REVIEW : RNDM's Acts - ArtistDirect

 

RNDM's Acts comes to life in a way that rock records rarely do these days.

At times, it's pensive and poetic. During other moments, it's exuberant and enthralling. Around each bend, RNDM uncover a thoughtful musing wrapped inside of a warm guitar melody or vulnerable bass line.

In that sense, Acts is more of a living and breathing entity than just a record. That's definitely what Pearl Jam's Jeff Ament, singer Joseph Arthur, and drummer Richard Stuverud intended too. These are world class musicians and impressive songwriters who know the craft well enough to flip it upside down.

"Modern Times" shake right into a danceable winding riff as Ament drops a funky, flavorful four-string groove. It's an infectious and lithe, floating right into one of the album's biggest hooks. "Darkness" kicks off with dreamy percussion before Arthur miraculously delivers a bluesy verse. "Williamsburg" slyly steps from a wah-ed out intro before the refrain, "Don't tell me I don't love you".

Then, there's "Letting Go of Will" which rolls full steam ahead with a smoky harmony and energetic backbeat. Everything culminates on the utterly beautiful acoustic and harmonica of "Cherries in the Snow". It's got the kind of narrative that'd make Bob Dylan proud but, at the same time, it's distinctly RNDM.

At the end of the day, this is a living breathing piece of art that happens to be a hell of a record too.

—Rick Florino
10.30.12

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