Within one second of Meet You on the Land, the opening track of Before You Get Broken, you'll hear a pretty familiar sound. A jangly guitar, swamped in reverb, echoes from 20 foot high speakers beside a festival stage. Guest Directors are a band founded Gary Thorstensen and Julie D from 90s rock bands TAD and Chinchilla respectively. I'll admit to not being familiar with either of these bands, but I think their 90s roots are immediately apparent upon hearing this album.
It's a big sound, and despite the album description stating that the band is embracing a DIY ethic, it's very professional sounding, too. That opening track is extremely confident, and rightfully so. It's a great opener, that lets you know exactly what to expect from the rest of the album. It's big guitars, driving rhythms, and vast oceans of reverb. There's vocals here, but they often feel like they exist in service to the music rather than a focal point.
It's a fun listen, but I'll admit that it's genre music. I'm not sure how much new ground is being broken as much as it a group of musicians that just love making this kind of music. That's fine by me, I love this kind of music too, but I can imagine it not resonating with everyone. It's a little on the samey side, too. There's faster songs and slower songs but they're all big songs. It made me wonder what any of these songs would sound like with an acoustic arrangement.
That's a minor gripe, though. When the album really hits is when the songs create space for everyone to play their instruments and build up that wall of sound. I particularly enjoyed the dreamy At the Gate, with its slow but anthemic chorus, and the lyrics-lite and occasionally discordant jam that is So Many Somedays.
It's a great sounding album made by great musicians that I'm sure are even better live. I think you'll know within seconds of the album starting whether you'll like it or not.