Niche - Heading East

A fantastic take on the 70s retro sound - complete with gorgeous, trippy cover art - Georgia's Niche is killing it.Dig if you will a picture of a Georgia-based quintet whose 70s style rock has elements of Thin Lizzy, The Allman Brothers Band, Pink Floyd and even Steely Dan - the product of which exudes the soothing, melodic energy of the time in its twin guitar and three-part vocal harmonies. That's what you get on Niche's third studio album, Heading East. I hadn't heard of these cats before, but I am definitely picking up what they're putting down, cuz this album is great stuff.

Opener Exiled To Islands starts out with a Blue Sky sort of optimism that carries into When I'm Gone, whose turn halfway into the track takes you on a sweet psychedelic jam that must play marvelously live. On Down The Line has a nice bouncy reggae feel, that adds dimension to a keyboard-backed chorus that sounds like it came out of a gospel revival tent. If you're getting the feeling that there's a lot going on with this band/album, you wouldn't be wrong, but don't be mislead into thinking it's disjointed, as the strength of this band seems to be its ability to mix so many seemingly disparate elements into a highly listenable mix I was honestly amazed by. Niche is going on my live band watchlist, I can tell you that.

The Bottom Line: There's few things more musically amazing and enjoyable in this day and age than a band that blends so many different styles and sounds into a single, cohesive presentation that doesn't merely withstand that diversity, but becomes a new measure of expectation. Bravo, guys, bravo.

- Genghis is gonna go camp out for tix right now...