The Ally - "Action"

"If you're free to choose which model you employ / might as well pick the one that brings you joy" -The Ally, "Amop"-

These days it's easy to take for granted the music that we are lucky enough to hear on a daily basis. It is available to us nearly everywhere; from established mediums like radio and music stores to the newest and most accessible venue, the internet. Practically any music imaginable is available right at your fingertips every minute of every hour of every day.

Gone are the days of going to the record store on the day an album dropped or seeing your favorite bands new video on television for the first time. These traditions have been replaced by the “convenience” of iTunes and YouTube. Every once in a while, however, you stumble across something meaningful in such an unpredictable and capricious manner that it reminds you of how fortunate we all are to be able to enjoy the music we listen to.

It started with The Disco Biscuits. When you delve into the catalog of a band with such a massive base of live recordings to choose from you will inevitably come across that group’s side projects which, for the Biscuits, are many. One of those uncovered side projects was JM2, a group that existed briefly toward the end of 2003 and beginning of 2004. JM2 consisted of Marc Brownstein (bass) and John Gutwillig (guitar) of the Disco Biscuits along with Jamie Shields (keys) of The New Deal and Mike Greenfield (drums) from a band I had never heard of called The Ally.

Already familiar with the work of the first three members I decided to see what I could find out about this new group The Ally but was met with brick walls in every direction. Nothing on Wikipedia, no MySpace page, no listing on All Music, not even Google could help. Jambase offered a hint of an album called “Action” but the link to buy it was long dead. More confused than angry I gave up the search and called it a day. They must not have been that good anyway.

Not long later, however, I was reading a music blog not too dissimilar from this one and the writer was describing his admiration for a “hidden gem” of an album called “Action” from a now defunct Philly band called The Ally. I couldn’t help but ask for a copy and he thankfully obliged. It took one listen for me to be hooked by The Ally’s self described “roots fusion” sound. Having emerged from the Philadelphia jam band scene at the same time as The Disco Biscuits, their lone release is fittingly tinged with multiple musical influences ranging from funk and reggae to electronica and drum and bass.

For me, the highlight of this album are the vocals of lead singer John Yohan Kim (Kimbo) and bass player Ira Wolf Tuton. While the style of their songs range from one genre to the next, Kimbo and Ira’s voices have no problem keeping up. Their smooth harmonies create an extremely infectious, chilled out vibe and gives the songs an ambiguous familiarity like you’ve been grooving on them for years. In addition to Kimbo’s singing he also displays his chops on violin and sax. The album also features the drumming of the aforementioned Greenfield, as well as Eric Zeiler’s guitar.

Since no decent recording of the albums songs exist on the web I've uploaded a few tracks from "Action" for you to check out. Once you click the links you have the choice to either stream the track or download it.

"Wooden Boat" is the first track on the album and does a great job of setting up the rest of the album. Tight harmonies and rhythm section and a flowing upbeat groove throughout.

On the fourth song on the album, "Options", The Ally shows their affinity for reggae and Kimbo's voice really shines with a little added edge to his delivery.

The biggest grin inducer of "Action" comes with the fifth track, "Amop". Unabashedly poppy but equally as optimistic this song has the most infectious chorus of the entire album.

As we get deeper into the album things get a bit heavier and a lot more experimental. Tracks 6 through 9 all flow seamlessly into one another creating a 21 plus minute block of eclectic groove. It starts of with the blues/funk of "Inner Pilot" which then, without warning, drops into the thumping beats of "Dear Mr. Gold". Next is the more subdued and cerebral electric groove of "Touching" which gradually climaxes into the Latin and hip-hop infused "2CE".

I hope you enjoyed my first post on Top Shelf Audio Daily. Be sure to share our blog with your friends along with your own music and experiences. See you next Tuesday.

Steve K