Band: Springhill
Album Name: A Year from the Valley EP
Best Element: Good vocal tone
Genre: Pop/folk
Website: www.onspringhill.com
Label: n/a
Band E-mail: springhillmusic@hotmail.com
Springhill is a lot of fun. They’re a pop/jam band in the vein of OAR, and while they’d be a lot of fun to roll the windows down to, there’s nothing that hasn’t been done before here.
That’s not to say that Springhill isn’t good at what they do- far from it. The vocalist has a fantastic tone that begs to be sung along to. The melodies which he writes are solid and thoroughly singable, and they’re accompanied by a pretty solid band. The bassist is pretty perky and interactive, contributing interesting parts to “Skipping Stars” and providing a very solid background to the rest of the tunes. The rest of the band falls into place behind or in front of the bassist- not bad at all, but not anything special.
The best track is “Just to Find You”, which couples an interesting rhythm pattern in the verses and a “more hooks than a tackle box” vocal line. “Cherry Red” is another candidate for the honor thanks to the tried-and-true songwriting, although its predictability also knocks it down a few notches.
Overall, this is a really fun release for driving around to, but it’s not one that demands repeated listens. I hope that they grow and ride their fabulous vocalist all the way to the big time.
-Stephen Carradini
independentclauses@hotmail.com