Oh Connecticut

When this post is up, I’ll officially be back on the east coast. My two months are Stanford were great, but I’m excited to get back to… humidity, an extremely boring town… okay there isn’t that much to look forward to until I get back to Princeton.  Despite my general apathy about Connecticut as a whole, I thought it might be cool to looks at a few musicians that call Connecticut home. At some point in the future, I plan to look at some musicians I know personally, but for now, I thought I would share some (marginally) larger acts.

Bronze Radio Return

A six piece from all over Connecticut (and parts of NY, but don’t let that ruin the illusion of purist Connecticut music I’m trying to establish here), Bronze Radio Return released their first full length album last year. Their first EP received pretty poor reviews, but they’ve improved a lot since then. Lead vocalist Chris Henderson is a graduate of the Hartt School – a pretty prestigious music/art academy in Connecticut (of course), but I’m not really sure where his voice developed from: the sound oscillates unpredictably from faux-reggae to jam band (think Augustana) to pure unadulterated alt rock (maybe a little like Blue October). The band has a pretty soulful sound at times, and has a rather impressive range in terms of styles they achieve. The occasional harmonica gives the music a bit of a folky feel, and some songs are laden with subtle synth parts.  Overall, the band achieves their goal of blending the old and the new, and even create some memorable lyrics and catchy hooks while at it. For a slightly more detailed review, check out absolutepunk or The Hartford Courant.

Pullin’ On the Reins// Old Time Speaker