REVIEW - ProGGnosis  (www.proggnosis.com)

"A new band from New Jersey (USA) that is trying to make a name for themselves with their first album, General Winter's Secret Museum . Consisting of nine mostly mid-lenght pieces, based on drums, bass, guitars (electric and some acoustic) and vocals, this album by The Tea Club does not reinvent the Prog/Pop/Rock genre, but offers us a collection of very well written, composed and performed tracks.

With a new group, it is always usefull to make references with some well known bands... so here we go. When they rock, The Tea Club kind of remind me of the Nick D'Virgilio led Spock's Beard , except that The Tea Club has a "grungier" sound because they feature no (or very little) keyboards on their album. In fact, General Winter's Secret Museum gives us a nice mixture of garage rock, hard Prog and some mellower pieces. Again, on the album's harder stuff, the lead guitar reminds me of the "crunchy" style of play of Big Big Train 's Gregory Spawton, and since there are some mellower parts often intertwined in the music, Big Big Train is not a bad reference to make. Finally, on the softer tracks, Echolyn really comes to my mind, in great part because of the harmonies of the two singers that are quite similar to those of Brett Kull and Ray Weston.

General Winter's Secret Museum is an excellent album, even more if you consider that it is a first album by a group of young musicians. It can easily be compared to good albums by veteran bands. One quality that these guys have that is very rare... they can write and compose great songs. Add to that another hard to find feature... two lead singers that can sing well, and there you have it, The Tea Club has all the ingredients to be a major player in years to come.

The Tea Club is certainly a band to keep an attentive eye on, and General Winter's Secret Museum is for sure an album to get. Check these guys out using their Myspace link that can be found on this very page. Highly recommended."