Open Hand
You And Me

And the chrysalis became a beautiful butterfly...

With their second album, from 2005, Open Hand makes an important leap in quality in terms of style and composition. Born from a troubled creation process, the album was released after a period of stagnation for the band and a lineup change, which led to the inclusion of drummer-singer Paxton Pryor and guitarist Sean Woods in place of Alex Rodriguez and Beau Burchell.

In "You And Me," punk rock and emo core, which were the hallmarks of "The Dream," are mixed with elements of '70s rock, metal, stoner rock, and pop melody. The Hollywood band sheds its skin, starting from what were the best episodes of their debut, such as "The Dream," "In Your Eyes," and "6/26," and takes a step forward, opening their music to a thousand influences. The sound becomes warmer, like Justin Isham's voice, in some cases almost soulful, the production more polished and attentive to the finest details, the compositional spectrum broader and more nuanced. Above all, "You And Me" contains memorable songs, with melodies that hit straight to the heart and irresistible rhythms.

The overall quality of the work is astonishing and confirms one of the main rules of the music business, whereby the most difficult situations for artists result in their best records. Pryor's decisive contribution is his "sophisticated" rock style, which guides the quartet's music to broader horizons. Additionally, his voice adds to Isham's magnificent one, providing a foundation for further female vocal additions, giving the songs greater originality.

The first track immediately shows what the four are made of: "Pure Concentrated Evil," a mix of stoner, rock, and melody that in just a minute and a half already sets a precise and classy standard. After the initial onslaught, things calm down a bit: here comes "Her Song," a sinuous piece with a seventies bass in the foreground, deeply black in spirit, and with a hint of Doors-like flavor. Barely time to wake from hypnosis and here comes the main track, "Tough Girl." Captivating, elemental, and a superb reworking of the three chords on which all rock'n'roll is based. Try to stay still while listening: it's impossible! The blend of male and female voices is spectacular, and the melody is already a classic. A song that could be listened to a hundred times without tiring. At the end, you can even hear a cheering audience, but the delights are not over. A distant distorted guitar introduces the splendid "You And Me," the masterpiece of the album. A sturdy pace and superb melody, even if a veil of sadness covers our faces.

"Tough Guy," the heterozygous twin of "Tough Girl," helps us recover from the emotion with its engaging rhythm and introduces us to the rest of the album. The trio faced is however the heart of the album with the two twin tracks "Tough Girl" and "Tough Guy" interconnected rightly through "You And Me," when even the choice of titles is not accidental. "Jaded" is a brief and evocative piece that takes us to a sort of suspended state, thanks to its beautiful vocal tail. The songs begin to alternate like pieces of a small puzzle: the musical masculinity of "The Ambush," "Take No Action," and "Waiting For Kathy," where paradoxically the female voices provide the greatest energy, the melancholic splendor of "Crooked Crown," the Seattle-like echoes of "The Kaleidoscope."

The only sour note is also perhaps the most experimental track of the album: "Newspeak." Its electro-space suspension unfortunately does not balance a chorus that too closely recalls that of "I Was Made For Loving You" by Kiss, certainly not one of the noblest citations one could make. Another small flaw is the brevity of many tracks, leaving the listener with a slight sense of incompleteness. The speed then gives way to melancholy with the wonderful "Trench Warfare," an absolute masterpiece in the guise of an intimate, delicate, and dreamy rock ballad. The album closes with the hardest rock track Open Hand could have written, "Hard Night," where the energy and virtuosity of the individual musicians find the right outlet. But it doesn't end here as the band offers us an additional gift as a bonus track: "Elevators," a sweet and warm rock ballad introduced by the verses of some seagulls.

The album marks the definitive maturation of a band that will surely make a name for itself, still young but already the author of a small great masterpiece.