MP3 Michael Bowling - Uptown/Dogtown

This album immediately leaves a striking impression. Michael Bowlingâs vocals are sugar-coated in pop harmonies that are both boisterous and energetic. You can hear the intermingling influences of Ryan Adams and Elvis Costello... Smother.net

10 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Modern Rock, POP: Beatles-pop



Details:
So Michael Bowling goes into his Virginia home, writes ten bright new songs, learns all the guitar, bass, piano and drum parts, then figures out how to lay these little gems out on disc, and self-produces Uptown/Dogtown? Color me easy, but to do it this well is impressive indeed. His promo material mentions a huge learning curve, but believe me when I tell you he has scaled it well. Very nicely done.

Michael Bowling turns in a mix of dry wit, very capable guitar chops, and a drive to rock that I think may be congenital. The only other explanation is the hours and hours he has apparently spent listening to the Beatles, which was time well spent. His songs show the same heart, those rock changes that feel effortless and free-flowing. "Silent Movies" is the most obvious example, but the CD is full of them, each one flaunting those boyish vocals that fit the material like water fits a fish.

I listened to "Rockit Girl" over and over trying to discern if Bowling had snuck a female onto the project before I reluctantly conceded that he had nailed the soprano background vocals as well. But it ain't all sugar and spice; the burning "Thank You Very Much" comes off like a tongue-in-cheek acceptance speech for an awards show, not all that unlikely actually. "If Anything Breaks Your Heart" showcases his rougher Springsteen-like vocals, but those Beatlesque chord changes shine through with an incandescent sparkle. The lyrics of "Never Reach Heaven From the Mountaintop" are nicely provocative, and "Apologies to Morrisey" has a nice bite to it too. Laid out with what feels like instinctual sensibility, the CD just gets better as you work your way through. Excellent first showing. The aforementioned curve is dust.

Kevan Breitinger for Indie-Music.com

Editor's Choice
This album immediately leaves a striking impression. Michael Bowlingâs vocals are sugar-coated in pop harmonies that are both boisterous and energetic. You can hear the intermingling influences of Ryan Adams and Elvis Costello, especially the later in the song arrangements. Born and raised right around the proverbial corner from Smotherâs headquarters (weâre in Northern Virginia!) in Richmond, Virginia, Michael writes with the spunk of a suburbanite who has a wealth of experiences to relate and thankfully chooses to do so with his voice and incredible knack for writing pop songs.

J-Sin Smother.net


Bio

âIâve taken my time, bled it line by line,â sings Michael Bowling in âThank You Very Muchâ, a track off of his just released CD, Uptown/Dogtown. The line could be in reference to either the succinct lyrical content of the ten songs included on Uptown/Dogtown, or the two years spent laying out each and every note on this, his first release. The sound is tight and loose at the same time, reminiscent of the Faces. The vocals have been compared to Bruce Springsteen by Kevan Breitinger of Indie-Music.com and Marc Bolan by Steve West, former drummer of alt. rockers, Pavement. And the songs. â(T)hose Beatlesque chord changes shine through with an incandescent sparkle.â writes Kevin. Think The 88, Elvis Costello, Big Star.

And like many others in the new DIY (Do It Yourself) indie world, Michael has had to scale the learning curve. And, according to Kevan Breitinger, â...believe me when I tell you he has scaled it well. Very nicely done.â Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Michael, the youngest of four, grew up listening to his older siblingsâ record collections. Each brother or sister had a slightly different era. âI remember my brotherâs dusty and scratched Beatles albums,â he says, âand how on the second verse of Abbey Roadâs ââ¬ËSomethingâ, there was a skip. And now every time I hear that song, I always mentally add the skip.â He survived the disco era with his sister, sneaking into her room to play the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. âShe also had Wings Over America, which to this day is one of my favorite albums.â

And then came Punk and New Wave. Michael found Blondie, Elvis Costello, The Talking Heads. Blondie is still a favorite today. And so is Garbage and other bands like them. âWhat a huge influence they were,â says Michael. The Replacements were around when he was in college, and housemate Steve West went on to play drums for Pavement. âSo I have a special fondness for them, and how they demonstrated what a rock song could sound like.â

And now the DAW revolution and online distribution. âI just want an audience, just a small one, a hundred people or so who look forward to the next thing I put out,â Michael says. And what about a big fat record deal? He says itâs not something he worries about. âI write for myself and enjoy the production of it all, and playing in front of an audience,â says the artist, âso Iâm already a big success!â