Blue Giant: Blue Giant

Blue Giant
Blue Giant
Vanguard Records [2010]









Fire Note Says: Viva Voce with an Americana heart!

Album Review:
Blue Giant is an interesting venture, as it is head up by indie starlets Kevin and Anita Robinson of Viva Voce with the added musical help from Chris Funk (Decemberists), Evan Railton (Swords) and Seth Lorinczi (Golden Bears). Their self-titled debut picks right up where their Target Heart EP [2009] left off. In fact, five of the six tracks from that release are included here. What makes Blue Giant different from VV, is the groups more organic Americana bluegrass vibe that weaves in and out of these 12 songs. The record succeeds because it is essentially a solid forty minutes of great musicians jamming out these laid back tracks. This is no more evident then in the foot stomper "Blue Sunshine" complete with harmonica and the perfect back country duet with Corin Tucker (Sleater-Kinney) on "Gone For Good". Where in Viva the Robinson's rely almost solely on themselves to create their indie experience, Blue Giant allows the duo to lean on the rest of the band to create this more traditional soundscape. It is this honest approach with no expectations, that makes Blue Giant an enjoyable listen. The group may need some more time together to perfect their cohesion but nobody can say this is a bad start!

Key Tracks: "Gone For Good", "Target Heart", "The Void Above The Sky"

Bands With Similar Fire:
Okkervil River
Holopaw
Or, The Whale

Viva Voce: Rose City [Fire Note Review 5/22/09]
Blue Giant: Target Heart [EP] [Fire Note Review 1/9/09]

Official Blue Giant Website
Blue Giant MySpace
Blue Giant Facebook
Vanguard Records

-Reviewed by Christopher Anthony