By Jay Swartzendruber
TheFish.com
April 21, 2010
With voices like these, who needs instruments?
Read more:
http://www.thefish.com/music/reviews/11629223/Straight-No-Chaser-Covers-Pop-Faves-With-a-Twist/
(Edit: The link is no longer active, so the full text appears below.)
Artist: Straight No Chaser
Title: With a Twist
Label: Atlantic Records
With voices like these, who needs instruments?
When ten guys at Indiana University formed the a capella group Straight No Chaser in 1996 to "wow the girls," they became so popular regionally, they chose replacements before graduation so their namesake could continue. Everything went according to plan until an old video of the original line-up's "The 12 Days of Christmas" found its way onto YouTube seven years later and an Internet sensation ensued.
After Atlantic Records saw the humorous clip garner millions of views, the major label stepped forward ready to offer a five-album deal. Just one problem—Straight No Chaser was in its fourth generation of undergrads, and Atlantic wanted the Internet phenoms. Thanks to the founders agreeing to a long-term reunion, today, there are two incarnations of the group: Straight No Chaser and Indiana University's Straight No Chaser.
The Atlantic Records act released two Christmas albums and a six-song EP with significant success, including a couple holiday radio hits and a Top 40 entry on The Billboard 200 album sales chart. With this table set, Straight No Chaser—who takes its name from the jazz standard by Thelonious Monk—releases its first non-holiday full-length album, With a Twist. This time, a wide range of pop and rock's modern classics get the royal treatment. Co-produced by Straight No Chaser, Deke Sharon (The House Jacks) and Steve Lunt (Britney Spears, The Cheetah Girls), With a Twist features adventurous interpretations of faves such as Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over," Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Under The Bridge," Frankie Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You," Coldplay's "Fix You," Queen's "You're My Best Friend," and Oasis' "Wonderwall.
Relying solely on the human voice, vocal percussion, snaps, claps and stomps, this instrument-free endeavor leans heavily on doo-wop, jazz, and soulful stylings. Immediately evident is why Straight No Chaser's versatility, innovative arrangements and overall sound draw comparisons to predecessors like Rockapella and The House Jacks. Featuring sophistication and textured layers of their God-given gifts, With a Twist captures the ten men at their harmonizing best.
For Mike + The Mechanics' moving reflection on father-son relationships, "The Living Years," the Chaser's vocal tricks substitute convincingly for keyboards and percussion as tenor Ryan Ahlwardt emotes regret. And when the group covers Barry Manilow's easiest of listenings, "One Voice," Chaser not only enlists him to oversee the song's arrangement, Manilow makes a cameo appearance on lead vocals. While the men's performances retain each classic's famous melody, at times the interpretations are off the mark emotionally. Instead of conveying angst for Soft Cell's "Tainted Love," Chaser delivers mostly upbeat finger-snapping fun with big band vocals and rhythmic treatments. Given that a bartending term serves as the group's name, it should come as no surprise that adult beverages are a thematic fave. Consider the celebratory rendition of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy's "You & Me & The Bottle Makes Three" or the version of "Joy to the World" the Hoosiers chose to perform—yes, Three Dog Night's song about Jeremiah the bullfrog drinking "mighty fine wine."
