very well the irritation of sage-speak in “Big Al,” the capitulation of personal idealism in “Castle Builder,” and the regrets of “IceClock.” Or at least I understand what they mean to me and that they move me. We’ve all known our personal Big Als though in his defense Big Al can be pretty fun to party with. With regard to the revolutions of Castle Builder, 20 years on from the age of the TC members I have clearly misplaced mine, though listening to this band play makes it stir inside of me again. Maybe it’s not too late…which leads me into IceClock and the fates that await us. I’m not sure how much “new ground” is broken with GWSM and when you’ve heard thousands of albums how much more ground is there really? So I generally judge a band’s originality in terms of their “spark” and personality. Musicians can’t attain spark by practicing or working hard, they get only proficiency by doing those things. Spark is something you either have or you don’t. It is the mark of a great artist. Spark is what makes me want to listen to this album again as soon as it’s finished. It’s what keeps the disc on the top of the pile of 75 CDs it sits atop. The Tea Club has it, quite a bit of it actually. Can they spread it far and wide? God I hope so.

The Disc features a quality production courtesy of Tim Gilles and the Big Blue Meenie Studios. He gets an amazing sound down for these guys: light, heavy, clear, or claustrophobic depending on what the mood of the moment calls for. BBMS doesn’t think too much of PA Collabs apparently—I really wish I could share some of the hilarious sentiments posted on myspace but my review would be instantly deleted if I quoted them here. I’ll only respond by saying Tim did a great job with Tea Club, though I wonder if we all deserve to be painted with such a broad brush. But one colorful phrase he used still has me laughing “with vigor” every time I think about it. I love their artwork inside the booklet and hope they continue doing their own which is so much more meaningful than bands who use “professional album art super-star guy” because the art is coming right from the heart and mind of the person singing to you. So much cooler than the cheesy overblown nonsense on the cover of the candy-prog albums that adorn the front pages of the music sites. All of the drawings here are great but the dark home-scape behind “Werewolves” is simply perfect. [You can get this fine album for only $10 including postage, direct from their website. It was easy and they had it in my hands about 3 days later.] GWSM is not quite 5 stars yet (but might be eventually) though I believe these guys could make a masterpiece if they can keep their musical souls from being stripped bare by the time-vultures of the education and career credentialism establishments. Keep the “boot on their neck” from breaking them, as Roger Waters would put it. Although after hearing the lyrics to their track “Big Al” I don’t believe I will venture giving any advice to the brothers. From what I can tell they know exactly what they’re doing anyway. My congratulations to The Tea Club and Tim Gilles for delivering a monster debut—I wish you all the best of luck and will be spreading the word.

“there is no revolution if we’re all too frightened to die…all day we stare at the lights…know your place…that’s where we spend a lifetime…all we had…we sold for sunnier days…on no.” [a few selected moments from “Castle Builder”]"