SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: KOLB – TYRANNICAL VIBES

Kolb
Tyrannical Vibes
Ramp Local

What do you do if you are a classically trained opera singer that has serious love for sophisticated pop that is a cross between Fleetwood Mac and latter-day Doobie Brothers, sprinkled with touches of Steely Dan and Brooklyn’s lo-fi bedroom pop scene? Well, then, you form a band named after your last name and release a seriously listenable album that  goes under the title of Tyrannical Vibes.

That is exactly what Brooklyn musician Mike Kolb did on his debut album. Actually, Kolb seemingly abandoned his classical music training and started out as a part of an electro-pop duo and starting to record his own songs on an 8-track recorder as far back as five years ago.

Recording almost everything himself (with help from vocalists Carolyn Hietter and Ani Ivry-Block), Kolb was able to come up with some intricate instrumental and vocal arrangements that almost perfectly balance his songs with either overpowering them in any way.

What you get is music that sounds like Fleetwood Mac conjuring a jazzy vibe and trying to sound as listenable as possible. Very successfully at that.

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