I gave in to preconception before I set about to listen to this new Wesley record, first thoughts turning to something tilted toward Progressive Rock, the cover image, a face, part human, part Devil it seems, and so naturally we're looking at a bit of intensity once the curtain rises…

Not so in either case.

In fact I was put off momentarily from the opening strum of the acoustic and "Chasing Monsters" rather passive nature, not quite as compelling as I expected.

And so much for my cerebral misgivings, what we've got here is some pretty skilled AOR
type music, in fact thoughtful if not in a technically complex manner, there's a grown up seriousness and at home in the heartland design that like a good Southern whiskey goes through an appropriate mellowing phase… and that's what appears to me with "Chasing Monsters," the end result maybe of one man's sentimental carryover from a more mischievous or maybe restless youth.

So we've got a number of acoustically drawn songs, clean-cut and honest, conservative in most cases yet a few being only a kick pedal or two away from uneasiness.

Wesley at times rides along a Folk-inspired path as did a Dylan and more commonly indulges in a friendly sing-along style that contemporarily draws out late model Goo
Goo Dolls without necessarily the hit-making intention, but more than one occasion and probably more accurate in all, a calming and eclectic exchange that suggests more than a few of us listened when Paul Westerberg flew solo.

Released by Dream Catcher Records

Review by Vinnie Apicella [va85@columbia.edu]
______________________________
METAL STORM PRODUCTIONS
Vinnie Apicella P.O. Box 763 Brewster, NY 10509
845-669-9470