IY

I-Town Records foursome IY has landed on a swift trajectory leading from their hometown Ithaca venues to festivals and colleges, all in short order. You might have heard the buzz emerging from their groove-soaked, high-energy, impeccably paced live performances, especially if your source was an audience catapulted into dance mode by a guitar-rich and chorded keyboard vibe that is felt as much as it is heard. Or perhaps you heard from fans who claimed the thoughtful, deeply poetic, and smartly approachable lyrics and sang along to every song, including those that have not yet been recorded. Or perhaps you found the hardcore, headphones-wearing audiophiles who love Further Gone, the DIY release that was named best Pop/Rock CD of 2004 by the Ithaca Journal. But in the college town where feel-good music is informed by everything from African beats to reggae to roots rock, IY owns a unique musical niche crafted by their mastery of songcraft.

Co-fronted by Chris Frank on vocals and electric/acoustic guitars, and Nate Terepka on vocals and keyboards/guitar, their shared songwriting is reflected in a CD whose diversity renders the recording one of the biggest musical bargains of the decade: sound-fatigue is not possible where the palette is so rich and arrangements flicker with brilliance.

Apparently IY is a band whose songs are more launched than they are written. Melodies written by Chris caper across whole octaves while carrying lines that don't flinch from love and loss, and Nate's offerings reveal a Beatle-esque sensibility shaping a philosopher's look at the world. By themselves, their efforts are remarkable. But when bassist John Zinder and drummer Dana Billings come on board, each song becomes a whole room you can walk inside. An intensely musical low-down from John reveals infinitely more voices than are usually coaxed from an electric bass. And Dana, who sings harmony and is responsible for envisioning much of the IY musical texture even while building the deeply grooved percussive scaffolding, suggests a composer's inklings.

That's not such a stretch: Chris studied classical violin for years, John and Dana accomplish their musical pyrotechnics by communicating subsonically both on stage and in rehearsal, and Nate sings more than he talks by some accounts, and continues to stretch into new instruments. These are composers in every sense of the word, and provide some of the most compelling, collaborative, genre-bending musicianship on the scene today.

-Kathy Rutz, the Haworth Press.