Reviewed by Tony Cummings

This album by the Montana band has had more than its fair share of problems in getting out to the public. But finding a copy will certainly reward you. It has already been named by Cross Rhythms as one of the Best Albums Of 2006 and if you're keen to hear Beatle-esque pop and rock yet feel, like me, Oasis and their ilk are hugely overrated, this is the album you need to search out. Pivitplex's previous 2003 release 'Under Museum Quality Glass' was a good album that produced the Cross Rhythms turntable hit "You Know" but this is light years beyond their debut. The songwriting is of the highest order while the production by Jason Burkam with its deft interplay of Beach Boys-styled layered vocals, guitars that jangle one moment and bite hard the next and dazzling unexpected instrumentation (a trombone on "Long Way Down" or a classical guitar on "I Concede") bring out the poignancy of Scott Brownson's vocals and the sheer melodic exhilaration of the songs. Pushed to name a favourite I'd go for "I'm Alive" which, in the age old manner of the Psalms writers, starts in confession ("I race a road to nowhere getting nowhere fast/Chasing lies of fullness in fame") and ends in a swelling crescendo of sublime worship ("Hallelujah to the great I AM"). Yep, "I'm Alive" is truly wonderful. But then, coming up fast in my ever-shifting list of Pivitplex favourites is the liltingly wistful "Gravity", driven by a piano and a harmonica as Scott sings with sad poignancy, "Gravity, pulling my head down/Is the weight too much to bear?/I walk this road/Choking in a dust cloud/Will my words of love disappear?" Or maybe I'll plump for that delicious opener "End Of The Line" where a string section weaves around a simmering, floating melody. Or then again it could be "The Deal", as catchy a piece of alt-power-pop you'll hear. Or "It's Our Time" with its memorable lyrics "We're part of a generation of massive dreams and hair-brained schemes of love/There are people who stand in line to freeze our minds and say it's not our time/Will you stand with me?/Will you sing with me?/We'll show the world that it can be." Throughout the album there's no sign of shallow slogans or trite thoughts. Simply lyrics that speak to today's youth with intelligence yet radical boldness. As far as I'm concerned, 'The King In A Rookery' is a stone classic.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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