reax music magazine :: music + culture » Reviews » The Grecian Urns - Fair Youth Beneath Fair Trees

This first offering from young St Pete-based band The Grecian Urns is ambitious in both craft and design.  Admittedly, ambition is often associated with teenaged bands; however, The Grecian Urns’ extended play of seven songs that chronicle tales of innocence and loss succeeds where others fail. Employing the help of viola/cello playing siblings, flute playing friends and banjo playing ministers the album combines paired down acoustic pieces with swooping orchestral arrangements. Instead of wearing source material on their sleeve, the group finds a way to acknowledge influence, while at the same time transcending it. There is no pretense here.  The lyrics linger likes lines from a Flannery O’Connor short story, and the music moves like a summer breeze through, uh, fair trees.  Recorded at drummer David Norris’ house in two months, each song brims with warmth and beauty.  Fair Youth Beneath Fair Trees serves as a testimony to the budding talent and capability of The Grecian Urns. – Steven Hobbs