REVIEW: The Syrens - Firewater

This is a biased review.

Let's get it out of the way. I love the Syrens. I think you should stop reading now and buy this record. I've followed them since the night my friend Vince and I--he was visiting from Seattle--had just seen two horrendous offerings on a Monday night at Kenny's Castaways. Mondays at Kenny's can be torturous parade of talent best left in the garages of Northern New Jersey. Then the Syrens were announced and we watched as two women, one earthy, one airy, climbed on the stage. Greta, the earth mother had an accoustic guitar slung around her neck. Sarah, the whispy one, stepped behind a piano. I thought, "Oh no! First bad heavy metal and now bad folk music." I leaned over to Vince and said, "Okay, it's probably going to be bad, but if they start singing about clubbing baby seals, we have to stay as punishment." I was convinced it was going to suck. Vince laughingly agreed.

(37k jpeg of Greta)

But before their fingers hit guitar or keyboard, Greta and Sarah leaned into their mikes and we heard this(70k .au). Vince and I sat dumbstruck for the next twenty minutes as this folk duo blew us out of our seats. Their harmonies were some of the freshest I've heard in years. They were musically tight and performed like the verterans they are. Their voices transported me that night.

(29k jpeg of Sarah)

The Syrens have another special place in my heart. It was last April that I sat in front of my computer, cruising the Web and reading a flyer for an upcoming Syrens' gig, that I was struck with the realization that the Web was THE place to be and it was the perfect vehicle for bands like the Syrens and anyone else with talent and the need to get it out into the world. The Syrens are directly resonsible for the excistance of Urban Desires. So buy their record.

Firewater marks the Syrens recording debut. For the most part, it captures the freshness I saw on that smokey Monday night on Bleeker street. The songs are familiar, the vocals warm and rich. The engineering is clean and rarely gets in the way.

A number of songs suffer from the addition of a backing band, but the vocals carry them through. The arrangements on the cuts with additional players are competently executed, but stock. They don't add any depth beyond that contained in the harmonies. All-accoustical cuts like Mother Mercy(197k .au) have buckets more punch than the slicker, over-produced cuts like Raging River(189k .au).

The lyrics are weighted, but flow well. They hark of another era. One of dragons and damsels and knights clad in metal. Musician and reviewer David Levine reminded me that 10 out of twelve songs on Firewater contain references to the sea. Okay, maybe the lyrics are metaphorically heavy, but they don't bother me because they seem to emerge from a true place within the Syrens. And besides, the ARE the Syrens. They gotta talk about the sea. I think his point is well-taken though. An occasional touch of humor or simple detail from life would help lift the glass off the emotions that sometimes get bottled up within all the imagery.

Firewater is a solid debut and the future looks bright for this dynamic duo. They are currently touring the country. Did I mention I think you sould buy this record?

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