Sea Wolf: Official Site, MySpace

Flannel. More than a fleeting fashion trend, its mission in the United States has always been simple: to serve as a visual iconoclastic device for the traditional ways we absorbed music and pop culture. Flannel scoffs at the White Collar, silently protesting from the depths of the complex plaid matrices. There have been many people who have said “damn the man!” while donning these “soft enough to sleep in, but rugged enough for a lumberjack,” threads.

Kurt Cobain is arguably the most notable wearer, Eddie Vedder picking up where Cobain left off and carrying its celebrity status through the present day. Another important figure is George Costanza, a man who not only defined social etiquette by eating a Snickers bar with a fork, but also by proudly wearing an impressive variety of flannels in nine years worth of Seinfeld episodes. Personalities make or break flannel – it needs to be worn with confidence, because when you remove the human element (the skinny jeans and the Chuck Taylors) a flannel shirt in its purest form is “blah.”

Leaves in the River, Sea Wolf’s debut album is akin to our above mentioned garment. At times the album is a coveted Eddie Vedder flannel, and at others it lies on the floor of your parent’s basement, waiting to be washed. It’s dependent on the person wearing it, and even then, sometimes flannel shirts shouldn’t be worn at all.

The lyrics paint vivid, monochromatic scenes, Alex Brown’s vocals narrating in a smooth, slightly speculative tone. Thematically the album discusses the uncanny circular nature that becomes of our lives and relationships. It would not be surprising if Keats was an influence, as the idea of negative capability exudes from both the lyrics and overall feeling of the album. The music is mellow, but complex. It is occasionally unpredictable, but tends to refrain rather than build into larger-than-life pronouncements. Like flannel, it doesn’t try to be something it’s not; at the same time, it’s not terribly exciting or all that uplifting. The potential, however, for Sea Wolf to make a significant impact on the indie music realm is there. Decent first go.

Check out “The Cold, The Dark, and the Silence,” “Song for the Dead,” and “Winter Windows.”

Last 5 posts by Holly L. Perry

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