05. NOW IT'S OVERHEAD: DARK LIGHT DAYBREAK

Well, here's ANOTHER record that I had low hopes for coming into 2006. Truth be told, I hadn't heard much from ANDY LeMASTER's project in the past that had impressed me overmuch. Somehow, his sometimes formless, shoegaze-inspired compositions seemed over-stuffed, almost too intense, and just plain unappealing.

Not so for NOW IT'S OVERHEAD's third release, DARK LIGHT DAYBREAK. In November, I wrote: "the songs seem to have some sharper edges than in the past (which [is] welcome), but there remain[s] a certain unsatisfying drone... a certain lumbering quality to the note and chord progressions...."

Obviously, at that point, I still wasn't entirely sold on the CD, even though I felt good enough about it to write it up and post a couple of songs. I have absolutely no problem recommending DARK LIGHT DAYBREAK fully now, after listening to it through a number of times. LeMaster's voice remains entirely recognizable from his earlier efforts, and some of that old, dense intensity remains. But the SONGS are better here, and that has to be the biggest step forward this Athens, Georgia band made in 2006.

Now It's Overhead on MySPACE.

[MP3] "Let Up"