Glands

Such a shame this band doesn't play frequently. This is a quality album through and through. I've heard this band still occasionally regroups in Athens, GA. I would love to see them live. Double Thriller is another one of my all time favorite records. Such unappreciated genius here.

I am very fond of this album. You should be too.

Great album. Prompt delivery.

This is a highly influential band who never got "big". This album is amazing in the genres it incorporates, from pop to college rock to psychedelic.

While The Glands weren't the pride and joy of Athens, GA (that distinction goes to Drive-By Truckers), this is a nice little indie rock record in the American grain. To this reviewer's mind, The Glands' self-titled album would appeal most to fans of the Elephant 6 collective sound or "Village Green"-era Kinks. There's a tasteful tincture of frailty in lead singer Ross Shapiro's vocals à la Bill Doss (Olivia Tremor Control) or Wayne Coyne (The Flaming Lips), which now has a heartbreaking quality in light of Shapiro's death just a few years ago.

The Glands are another Athens, Ga., treasure. Every time I hear yet another astounding record come out of Athens, I miss living there a little bit more. Oh well, at least the best bands in town go on national tours and usually make it out West. "The Glands" is a tuneful, challenging, gorgeous wonder of an album from beginning to end, and in my opinion deserves a place among the all-time Athens classics, right up there with R.E.M.'s "Murmur" and "Automatic for the People," Olivia Tremor Control's "Dusk at Cubist Castle," and both of Neutral Milk Hotel's records. From the ramshackle charm of the opener, "Livin' Was Easy," to the 70s power-pop of "When I Laugh" and "Straight Down" to the R.E.M.-esque "Swim", the touching, dreamy soundscapes of "Mayflower" and "I Can See My House From Here," and, perhaps the greatest track on the whole album (and the best pop song to use the Velvets' "What Goes On" motif since, well, "What Goes On" itself), "Lovetown," this record has "classic" stamped all over every lovingly crafted groove. The production is perfect, allowing the guitars to slowly pick their intoxicating melodies, the fantastic rhythm section to work its Weymouth-like magic, and the sound effects to mesmerize. Especially great are Ross Shapiro's charismatic, double-tracked vocals, which (to me) sound like a blissed-out cross between Jerry Garcia and Ric Ocasek. Sounds strange to the brain, but great to the ears. The best pop album since the Flaming Lips' "Soft Bulletin" has been found. A critic for NPR summed up the Glands well. To paraphrase, he said, "Maybe the glands aren't as glamorous or exciting as the heart, or the brain, but you need them just as much to live."

This self-titled cd by The Glands is one of those rare disks that actually elevates your mood. I can't help but feel bouyant after listening to it. I must've heard it a dozen times at my favorite hang-out here, and I liked it more with each listen. The opening track, "Livin' Was Easy" gets the album off to an upbeat start, but there are some slower songs that capture that late night/early morning bar closing-time feel very familiar to Athens residents. Tom Petty-esque vocals and harmonica abound, along with some very nice guitar work. Standouts include the opening song, "Swim" (which my friend says reminds him of the Beatles, but recalls to my mind "Something Else" era Kinks), the sprightly "When I Laugh," "I Can See My House From Here," which is more or less a long groove track and "Favorite American." But I'm hard-pressed to choose a favorite; all the cuts are pretty enjoyable in one way or another. This is straight-ahead American rock and roll in the classic Dylan/Byrds/Petty strain, with just a touch of British Invasion. It's chock-full of strong songwriting and muscular melodies you'll be singing along to in no time flat. One of the best Athens-based albums in years. It helps, too, that I've had many a fun evening with this in the cd player. I hope you like it. I think you will.

I discovered the self-titled album by 'The Glands' about month ago. Hailing from Georgia, it combines lazy melodies (almost Grateful Dead-type vocals) with a bluesy gritty lo-fi sound in the same vein as Pavement, The Shins and Olivia Tremor Control. I remember a writer once describing Robbie Robertson and The Band's sound as 'smoked and aged in casks of oak', and that's kinda the impression I get with The Glands. An intimate, canned, guitar-based sound...with a biting sharp edge to it. It's not about quantity here, but about making every note count. Great album.