Location:
Canada, Alberta

Category:
Rock / Singer/Songwriter

Try if you like:
David Bowie, Mott The Hoople, Shudder To Think

Greg Gescha is a bit of a staple in the Calgary indie scene. He moonlights in a cover band called Curious George, but his passion is his own music. Shakkei is Greg's third solo album and without hearing the other two I am quite impressed. Greg's singing style is quite a high falsetto that doesn't vary much. I'm not sure if it's the singing style that gets me thinking of the Glam era like Mott The Hoople and some David Bowie but regardless that's where my mind heads. You might liken his style to Shudder To Think's Craig Werdren. And I get the same feelings from Greg as I do Craig, good in small doses.

The album opens with a gentle track called "The Last Night". "PlastiScene" puts Greg in a very pop oriented mood. It bounces along in his wonderful falsetto. I think one of the best tracks on the album is "Waterfalls". It has single potential written all over it, very powerful. "Acid Of The World" seems a little distorted, not sure if it was meant to be but it detracted from what could have been a good song.

It was too bad that "5 Roads" was included. It has such a cheesy aura about it. Might be the keyboards or delivery. I'd like to hear this one as an all acoustic track. It might have more of an impact that way.

"Bubblegum" was a nice change up. It was the groove on this one that got me and Greg wasn't singing as high as normal.?

I find Greg to be a bit nasally on some tracks. "Tropic Idyl" is one of these. A track like this seems to belittle Greg's talent. Another one that should have been left off is "The Story Of Wendy And Bernie", a duet with Brenda Welygan. It just comes off as a bad joke and doesn't fit the rest of the album. "Pioneer" leaves a good taste in your mouth though. It's the sort of song you'd find in a cinematic piece, a road trip scene.

Overall, the filler detracts from the quality of Gescha's good songwriting. I found the best way to enjoy Shakkei was a couple songs at a time. Greg might have to learn to be a little more selective in his songs. This record was just a bit of choosiness shy from being an amazing 10 track album.