Ink

Expassionates
Landscapes

The moment Landscapes’s opening track, “Nine Live,” starts, fancy guitar work kicks in, inviting like a familiar friend. One you haven’t seen in awhile, but feel comfortable around. The Expassionates’ music draws you in close, slowly building and rising, creating a sense of space and purpose, and stretching out, but not overstaying its welcome.

Scott Easterday’s vocals are soft-spoken but demanding, as if he’s suggesting more than simply singing. It suits the music well, and adds a certain layer of mystery. One can imagine the sly smile as these lyrics are sung.

Marco Pascolini, along with Easterday, adds beautiful guitar strumming and simple, yet lovely melodies. Nothing is overbearing. Many of the tracks build on their own without force.

Some songs, like “Seven Deadly Sins,” start off with nothing more than lonely guitar notes that seem to echo off the walls of an empty room. But then the vocals enter, and it suddenly becomes a country ballad. Not the new country, either. We’re talking the good ol’ country. The kind that doesn’t need ice messing up its whiskey.

Bassist Richard Burgess leaves his mark on the musical landscape as well. His efforts lend a catchy warmth to “Hollywood.”

Sam Platt walks the delicate line of being powerful on the drums without taking center stage. He’s at his best on “Gone to Kansas,” where he rips in and out of drum rolls but never upstages the eerie mood set by the rest of the band.

Speaking of moods, “Midnight in the Desert” creates a sense of getting lost out in the great wide open. It’s the kind of song that demands a late-night listen as you’re driving along back roads.

Despite the fact these local boys took a decade to release a follow-up album, these guys deserve much more appreciation, as they’re among the best of local musicians.

Not a single song feels out of place. If anything, I could have asked for a few more. Sure, most clock in at almost four minutes, but they don’t feel rushed. You can tell they took the time to get it right and created something special.
— travis fox { special to ink }