08.12.10 (UPDATE)- “Found Mary” reached the #1 overall position (all genres) @ www.indie-music.com!

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.

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.

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!

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.

on another note, i dvr’d something on the documentary channel last night.  it was, yep, a documentary (go figure?) of musician “amy cook” and the typical trials and tribulations of life on the road as an indie musician.  i didn’t start watching it until later and the recording was already done so i was able to stick to the good stuff and skip the “we paid for this airing so let us tell you a little about our business” spots.  first, pretty psyched that i was able to find another artist that i’m now a fan of.  second, it was very cool to see those places where the stage is sometimes where the band will fit without getting hit by darts or the occassional flying pool ball.  amy’s style, in my humble opinion, is very remeniscent of shawn colvin.  but (there’s always a “but”), even though i’m a big fan of shawn (c’mon, we share the same name….er, aside from the spelling), amy’s vocal style seems to have a much broader range and i’m pretty sure that along with that subtle voice that can certainly pull you in as you listen, there’s no doubt that she could belt out some crazy good notes on the other end of the spectrum!  i’ve just started grabbing some of her material from itunes and although i’m sure i’ll have a favorite or two, i’m still taking it all in.  go be a fan- www.amycook.com.

okay, that’s enough of me writing your eyes off for today.  plus, i’m hungry.

yeah, i know, me…..making the world a better place through useless knowledge.  i’ll stir up some stir fry and share some more with you as it comes to me.

piece (of fried chicken)…out.

i was thinking….facebook, myspace, twitter, etc…all good, but let’s face it- once someone becomes a fan, how often do they really come back to see what’s happening with you?  or, if they happen to have a couple hundred or more friends, do they even see updates that are posted?  it’s not that anyone is ignoring what others are saying, but it’s pretty tough to catch everything unless you’re looking at your computer screen like brokers watch the stock ticker.  now that i think about it, “farmville” may actually have a purpose in keeping fans poised for new news, a solid addition to it’s current purpose of keeping people indoors on a sunny day &  helping many to forget that actual “visiting” is better than being asked for a truckload of lettuce to feed their protein-deprived kids (hey, i don’t play it….how would i know what all of this stuff is for?)  here’s an idea, take 5 minutes, grab a piece of paper and a pen, write, “dear [insert someone you care about here....anyone, seriously], just wanted to let you know i was thinking about you.  signed, [you]“.  fold it up, put it in an envelope, address it accordingly, and then (get ready, this seems to be the hard part), bring it to the post office, stamp it and drop it in the “out” box.  you’ll be amazed at how much you made that person’s day when they receive it. 

where am i going with this?  no where, really.  but thanks for reading that paragraph.  it’s honestly just me coming to the realization that my mailing list is so much more powerful than anything else. 

i’ve decided to post lyrics for the songs on this record.  you know, stuff to read, read into, burn after reading.  it’s funny, as i was spell-checking them, i realized how many i had to either cut out or edit!  many changes occurred from when & how the songs were written to the time that they were recorded.  kind of a cool transition, really.  (i stopped listening to the original versions- they’ll only mess me up when i play these out live!)

i need to hurry up.  all of my ideas run out as my coffee gets colder…..

“Snow Patrol meets Kings Of Leon…..the best recorded version of Sean McCarthy to date.”
- Steve Bertrand, Producer

More info on the new release here….