New review from F.U.T. a Bay Area based zine put out by high school students:
Seconds on End: ShadowlandReview by Entatty
Shadowland is the second CD release from Seconds On End. This Bay Area band which has developed a following doing gigs in La Honda, Palo Alto, and San Francisco, fits comfortably in the jam genre, specifically the Grateful Dead/Phish axis thereof. They even offer a download of their live version of the Dead’s classic “Eyes of the World” on their website secondsonend.com. If every jam band has its own space, the space that Seconds On End occupies most of the time is a place where possibilities are limitless and optimism is the order of the day.
Contemporary jam bands have to answer the same two questions as groups playing blues, classic punk, or other well defined styles – do you bring anything new to the party and how are the songs? What Seconds On End brings includes the warm womanly voice and oboe playing of Carrie Adler, a welcome contrast from the unoriginal and sometimes sketchy vocals of other jam groups, an appreciation of how to make a variety of guitar and drum intonations work the context of specific songs, nice bass work on songs like “Shadowrung” and an unabashed neo-hippie ethos that lets the superb guitar work of Peter Sawyer and Nick Peters give voice to most of what the group has to say.
As for the songs, there are no real clunkers, and more than a few that leave a lasting mark. The strongest songs, like Room to Breathe, Desert Passage, Away, and Shadowrung, tend to be urgent and to make up their own rules. Seconds On End are less successful when they flirt with whimsy on a couple of tracks. Every song has some beautiful playing on it and surprising passages abound. Besides the polished, worldly Derek Trucks Band’s Songlines album, Shadowland is better than anything I’ve heard in the jam band genre recently.
Click below to check out the F.U.T site, great stuff!
This is no ordinary jam band--it's a whole new way of living the musical dream. These players are first rate string wizards, the vocals are top-notch, and it clearly comes straight from the heart. The work is full of soul, sometimes ecstatic, sometimes mournful, but the spirit is always strong. You will love this recording.--Sandy Miranda, KPFA Jan. 2006
