Forming an undercurrent to alternative music, "The Connells" have always bobbed to the surface from time to time, but never seem to make the big impact their talent suggests they have in them. The albums "Boylan Heights" and "Ring" brought their name to the forefront, but not for as long as, I'm sure, they would have liked.

"The Connells" formed in 1984 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Mike and David Connell joined schoolmates George Huntley, Peele Wimberley and Doug MacMillan in starting the band. Keyboard player, Steve Potak, joined the band in 1991. Their first album, "Darker Days," released in 1986, gained critical acclaim and frequent air play on college radio stations. A year later, their second album, "Boylan Heights," was the album that really put them on the map, gaining still
more college radio air play and a minor hit. "Still Life" is "The Connell's"
seventh album. All of the band members contribute songs to the album, but about half are written by Mike Connell.

"Dull, Brown and Gray" opens with complex guitar parts and deep bass drum, leading into the vocal. The song examines the more boring parts of life, the routines. "Not feeling so amazed/ Doin' all right/ Unguarded, unfazed/ Doin' All right/ Out of boredom I decided I'd get with it/ Well, it's dull brown and gray/ Just like all the things we do/ That don't go away. . ." It's "The Connells" with their signature sound intact. Strumming guitar at the beginning of "Leper" leads to a quirky guitar line. Backing vocals are
smooth.

"Bruised" features a ringing guitar intro, which fades into the other
instruments. The lead vocal is clean and exhilarating. It seems to be about a man damaged by a relationship, which everyone can see but the person inflicting the pain. "Hey ain't it funny/ Everybody knows/ How my skin shows, black and bruised/ Hey ain't it funny/ Everybody sees, how my skin shows/ But you. . ." Next up is "Curly's Train," a quirky folk influenced song. It has a playful, down home sense to it, unlike most of their songs.

"Gauntlet" is an awesome song, starting off with great rhyming guitar lines. It's about relationships, and how they can lead to being foolish or something more. You can never tell which until it happens. "Everybody's sweetheart/ Everybody's blowhard/ Anybody's fool/ If ya stick around this time ya might get a chance to be somebody. . ." The next song, "Glade," is good too. Twanging guitar joins Connell's voice to form a pleasing whole. The backing vocals, "Waiting, watching," repeat over and over. They're intentionally a bit heavy, growing louder as the song progresses, finally taking over the song. A whistling sound concludes it.

"Soul Reactor" has a relaxed rhythm, and rhyming guitar licks, reminding me in places of "The Beatles." It's a great song about finding your own
solutions. "Why don't ya beg out of your own disasters/ Hey now, hey now/ Let it out, let it out/ Why don't you lean onto your soul reactor. . ." The title song, "Still Life," is about the loss of friends moving away; the way changes affect one. "There are days that I remember what's been lost/ There are days that I've forgotten/ Like an old friend that moved to Canada. . ." It's a sweet song of loss and moving on.

"Crown" shows the same high quality musicianship found on all the songs. The guitar lines are intricate, weaving into each other seamlessly. The lyrics are tough to fathom, but give the impression of portent. "Gonna claim, gonna name, gonna shout it out/ Then leave me out again/ Gonna call, gonna call, gonna sound it out/ Somethin's really here. . ." Next up, "Circlin'," has a different sense than most of the other songs. It has a "Rolling Stones" influence meshed with the usual "Connells" sound. It's mainly the high backing vocals that give me that impression.

"Gonna Take A Lie" starts off with heavy guitars slamming along with drum beats. It fades off into the vocals and main guitar lines. It's about when it seems like lying is the best course of action. A breathy "One, two, three, two, two," leads off "Queen of Charades." This song is much different from the others. The lead vocal is higher, while piano dominates the instrumentation. It reminds me most of Al Stewart's music from the seventies.

"Pedro Says" begins with drum beats, soft guitar and bass. Louder guitar comes in with keyboards. Again, their compositions are quite complex. It's pleasing to pick out one instrument and follow it, to see how the others wrap around it. This is really an awesome song. It's all instrumental, making me think it would be fascinating to hear all the songs without vocals. Don't ask me why it's called "Pedro Says." You'd have to ask "The Connells."

When I first listened to this album, I wasn't that thrilled with it, but as
I continued to listen, the complexities of the writing began to come out for me. I think I'll be listening to it many more times just to catch everything going on in the songs. It's a good introduction to "The Connells" if you've never tried them.