Dennis Cook's Review of Big Light's - "Animals In Bloom" coming on 3/2/10

Dennis' Pick of the Week
Big Light: Animals In Bloom (reapandsow)

There's a lot of talented young bands out there but few realize their
potential with such succulent success as Big Light's full-length debut, Animals
In Bloom (arriving March 2). The opening cut "Good Time of the
Year" refers to a fine moment to get back home, but in a way it's
prophetic about what's to come. Animals might just be THE good
time rock slab of 2010, and if not, the competition has their work cut
out for them. Serious music geeks, the quartet - Fred Torphy
(lead vocals, guitar, songwriting), Bradley Bifuclo (drums), Steve
Adams (bass, vocals) and Jeremy Korpas (lead guitar, vocals)
- have crafted something that holds its own against the great bands
that have inspired them - Dr. Dog, The Slip, Wilco - while maintaining a
well-defined sense of themselves, which one picks up on right from the
album's title - a curious mixture of plant life and furred things, a
giraffe growing from a stamen perhaps, or maybe just humans thriving
despite the great seething, stupid ontological bog the planet finds
itself in today. If you don't feel a touch uplifted after just the
opening trio of "Good Time," "Monster" (a hit single waiting to happen)
and the curiously angled, handclap tinged "Triceratops" then I might
question whether you actually like rock 'n' roll. And if those don't
nail you then "Superfuzz Fine," "Heavy" or "Rainbow Eyes" should do the
trick. One senses that a listener's fave song will change with each spin
and the circumstances of their lives - a sign of any truly great album.
The vibrancy and unforced hopefulness of Big Light shimmers on every
saccharine-free track, and the combination of talents produces a sound
that's easy to love but also resonates on a deeper frequency (a feat
ably aided by Apollo Sunshine's Jeremy Black, who co-produced
with the band). The rhythm team sways with roughhewn charm, carrying
the whole enterprise from garage to stadium-ready and back again. Big
Light has all the makings of a classic guitar band akin to simpatico
pals the Mother Hips. The interplay, attack and keep-you-guessing
creativity of Korpas and Torphy are swift catalysts to air guitar frenzy
and closed-eye contemplation. The reach of this band is significant.
Fully adept at poppy groovers AND cosmically charged heftiness, this
band embraces stuff of larger magnitude and intimacy & introspection
with equal vigor, and if the primordial seas get churned up in their
wake, so be it - they winningly like things a little rough. Animals
In Bloom is a phenomenal debut, easily one of the best in the past
decade, which reveals a band fully loaded for a bright, bright future.
(Dennis Cook)

Pre-order your copy today at Amazon