Reviewed by Paul Loader

If you like your music "laid back" and thought provoking, then this is the album to kick back, throw off your shoes, pour yourself a glass of wine (or if you are a REALLY good Christian, a cup of Cocoa) and lose yourself in the lament of Chris Keene and Jordan Mallory and their band Surrogate. Described by Wikipedia as "music to gaze at your shoes with" I endeavoured to identify where the band fits in, something I normally don't like to do, and found their sound is reminiscent of Lazlo Bane (they performed the theme song for the comedy show Scrubs amongst other things) and an early James Taylor. Songs like "Shift The Blame" have a haunting quality, which I found got under the skin, as did the second track "15". "Stay Out Of The Sun", a plea for people to stop "screwing the planet up", gets you thinking and there was a real Oasis (the band that is) feel to final track "The Fence". The album received some mixed reviews Stateside, but that had more to do with fans of Keene and Mallory hoping for something a little rockier and not quite so folkie or in places even "country". An album to relax to and have a ponder.

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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