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Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros
Sometimes people just get fed up and decide to shuck their lives and do something different. Often though something serves as a catalyst for change.
Ima Robot frontman Alex Ebert broke up with his girlfriend, moved out of his house and left a 12-step program for drug addiction (heroin). Cut loose, he began writing a novel about a messianic figure named Edward Sharpe who "was sent down to Earth to kinda heal and save mankind...but he kept getting distracted by girls and falling in love." And like the character in his book Ebert got sidetracked.
He met Jade Castrinos in L.A. and put together an ensemble - consisting of ten core members and five additional musicians. Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros played their first show in '07 at the Troubadour in West Hollywood before embarking on a bus tour.
The group recorded their debut album, "Up From Below," in Laurel Canyon. Band members Nico Aglietti, Aaron Older and Ebert produced the '09 effort that contained "Janglin" which was featured in a television ad for the 2011 Ford Fiesta.
Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros have been called a hippie collective, an organic band and a feel-good outfit. All those apply. "Up From Below" has an infectious looseness with arrangements that have a "kitchen sink" mentality and a spontaneous zest.
The irresistible "Janglin" actually out-Feists Feist ("1-2-3-4"). "Home," an Ebert and Castrinos duet, is a spaghetti western soundtrack crossed with a Country romp that is played as a Rock song. As odd as that might be the track has a hypnotic pull. Taking a different approach, "40 Day Dream" uses a Blues motif with handclaps to propel an "epic" synth chord progression. The end result sounds like it came out of a Chicago hippie church.
"Up From Below" has more enthusiasm than polish - more twists and turns than market research - all provided for the sheer hell of it.