Rock • Ambulance
Ltd. produces music with the rock of
today and the jazz of yesterday. Roger
Sargent
Ambulance Ltd. creates new music with rock, jazz
By Jane Park
Online Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer
The Ambulance Ltd. brings a fresh rock sound to the music scene.
Music reviews from writers of major publications like Vanity Fair and Spin magazine,
claim Ambulance Ltd.’s rare sound, drawn from legendary influences, would
create a new trend in rock music. The band constructed its own form of rock genre
by mixing jazz and rock.
Reviews of the New York City band compare its work with folk to classic rock
musicians such as Elliot Smith, the Beatles and Black Sabbath. However, Ambulance
Ltd. still has an original sound. Others say the group possess characteristics
of shoegazing, a type of alternative rock and new wave.
Ltd. sounds more like a toned down version of the contemporary rock band Jet
because the voice of lead singer Marcus Congleton sounds similar to the vocals
of Jet’s Nic Cester.
The band toured with the Killers in spring 2004 and performed songs from its
LP, “TVT.”
The group of four has come out with a great amount of press coverage since 2003
in most well-known music magazines, such as Blender Magazine and Alternative
Press.
The Ambulance Ltd.’s first song off its New English EP release, “New
English,” had a folk sound, which came from the riffs of the soft guitar
strumming, voice and rhythm.
I did not love the music at first, but after I became familiar with the colorful
lyrics and strong acoustics, I found the music to be thought-provoking, because
it was so different from the mainstream.
Of the seven tracks on the E.P. Track 2, “Arbuckle’s Swan Song,” is
my favorite. It reminded me of the soulful style of ’70s R & B singer
Al Green. I felt relaxed as if I were walking through Central Park on a peaceful
day in New York set in the ’70s.
“ Country Gentlemen” has a very toe-tapping catchy melody. Congleton’s
voice sounds much like that of the Beatles, and the background music sounds very ’70s:
the acoustics, the drum beat and the keyboards. No wonder Elle Girl magazine
is in a frenzy about the lead singer, Congleton, almost like the crazed Beatles
fans in the ’60s. His voice is dreamy, like the magazine proclaimed in
December 2004.
The last song, “Straight A’s,” sounds soothing with the echoing
melody of keyboard and guitar strumming. The way the song talks about school
and seeing “new wave boys in corduroys,” makes me feel as if I were
in a scene out of “Catcher and the Rye.”
The music of Ambulance Ltd. is somewhat magical because it makes me feel as if
I was time-traveling from the ’60s to the ’80s. The music grew on
me when I began to understand the band’s purpose and could appreciate every
detail of the hymns after listening to the EP a few times.
I thought the band would sing about girls and heartache, like most bands these
days, but that was not the case for Ambulance Ltd. The group sings about life’s
simple pleasures, such as a beautiful day. You must be in a mellow mood to listen
to this music. It is good “study music,” just in time for finals.
I definitely recommend checking them out, because you will probably be hearing
the group soon on the radio or on MTV.
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