Big Blue Spruce (the trees smell great, but I have got to get this off my chest… I decorated a blue spruce tree for Christmas and it pricked the hell outta me, I think I bled) is unlike anything I’ve ever heard before. And that’s saying something. As a reviewer, you want to give people a frame of reference so they know what to expect, but I am literally racking my brain to come up with someone to compare them to, and I can’t.

After checking their web bio, it says they’re going for an Animals-covering-Pink Floyd type of vibe. Well, that’s why I can’t compare them; Pink Floyd music scares the crap outta me, so I don’t listen to it. And frankly, these dudes from big pokey tree creep me out a bit too. I’d say they nailed that freaky, haunting, mellow vibe that Floyd fans eat up but I run from. It’s like music from another time, and that’s probably why the Animals-ish guitar work is hard to place. Because it’s Animals-ish guitar work. The three songs I’ve listened to by them (“All Away,” “Show Your Face,” and “When It Dies”) aren’t exactly catchy. They’re like, sad? Haha, sad rock, does that exist? I’m just creating new alt-rock categories over here… But I’m sticking to it. Up-tempo sad rock. It’s something in their voices, I don’t know what, but it makes me think they will be playing live with scowls on their faces. That’s not a bad thing though, as long as they play. At the TOOL concert I went to, Maynard kept his freaking back to the audience the whole time, and I nearly died in the mosh pit trying to get close to… his back?!?

Point is, at least you’ll see Big Blue Spruce face forward. A full-length album is currently in the works for these three Philly gents, so if you hear and like, stay tuned, of course. I’m picking up a little Brandon Boyd/Incubus whining, too. Floyd-meets-Incubus-meets-Animals. Hm.

Saturday, March 19, 2010, 8:30 p.m.
Big Blue Spruce w/ Stolen Rhodes
@ Puck Live, Printers Alley, Doylestown, PA 18901
215-348-9000
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