Avey Grouws Band: “Tell Tale Heart” (2021) CD Review

For whatever reason, Edgar Allan Poe has been coming up a lot lately. And the new album from Avey Grouws Band shares its name with what is probably his most famous short story, “The Tell-Tale Heart.” I was just discussing this story with someone the other day, mentioning how it might not have as much impact in today’s world, since people no longer seem to feel guilt or express a conscience about having done wrong. No, in today’s world, when they’re wrong, people double down on it, erroneously believing it is a sign of weakness to admit when one is wrong. What happened to everyone? Good thing there is still excellent music to help us manage living in this current climate of idiocy and pathology. Avey Grouws Band is based in Iowa, and released its first full-length album, The Devil May Care, last year. Now they’re following that with Tell Tale Heart, which features all original material, written by Chris Avey and Jeni Grouws. In addition to Chris Avey on guitar and Jeni Grouws on vocals, the band is made up of Randy Leasman on bass, Bryan West on drums, and Nick Vasquez on keyboards. The music is a combination of blues, rock and soul.

The album opens with “Love Raining Down,” which has a bluesy yet funky, powerful, and sexy groove. It is a delicious rock song with a raw energy, a song to wake us up. And toward the end when Jeni Grouws sings of water rising from below, there is a swell building up in the song, and it’s like we’re present for exactly what she’s describing, like she has summoned a storm, and now we’re all a part of it. After that, the band jams a bit before the end, taking charge once again, perhaps controlling the storm. A strong opening track, to be sure. It’s followed by “There For Me,” which features a good, catchy groove, and has some positive vibes. Here is a taste of the lyrics: “When I can’t breathe, you bring the wind to me/When days get dark, you shine a light/When I’m scared, your voice, it comforts me/And I know I’ll be all right.” This song is one to make us feel good. I hope each of us has someone that makes us feel the way Jeni Grouws describes in the song. I know I do, and I am grateful for her every day. This track features some good work on keys.

“Bad, Bad Year” is a strong blues rock number, announcing itself at the beginning, letting us know that it’s not going to screw around, but get right to the heart of the matter, or to its throat. “Because everybody knows it’s been a bad, bad year,” Jeni sings here. No one is going to argue with her about that. Starting with 2016, that’s been true. And she asks, “Where do we go from here?” That is the question. When the mendacious sociopath was booted from the White House, I foolishly thought we would get somewhere quickly, that all the little racist twits would return to their holes. I was so wrong. Perhaps that great guitar work holds the answer.  Then “Hanging Around” has a more pleasant feel, more in the pop realm, and is about someone who is waiting for that special person to come around, perhaps in vain. That’s followed by “Tell Tale Heart,” the album’s title track. It eases in, “You used to laugh, you used to smile/It was hard to keep us apart,” and then, bam, kicks in with a powerful burst, those vocals seeming to tear through the air. This is a tremendous vocal performance, with some remarkable variations in levels and emotion. “Here in the dark I can see that you are hurting.” Then that guitar seems to match her emotion. This fantastic blues song ends as it began.

There is a haunting vibe at the beginning of “Mariana,” a sense of something ominous in the air. And the guitar speaks to us through that space, reaching out to us, as if to tell us the blues will help us through. The guitar attempts to ward off pain by expressing it, matching it, and to defeat the demons by mesmerizing them, speaking in something like their own language. As we get deeper into this track, and into that guitar work, it seems to be working, for by the end of this instrumental, it has become gentle. The band then totally switches gears with “Daylight,” which has a sweet acoustic sound. “To this brand new day/With all the headlines reading fear and rage/Because this world keeps spinning round/I don’t know where we’ll touch down, we’ll touch down.” Both Fear and Rage, as you probably know, are titles of books by Bob Woodward about the twisted narcissist who was occupying the White House for four years, and are words not only in the headlines, but in our hearts and minds. And so it is with some relief that we embrace these lines: “So just breathe and hold tight/It’s gonna be all right.” We’ve been coursing through a dark time, and so these lines also speak to us: “Daylight/I’ve been waiting for you all night.” Indeed.

“Heart’s Playing Tricks” has a good blues groove, and is a song dealing with jealousy and mistrust. “So I called you up at work just a few hours ago/You know, they said you’d left early/I couldn’t help but wonder where you’d go/So I drove all around this town, just looking for you/Started thinking I was crazy.” Yes, either way, that is crazy behavior, no question about it. I love that added touch of the whispers that she hears. Things then get funky with “We’re Gonna Roll,” which opens with these lines: “Can you feel that beat/It’s been a while now/Since your heart kept time with the drum.” Seriously! I went a year and a half without seeing a concert, by far the longest period without a show since I was in my early teens. Damn this pandemic. I know I am far from alone in looking forward to dancing at concerts again, and this song celebrates the return of live music. The album concludes with “Eye To Eye,” whose opening line, “You always hate it when I’m right,” made me laugh aloud the first time I heard it. This is a fun rock song, and the band is clearly having a good time with it. It is delivered as a duet. “We don’t have to see eye to eye/But you can count on me.”

CD Track List

1. Love Raining Down
2. There For Me
3. Bad, Bad Year
4. Hanging Around
5. Tell Tale Heart
6. Mariana
7. Daylight
8. Heart’s Playing Tricks
9. We’re Gonna Roll
10. Eye To Eye

Tell Tale Heart was released on September 24, 2021.