Media Review

After the rocky disbanding of his band Terminal, Travis Bryant joined up with members of Goodbye Tomorrow and released a short three song EP in 2006. The band got some touring under their belt before heading back home to write and record their debut album with Mark Trombino. Once they emerged from the studio, they came back with not only a new album but a new name as well. Now calling themselves Alive In Wild Paint; a name inspired by Richard Bach’s book Illusions. After a few release date delays, the band finally released their debut album Ceilings in March of 2008.

The album begins with the title track and the revealing lyric "I helped you out of yourself and right back in." The song could be carried simply by Travis' crooning voice but his descriptive lyrics take you deep inside his mind as he reminisces about love. The music is set in the background as a soundtrack highlighting Travis beautiful vocals setting the stage for telling tale after tale. 'God Gave Me A Gun' is a tragic story that is all too prevalent in today’s society. While people fall back on religion to help them in their troubled times, the song illustrates that relying too heavily on it can also bring about negative results exemplified by the line "God gave me a gun, said take everyone standing in the way of what you really." Kicking off the second half of the album is the lone rocker 'Sleep With Your Soul In.' A song about self-alienation, it reveals someone who no longer recognizes who he has become exhibited by the chorus "when you start feeling like a stranger to yourself, missing who were before you became someone else" 'Children Of Divorce' has a self-explanatory title but goes much deeper than your average account of a broken home. It’s a personal account on how society can become disconnected from itself. "We are children born of wars fought in places void of faces where happiness is sold in stores." The closing song 'A Vespertine Haunting.' the only song brought back from the band’s EP, is a great way to close the curtain on a spacious record.

The strongest attribute to this album though may also showcase its greatest weakness. While the music is a great canvas for Travis’ mesmerizing vocals and narrative lyrics, it does not do enough to stand out above the vocals. This leads to some songs blending into each other and losing momentum at times. Luckily, there is a cure for this ailment: repeated listens. After half-a-dozen listens, I’m still finding out new meanings and hearing new sounds in each song. If you’re looking for a quick fix of punchy hooks and summertime lyrics, you will be disappointed. For those of you though who are looking for a deeper, engrossing journey then you will find this album highly enjoyable. More than that, to truly understand this album, multiple listens are a necessity. There are albums that "grow on you" but this album does more than that, it "dawns" on you.

reviewed by Matt Zimmerman