Glimpse attempts the fairly minimalist style to their music, preferring instead to let the vocals shine through and drive a great deal of the melody in each song. Sure, the drums might be splashing through the track in the background of the song, but one doesn’t notice them half as much as the ultra-smooth lyrics of Josh. Starting off the disc with “Stayâ€, Glimpse chooses to go with a pseudo-ska style before moving into a Death-on-Wednesday style chorus. Over-production makes this first track suffer, as the emphatic “Stay†given out by the rest of the band during the chorus has been modified to a “Stay†that has the same tempo and tone as the rest of Josh’s chorus. The minimalist style does also pertain to the vocals, as some smoking solos can be found on this disc, especially after the chorus of “Truth be Toldâ€. “Truth be Told†is a track in which Glimpse melds together the bursting energy of innumerable punk bands before them and the aural presence of arena rock bands as Van Halen.
Beginning with the oddly modified bass line, “In Between†seems like a track destined for rock radio. While having the vocal ornamentation of established vocalists like Peter Furler (Newsboys), the times that Josh goes for it all makes him sound not unlike Chris Cornell (Soundgarden, Audioslave). While there are only three tracks on this EP, I still get the feelings that the difference inbetween all of these tracks is a feature of the bands – their influences are so different from each other that it makes repetition a phenomena that is usually not noticed in their music. At times sounding like a bowdlerized Get Set Go, Glimpse does make some solid music without having to pander to potential buyers with unnecessary profanity.
With their uncanny ability to work so many different bass and guitar lines into the acceptable pop-rock paradigm, one can only expect Glimpse’s star to rise as more and more individuals are turned onto the gospel of the band. All three tracks on this disc could conceivably be played as singles, while not being shallow re-representations of an untold formula. Check out Glimpse, not for their possible marketability but for the sheer catchiness of their songs.
Rating : 6.9/10
Glimpse – S/T / 2003 Self-Released / 3 Tracks / [email protected] / http://www.glimpsetheband.com / Reviewed 27 September 2003
Top Track : Truth Be Told