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Monday, 22 May 2006 05:53

With the earnest innocence of youth and the fierce drive of professionals, the boys are hard not to like. Redding’s music comes across as honest and pure, with an essence of musical understatement that so many bands are afraid to employ.

Just a couple hundred miles down I-70 from St. Louis lies a little town by the name Greenville, Ill. With a population of around 500, Greenville is certainly not the type of place you would expect to find a rock band, and a good one at that. But lo and behold, right out of good old Greenville College, four ambitious young men came together with the need to rock, and Redding was born. With the earnest innocence of youth and the fierce drive of professionals, the boys are hard not to like. Redding’s music comes across as honest and pure, with an essence of musical understatement that so many bands are afraid to employ.

The self-entitled, self-released album is Redding’s first recording effort, and a laudable one at that. Redding explores the possibilities of melodic atmospheric rock, drawing from Britpop influences such as Coldplay as well as the darker sounds of bands like Radiohead. Lead singer/guitarist Joseph Graves’ vocals are wholesome and expressive, while at the same time he maintains impeccable accuracy. This should come as no surprise, as the band is reportedly plagued by perfectionist tendencies. In performance they exhibit unsmiling musical passion, and I myself wondered if they could all benefit from a good hug. But the intense, disciplined look is probably an excusable byproduct of their meticulous musical creativity. And the music speaks for itself

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