Electron Drive
Artist: Kerns and the Hemispheres 
Label: 61 Records
Length: 11/53:06

If a group is the sum of its influences, Kerns and the Hemispheres is more than the sum of its parts. Electron Drive is a careening journey at breakneck speed through several different styles of music, yet somehow held together by a common thread, one which is nearly impossible to classify.

"Wash Off the Airplane" is bouncy, Ben Folds-style pop, followed by the Southern-tinged "Baptized on New Year's Eve."  "Based on a True Story" is pure power pop, followed by a countryish intro to "Me Haunting Me."

"All the Same to Me" melds country, melodic rock, and Bleu/Jellyfish interludes of pop.  "Postcard Season" just flat rocks musically, although the female vocals here don't necessarily live up to the dUg Pinnick-like bass part here.  "Fallout Song" seems to be a modern retelling of Nero fiddling while Rome burns, or it may be an REM like defiance of the end of the world.

"Dyess Arkansas" invokes Johnny Cash with its title, and contains a touch of bluegrass.  "Peaces," a folk rocker, could easily be covered by Jonathan Rundman and Beki Hemingway, and "Spring of My Discontent" mixes Fleetwood Mac and Over the Rhine, filtered through a more modern amplified sound.

In other words, I wouldn't try to pin this group's sound down if I had to.  What I do know is this: it all works.  If you don't get hooked by one song, wait for the next one.  Something here will grab your attention, no matter what you normally like.

Brian A. Smith
10 January 2009