Awesome sound and lyrics! (5 out of 5 stars)

Posted on 06.30.10

by Patriotess (Denver, CO, USA) (iTunes)

Finally some songs with true meaning and story behind them! We need more of this type of music these days. I hope to see them in Denver on tour. Will definately be buying the CD…can’t wait for a video.

One of the best new sounds of 2010 (5 out of 5 stars)

Posted on 06.20.10

by T. Fournier (London, United Kingdom) (Amazon.com)

Sounds of summer emit from Sean McCarthy’s “Everything Has Past”. That is, if you’re up to genuine, honest rock whilst cruising down the highway towards the beach or gathering with friends for drinks around the BBQ. I bought this record in April, but somehow this is where it took me.

There’s something warm and familiar about “Everything Has Past” – perhaps this is why others have compared Sean to other famous rock bands. Yes, the production on this record is well polished. But there’s something fresh here that those comparisons don’t quite capture.

For me, it’s the song writing. It’s original. And heartfelt. Combine this with catchy melodies and there’s something quite addictive here that you’ll catch on to more and more with each listen. Something pure. Likeable. Driven.

If I was forced to pick a favourite song, I wouldn’t. I love them all. I could pick Found Mary as a single with great potential. Optimism and angst in perfect harmony. Or maybe Sunday Morning. There’s a beautifully pent-up tension in the first half of this song that releases itself like the first taste of beer after a long week at work – reflective and quenching. Pretty and Sympathy are solid rock ballads, the latter that’s 2nd verse had me belting in the shower. And if I ever won the lottery, I would deliver my resignation with Goodbye!

But the songs work best as a collection. For an EP, it’s entirely satisfying from start to finish. This record is in constant rotation at home and on the iPhone. “Everything Has Past” will play significantly in the soundtrack of my summer 2010.

My only criticism – it is entirely too short.

SMcCarthy Rocks (5 out of 5 stars)

Posted on 06.19.10

by C. Frye (New Hampshire, USA) (Amazon.com)

This is one of those CDs you wish there was more on it! I still haven’t picked a favorite between Found Mary and Sympathy yet and the others are close behind! Sean’s Style is his own and it is hard to put a label to it but if I were to try and describe him, it would be a more rock version of John Mayer!! He really pulls you into his songs and music and it is an overall great CD! Hope you enjoy!

Highly Competent Modern Rock Pop (4 out of 5 stars)

Posted on 06.18.10

by Mike Ososki (Ariel Publicity / Review You)

With recording production par excellence and soaked in Marshall modern rockpop guitars, Sean McCarthy is assuredly professional performance grade.  His spot-on lead vocals are rendered in unquestionable confidence, backed by a consummate team of musicians and engineering.  And the songs? Well… they’re pretty darn good.  Here and there maybe even close to great, but not quite.  Like 96.3% of modern pop and rock music, the vast majority of the essential songwriting content here is derivative.  REM, Bruce Springsteen, Steve Earle, Switchfoot, and many, many more are heard. Imitation is the highest flattery.  Those who are familiar with pop hit music since the Beatles will easily recognize pieces and patches, segments, sections and melodies, vibes and vocals that we have heard over and over through the years.  And who can fault Mr. McCarthy for putting out more of a good thing?  Still, it is always oh-so refreshing to hear artists push and struggle for uncompromising originality and uniqueness, what little there may be of it left to find.  After so many decades of so much so fine, it is a tall order, to be sure.

Track by track:

  1. I know it’s only rock-n-roll, but this particular one is known as “Found Mary.”  She strives for a glorious and celebratory feel, and is somewhat successful in achieving it.  Heavily chiming, rhythmically consistently predictable lower register and high bell-like rock rhythm guitar(s) abound.  They drive the trad-rock beat home more or less throughout this arm-waving party crowd let loose.  During the verse, the lead vocal melody is slightly more buried in the mix than might be ideal, but it’s a fine pop note sequence, with happy 6ths and some subtle, poignant major-7 injections that tend to tug at heartstrings.  Likely a rousing, get-up-on-your-feet, crowd pleaser, this one.  Crank it up and dance!
  2. The lead vocal is plenty on top here, especially during the backed-off backup instrumentation in the first verse, and beautifully executed.  “Pretty” again seeks to touch deeply in a traditional pop-rock kinda way, and will certainly succeed for what may be an appreciable percentage of the audience.  With just a few more dynamics than the previous track, this song offers a semi-innovative chord progression behind part of the pre-post chorus, and a plaintive progression for the rest.  “I will give you everything in this heartbeat” is a poetic line that any open-hearted woman will soak up and glow in, when uttered by her beloved, sincere man.
  3. “Sunday Morning” starts in a sparse, sad soft synth draped with a hopeful melancholy.  Steadily building by gentle percussion, chimey fade-in guitars and methodically added layers of atmospheric drone, we keep thickening the stew, waiting until after the 2-minute mark to solidly land and resolve into the major key pay-off hook groove chorus sing-along section.  Musically, like much of this CD so far, the chorus of this tune seeks to inspire us reaching up and out into a triumphant spirit of hope, with soaring add-2/9’s, a very common and essential ingredient in most guitar-based, modern rock music.
  4. We all need a little “Sympathy”—agreed.  And Mary is back to help tell the story.  Sammy, the working man, breaks down from a lack of familial relations, and it sounds like a healthy, good and true thing for him to do!  We gotta acknowledge our deep feelings, my friends.
  5. It was not a good scene, so he adamantly belts out “Goodbye” and good riddance to her, feeling (bitterly?) light and optimistic about his fresh new start.  Powered and fueled by choppy staccato rhythm guitar machine gun blasts over a thumping beat, we march out into our brave new world.  It may have been good while it lasted, but it’s definitely time to leave, and this departure is done with expectant, exciting conviction.  Enough of those under-the-breath comments.

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