Stormy Mondays Double EP Review: Deep and Rich Spanish Americana

Loved in Spain and garnering a cult fanbase that has seen them share a stage with Bruce Springsteen and even playing Woodstock, The Stormy Monday’s have a cool Americana sound with tinges of Rock, Soul and even Jazz. Their new double EP, “Wading the River” and “The Lay of the Land” is a continuation of their solid work, thanks to poignant musicianship, solid lyrics and a virtual all you can eat of sound.

From the first track, the synergy between Stormy Mondays frontman and guitarist Jorge Otero and fellow guitarist Dani Menéndez is undeniable. If you’re a fan of good guitar work, this band will hook you right away. However with a glockenspiel, piano, a variety of basses and percussion items on a variety of songs, as well as violin, clarinet and sax, the songs are full of an array of sounds. It would be easy to make a mess with so many different “noises,” but there isn’t a song on here that could be classified as such. Expertly arranged, the Double EP never feels forced. Songs such as “My Lil’ Darling” and “Merry-Go-Round” are able to micro manage your ears with a plethora of sounds that end up fitting together like tiny puzzle pieces, creating something much larger than you’d expect. Even cooler, while both EPs flow well into one another, “Wading the River” has more of a rock flavor to it, making the pairing feel much more like a journey than two completely different pieces of work.

Sometimes the music has a language all its own and in the case of this double EP, the musicianship more than makes up for vocals that aren’t as endearing or charismatic as they could be. With a rich, deep sound, they are a band that can play anything and will challenge your ears with every listen, even if they can’t captivate as much as they could with a more-polished vocalist. A perfect example is “Talking in my Sleep,” which has everything but vocals that captivate. Otero has a soft voice and the lyrics are fun, but it’s obvious the song would be so much better sung by someone who speaks English as a first language. The band draws inspiration from bands the likes of Mumford and Sons and Counting Crows (A song like “Love and Fire) will immediately remind you of CC) and from a musical point of view and even composition standpoint they are without a doubt in the same league as bands that have gotten much more media attention over the past few decades. They just don’t have that extra X-factor.

At the same time, it would be crazy to dismiss a band sole based on the vocal work alone. Otero’s lyrics tell a wonderful story over a pair of EPs that you can leave on from start to finish- it just forces you to wonder how charismatic the group could be with a different singer.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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