New Band Alert: Happy Village

First let me apologize for the lack of live show reviews. I'm just going to be honest and let you know, I am a college kid and have been too broke to attend much of anything. Let's try to see the positive side of this: I can now focus on other things like album reviews and letting you know about new bands. Not as exciting, I know, but that's what this blog is going to come to and I promise, it'll still be worth reading.

With that said, I discovered Andrew's Langer's new band. They're called Happy Village [I know, let's hold off on the jokes for now] and the band is made up of only two. Both are Redwalls alumni; Langer on guitar/vocals and Jordan Kozer, ex-Redwalls drummer, on, well... drums.

I almost don't want to admit it, but at the same time I can not lie to you. When I heard what I heard, I fell in love all over again and felt the need to jump around the room with joy [I won't say whether or not I actually did *ahem*]. The song "Falling Apart" in which Langer sings,
"We'll leave someday together. Things fall apart forever. It's hard to stand the pressure. And time keeps on rollin' on", is captivating and I've dubbed it my favorite, possibly because it's the first I heard. Others sound as if they may be a reference to his departure from his previous band. "Broken Bones" is made up of lyrics like, "When she saw the band, it was not the same. They've changed... it's been a while since they've been clean". Each sounds so different from the next, it's like a breath of fresh air. And I am insanely impressed with Langer's musical capabilities, not that I had no idea about this before. Any Redwalls fan knew he could play a mean guitar, but when you put him as the lead in a completely new band, the story is different. The talent is overwhelming.

This part is like walking on egg shells... I'm not necessarily going to tell you that Happy Village is a better band than the Redwalls, but I will say that they have a purer sound and seemingly more soul, which makes sense as they have not yet been influenced by the big record companies or urged into mainstream radio hell. It's a pleasant sound in the sense that it's a refreshment from what you're used to. At the same time, it's the sound of true rock and roll and makes you want to shout the lyrics from the rooftops and hug whoever is next to you... or maybe that was just my reaction.

In any case, check them out. They have a brand spankin' new MySpace page:
http://myspace.com/happyvillagemusic

If you are a Redwalls fan, you will cry with joy. If you have no idea who The Redwalls are, please read further back in this blog. You are missing out on a huge part of life. Just kidding. Sort of.