Featured Album this Week (1/3/11): “Ladders” by Escape Directors
Helping me ring in the new year here on Tight Mix this week is a very tight band that has been on my radar for months now. Escape Directors is Steve Carter (@SteveCarterMus), Colin Reiser, Nick Wilson, and Brendon Bigley. These dudes are all from northern New Jersey (where I’m at), and I’ve actually had the pleasure of playing a charity show with them in mid-2010.
Ladders is 100% free to download and share, and comes loaded with nine powerful rock/pop songs. The first time I heard Steve Carter’s voice I was instantly reminded me of Rob Thomas (Matchbox Twenty), and the instrumentals just ooze early Coldplay-ness. They actually did a fantastic cover of Coldplay’s recent holiday song, “Christmas Lights.” What the hell, I’ll include it here for you to check out. It’s that good.
“Chicago” quickly became my favorite song on the album. It sounds a bit different than the rest of the songs, and in a good way because it seemed to break up the album nicely to help change up the pace and keep me interested. Another thing I was very happy with is that the album wasn’t too ballad heavy, which can happen a lot in the pop/rock genre.
Also, quick shout out to Nick Wilson, keyboard extraordinaire, thanks for all of your help, brother. You know what I’m speaking in reference to. I’m stoked!
