Different, but warm

Reviewed August 2007

The third album from the Kalamazoo, Mich.-based Glowfriends finds the five-piece band melding elements of indie rock, alternative and folk into an interesting stew.

Led by the brother-sister tandem of Mark Morris and April Morris, the band is fleshed out by Mark's wife, Holly Klutts-Morris, on bass and vocals, and the husband-wife duo of J.W. And Jenn Hendrix on drums and vibes, respectively.

With Mark playing guitar and organ (as well as doubling on vibes, as does Holly), it's an interesting sound the band's unique instrumentation provides. And yet it's not at all artsy or weird – not even with three vibists, an organ and a glockenspiel listed in the credits. Rather, it's a very warm, earthy sound, far closer to a folk combo than anything jazz or art rock.

In fact, what really defines the band's mellow sound is the rich vocal harmonies that mark each song here. The songs themselves are melodic, the arrangements lush.

Review by Jim Trageser. Jim is a writer and editor living in Escondido, Calif., and was a contributor to the "Grove Press Guide to Blues on CD" (1993) and "The Routledge Encyclopedia of the Blues" (2005).