Is it a hit, *hit or miss?

Earlimart - Treble and Tremble  by Gary Schwind

Earlimart - Treble and Tremble
Label: Palm Pictures
Hit, *hit or Miss?:  Hit
Rating: 

If you haven�t heard of Earlimart, you�re not alone.  According to their info on their label�s website, the people that know Earlimart best are musicians.  It�s possible that you know the people (Grandaddy, Lou Barlow, Kim Deal, Rhett Miller) that know Earlimart.

It would be easy to compare Earlimart to Grandaddy.  Both bands have that kind of fuzzy, mellow sound that seems to be perfected in central California.

However, comparing them to Grandaddy gives an incomplete picture.  Earlimart remind me a lot of a band called Sleep Station but they also include elements of emo (�The Hidden Track�), something along the lines of prog rock, Stereolab-like blips and some wonky art rock in the vein of Sonic Youth (�Unintentional Tape manipulations�).

Every song on Treble and Tremble is solid, although some are very short with abrupt endings.  A couple songs aren�t so much songs as they are recordings of different background noises.  �The Valley People� sounds like they put a tape recorder on a table in the middle of a bar and �808 Crickets� sounds just like its name, with some keyboards added.

Aaron Espinoza is a talented songwriter who writes pensive songs without being too heavy or depressing. Treble and Tremble is a good album.  At a little less than 43 minutes, it�s not too much, but just enough to leave you wanting more.  If you like Grandaddy or Sleep Station, you�ll really enjoy this album.  If you haven�t heard of Earlimart, now is your chance to rectify that.   

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