Tea Leaf Green | Taught To Be Proud
Tea Leaf’s primary songwriter/lead singer/keyboardist Trevor Garrod appears to have built a well over an underground stream of the stuff on their fourth studio release, the soaring, spirited Taught to be Proud. The first thing that hits you is how immediate, how fantastically present the recordings are. Each instrument, each reaching vocal is well placed. It’s like the band is in the room singing only to you. The arrangements let individual aspects shine, but it’s their togetherness that’s so bloody satisfying. It would be enough to play so well, but this is also the best set of songs they’ve ever recorded. "I’ve Been Seeking" could slip onto the Dead’s American Beauty and no one would blink. "5000 Acres" is a crazy satisfying Almost Famous-style mini-epic with guitars one could rightfully call 'incendiary.' "Ride Together bottles high spirits and sends us on down the highway with them. "Flippin’ The Bird" nicely conjures the same California vibe as early Jackson Browne, which is a gigantic compliment in my book. - Dennis Cook