Matt Fink
December 2, 2002
...continued
Drawing from the various streams of melodic rock songcraft since the British Invasion, the
Nourallahs cast themselves as truly first-rate tunesmiths with these 18 tracks. Salim
Nourallah might just have the most Jeff Tweedy-like voice of all the hordes of musicians
currently carrying a slightly raspy croon. In fact, the skeletal guitar leads and eerie
keyboards of the opening "Those Days Are Gone" and the lo-fi roller-rink rock of
"Heaven is the Day" could convincingly be passed off as Wilco demos without much trouble.
Faris recalls Ray Davies, both with his voice and the wistfully nostalgic bend of his
lyrics in tracks like "Christmastime" and the Elliott Smith-ish "I'll Be Around." Toss in
a bit of the Beatles and a touch of the Pernice Brothers, and you pretty much have all
the elements that comprise these songs.
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