All Katie wants to do is to breathe ‘phree’

BENEFITS/CHARITY EVENTS

First Posted: 4/22/2013 With strong ties to Northeast Pennsylvania and a solid, opportunistic home base in New York City, Leroy Justice unveils its major label debut, &#8220;Above The Weather.&#8221; The band &#8211; straddling a flannel 'n dusty tube amp fault line between pentatonic-laden '70s hard rock and hip, Gavin DeDraw-type songwriting infection &#8211; embraces lofty, jam band-inspired musicianship as easily as it crafts memorable pop hooks.
The band's goals on &#8220;Above The Weather&#8221; seem boundless. Take a track like &#8220;Up on the Mountain,&#8221; with a fragile-nerved vocal set to crisply plucked country/bluegrass acoustic guitar &#8211; the listener is mesmerized by frontman Jason Gallagher's soft hint of redeemable mourning until around the 2:55 mark, when the band breaks the silence with a Zeppelin-like thud and Hammond B-3 gurgle, filling the remainder of the song with catchier-than-a-cold &#8220;na,na,na&#8221; backing salvo. The band takes frequent left turns, always seeming to lead somewhere better than the last.
&#8220;Blue Eye Blues&#8221; sounds what Maroon 5 might deliver with a bluesy, Bohemian slacker skin rather than retouched, Top 40 gloss &#8211; a great big analog groove with lightning-fingered guitar courtesy of Justin Mazer (known to NEPA fans of MiZ fame). Other standouts like the &#8220;After the Gold Rush&#8221; era, Neil Young-sounding &#8220;Watch Him Fall,&#8221; take a darker approach with the storyline of an addict spiraling into the depths of his own humanity (&#8220;See that man get down, down on his knees&#8221;). Through a slew of tempo changes and emotive crescendos, the band builds up its own mini &#8220;Free Bird.&#8221;
Taking said classic rock &#8220;endless jam&#8221; momentum to the next level is &#8220;Before I Die,&#8221; an eight-minute epic of Wishbone Ash/Thin Lizzy twin lead guitar bravado and psychedelic, Levon Helm-meets-Jack White Americana anxiety. Memorable is the single line Gallagher moans post guitar savagery upon the song's end: &#8220;I've never been insane, but I hope I go there before I die&#8221; &#8211; simply put, the glorious tight-jeaned, hair-flowing mother of all rock posturing.
Leroy Justice won't be a best kept secret for long. These guys have incendiary written all over them &#8211; they'll please fans of anything from Mumford & Sons to Aerosmith &#8211; dynamic swagger for days, with enough indie credibility to get them through any door.
Leroy Justice 'Above The Weather' Rating: W W W W W

ALBUM REVIEW: Leroy does country/bluegrass Justice