An ambient, light sound makes up the seven tracks informing its listener, “I’m Sick, I’m well”-the so titled EP from Columbia, MO musicians Scouts. The album contains a transcending transition of songs, each somehow holding a certain quality of comfort for the listener. The combined efforts of voice and instruments offer a sound that is enveloping, enchanting, and easy to fall into.
Fans of Andy Hull might recognize a familiar angelic tone when first exposed to the vocals of singer Chris Thomas, but naysayers of copy cats be assured, this front man comes with a sound of all his own. Recorded Thomas has a soft quality that you don’t normally find beyond a live show or “unplugged” cd, and in the flesh his voice offers a pleasantly haunting sound, what I imagine the whisper of some sort of spirit to be like. Behind Thomas’ hushed vocals come the perfect blend of instruments- your staple guitar and bass, combined with keys and just the right amount of drums. While the keyboard can be a little bit of the needle in the haystack to hear underneath everything else, the fusion of all others involved couldn’t be better done. Drummer Corey Schmidt is light on his kit, with generous amounts of cymbal, which is exactly what needs to be done to accompany such a voice as Thomas’.
With a sound that is subdued but at the same time full of certain energy, what listeners can’t get from this album is the get-up-and-go attitude that comes along with a Scouts performance. Guitarist Mark Penechar, and new Scouts addition Jawnny Hankley on bass have an aesthetic range of constant motion in their performances full of leaps and kicks, not at all obnoxious in the classic rock star definition of the actions, but full of excitement and what can only be described as pure joy. Combining that with the bared teeth and grin of Corey Schmidt on drums, and the way keyboardist Chase Clettenberg throws his body into what he’s playing, anyone at a Scouts show has reason enough to watch from front and center.
There’s a sense of kinship and brotherhood between these musicians that make their performance absolutely hypnotic. The chorus of “whoa-oh’s” featured in ‘Fight Night at the Ocean House’, as well as the shouting of ‘I’m sick, I’m well’ all together in the thusly titled song, is a perfect example of the collaboration that’s gone into this bands music.
Lyrically Scouts is a prime example of ‘less is more’. Teeming with short, simple sentences, every line still has certain deliberateness to it. There’s a common theme within the songs, the lyrics seeming to be addressing a dying person and possibly then their ghost. Songs full of questions and conclusions being drawn, every song on this album is chock full of quotable lines that I think most listeners will walk away with playing over in their heads. One popular song among fans of Scouts in particular is Whiskey Echo Lima Lima and its line “Mercy, where have you gone? We are all dead! We are all right though.” A line shouted by the entire band during live performances.
All together this band is impressive to say the least. Be it their quality of sound, integrity as musicians, or the passion in their performances, there are a thousand things to rave about. All the compliments in the world can’t justify the talent found between these gentlemen, and the very best advice to anyone who hasn’t given them a shot is to do just that. So if you’re ever in Columbia, or hell, even on the Internet, drop by and pay visit to Scouts. Hospitable and completely legitimate, they’re sure to impress.
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