"Awesome" - Delaware

All Music Guide

Delaware, the first album by the band "Awesome," is closer to a cast recording from a musical than anything else, and even giving it that classification is a lot. Not that Delaware defies categorization; rather, it encompasses almost everything, from jamband rock to spoken word, from indie prog to doowop, from 12bar blues to something that resembles medieval lute music. Though the band is composed of only seven members, their guest artist list brings the number of actual performers to full castofJesusChristSuperstar proportions. Being that "Awesome" are a group of trained actors, this makes a lot of sense: Delaware is simply a studio recording of a stage production the band put on in Seattle. And it sounds like it, too. There is a storyline though abstract about the search for someone who wasn't there when he or she was needed most (this is a line repeated in various forms, ending in the Broadwayworthy reprise, "Where Did You Go,") a "Soliloquy," with sung stage directions a c...haracter sketch in "Del," the Kafkan "Are You Aware," and a good dose of humor. It's a fun, complete package. What makes Delaware listenable is the actual talent of the band, especially in their vocal arrangements. Their songs, while sometimes lacking content (the ridiculous "Fuba Wuba" for example,) are melodic and stylistically diverse, oftentimes even within the song itself, like in the energetic "American Boyfriend," which moves from FreddieKingesque guitar riffs to a spoken word dream of a bathroom ala Tom Waits to a screeching Southern Soul chorus. Unfortunately, "Awesome" occasionally get too caught up in the absurdity of themselves, more interested in getting some audience laughter rather than in making a record, and as with many musical scores, there are only a few songs that can stand alone (though assuredly everything would make much more sense within the context of the show.) "Awesome" are certainly smart and talented performers, but their onstage appeal is lost in the album and on the reliance on solely aural information. - Marisa Brown, All Music Guide Read more Less