Solid songwriting shimmers on new CD

CORVALLIS - Music, in order to be appreciated, needs at least two qualities: Creativity and precision. It's impossible to enjoy a repetitive song even if it's easy to follow, just as you can't appreciate an improvisation that lacks structure.

In producing its latest album, "If You're Lonely," Break as We Fall has emphatically nailed both requirements, delivering music that is both fresh and followable, able to seamlessly follow an arc of styles ranging from The Mars Volta to The Mothers of Invention.

Having begun as lead singer Evan Churchill's acoustic solo project, Break As We Fall solidified its current lineup in 2007. As his vocals "matured from acoustic singer-songwriter to amplified funk/rock," the group found its distinctive sound.

Fortunately for the listener, the group's confidence did not have the effect of cramming its music into a stale mold, which seems to be the fate of so many other bands; rather, it gave them the freedom to move unashamedly from one place to another without trepidation.

Songs can go from hold-my-drink-so-I-can-dance ravage rock, to porchside summertime chill grooves, to analog synthesizer-laced "Mega Man" music and back again, all without the feeling that you were being pulled too far in any direction.

Arteries of improvisation branch from the rock and funk veins which supply the album its energy: A jazz interlude finds its way into the last third of the tracks, while "So Long" brings together the analog synth with delicate yet powerful broken beats and insane vocals to make you think "What the frap?" in the best way possible.

This is accomplished not only by unobtrusive layering, but by solid songwriting and composition. Lyrics such as "Odds are she's waiting for me; on the next bus, or maybe in a coffee shop; But I drove to work today; and I just gave up drinking caffeine" display both irony and a reluctant acceptance of a life whose circumstances are both unpredictable and frustrating. Such maturity from twenty-somethings is tough to find anywhere, let alone within the lyrics of a song, which all too often serve as the platform from which a generic thought can be once again broadcast.

At times, Churchill's vocals are a precise, soothing bellow; there's no rush as he glides from low to the higher ranges where he's most comfortable, all without sounding sharp or astringent. At others, they shimmer with emotion. The majority of his power, and his ability to emphasize at all the right moments, comes in part from a scream that isn't overused, but provides an accentual touch that no amount of digital manipulation could match.

Along that same line, much of the value of this album comes from its not having been overworked, and one finds in each song a confidence that prevents the listener from taking it at anything less than face value. The breaks and fills by drummer Alex Moffat are so clean that you could synch the beat to a metronome, turn the volume down for 20 seconds, and tune back into the song to find the beat hasn't given an inch.

The overall sound is strong, and listens as well on the fourth time through as it did the first - the hallmark of a good album. And it offers something for everybody while always supporting the feeling that you know this is Break As We Fall and not anybody else.

Having thoroughly enjoyed working on the album, which is in last stages of production, Break As We Fall is preparing themselves for a varied assortment of "regular" shows as well as some specialty gigs.

Churchill, Moffat and guitar player Dan Grossen are involved with the "Beatles at OSU" project, a benefit for the Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence (CARDV) which pulls together mid-valley performers who will re-enact the Beatles' "White Album," at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 2. They will then perform in Portland on May 7 and in Salem the next night before preparing for their CD release party, where they and Paris transplant Eric John Kaiser will play starting at 10 p.m. May 15 at Bomb's Away Café. After a few more shows, they'll perform at OSU's Battle of the Bands to be held in the Memorial Union quad, and will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. on May 29. And they'll be ringing in the hottest days of summer by playing the Shady Stage at Corvallis' DaVinci Days, where they'll be rockin' it at 2 p.m. on Sunday July 19.

With so many opportunities to check them out, there is absolutely no excuse to miss these guys. Prepare to be impressed.

UPCOMING SHOWS

• 9 p.m. May 7 - Twilight Cafe & Bar, 1420 S.E. Powell Blvd., Portland; with Norman and Tullis.

• 8 p.m. May 8 - The Space, 1132 N.E. Broadway, Salem, $5; with The Grey Effect and Crossing 13th.

• 10 a.m. May 15 - Bombs Away Cafe, 2527 N.W. Monroe Ave., Corvallis, $5; CD release with Eric John Kaiser.

• 7:30 p.m. May 29 - Battle of the Bands, Memorial Union Quad, Oregon State University.

• 2 p.m. July 19 - da Vinci Days, Corvallis, Shady Stage.

Information and full schedule:

myspace.com/breakaswefall.

BATTLE OF THE BANDS

Seee Break As We Fall and other local groups in the Oregon State University Battle of the Bands, on the Local Knowledge Blog at gazettetimes.com/gtblogs/nancy_raskauskas and click the link for 'Battle of the Bands.'