George Glass: Welcome Home [Album]

Do you ever have those moments when you hear an upbeat indie band start to strum their hearts out…..and you really want a beer.  Maybe not so much the urge to get drunk, but just nice cold god damned beer.  I’m sure there is some psychological analysis that could prove this is the hearing and taste elements of ourselves working in unison, but we don’t have time for that.  We are sitting at a bar in L.A. listening to the tenaciously beautiful vibes of George Glass as they strum along to witty songs about travel and triumph and all those wonderful things.  Or, we are sitting in a dark room in a far away land sitting behind a MacBook listening to their recently released album Welcome Home.  Either way, one thing is for certain:  This is music that goes down great with a deliciously cold beer.

The fact that George Glass was originally formed by some friends in a bar in Los Angeles should not be at all surprising.  This is music made to have fun with, and to simply be merry.  Sure, some tracks are bit slower and more heartfelt, but the overall appeasement of the album is one of sheer joy and bittersweet happiness.  If it were necessary to pick out a star track from Welcome Home, “Side Effects May Include” could be a safe bet.  It’s pure “indie” rock, dating back to the times when that meant something entirely different.  Probably around the time most of these guys were born.  And who can pass up a gem like “One Liner” that is a prime example of just how great harmonized western rock/folk music can truly be.

Welcome Home is an album that draws you in like a japanese horror flick with its oh so appealing, beer yearning charisma.  But one of the greatest assets of this album, and probably George Glass as a whole, has to be the bitterness you feel when the album ends, and you simply want more.  Of course you can always rinse, wash, repeat.  But, there is no beating the lost feeling you may get when you have taken a stroll through the