Album Tue Apr 10 2012

Album Review: The Right Now's Gets Over You

By Katie Karpowicz

Chicago's own Motown-inspired rockers The Right Now celebrate the release of their newest album today, April 10. The difference between The Right Now's sophomore release Gets Over You and their 2010 debut Carry Me Home is stark, but you know that even before the album starts playing. The phrase "don't judge a book by its cover" comes to mind. This album should absolutely be judged by its cover--especially when you sit it next to its predecessor. The warm hues in the cover art of Carry Me Home have been replaced by a dark city scene. The pastel lettering ousted for a neon marquee. Angular edges jut into the scenery where rounded, abstract shapes once did. The Right Now's new album is gritty. The band all but drops the pop sheen that illuminated Carry Me Home and trades it in for a bluesy production style. Gets Over You is a sexy step in the right direction for this these local up and comers.

When this reviewer spoke with guitarist/keys player and lead songwriter Brendan O'Connell he explained the band's second studio effort was more of a collaborative effort. Before heading to L.A. to record the album The Right Now spent the majority of 2011 holed up in its recording space working together to develop each song.

The tracks on this album are a united front, each striving for the obvious intention of creating a darker, more seductive sound. The guitar lines are crisper. The horn sounds are deeper and more full-bodied. The drums are tighter and more aggressive than the rolling beats that drove Carry Me Home. And vocalist Stefanie Berecz's croon sounds like pure velvet. The comfortable groove that Gets Over You instantly sinks into gives each piece of The Right Now a chance to contribute to the end result while still finding time to shine through individually.

As the title suggests, much of the lyrical content on Gets Over You--co-written by O'Connell and Berecz--deals with relationships, specifically the ones that don't end well. Though O'Connell admitted the first-person stories that spill out of Berecz's mouth are mostly fictional, he explained the goal was to create "intriguing and engaging stories that people could connect to. For whatever reason a lot of them just ended up being nasty."

However, unlike the same sad-ending stories the listener follows on Carry Me Home, The Right Now's fictional character has adopted a whole new no-nonsense attitude on Gets Over You. Lyrics like "Now that you're gone you've got me paralyzed/I can't change that I still reach for your touch at night" off the former's "Nobody" have taken a slick backseat to stings like "Baby, it's plain to see/You should have told me about your lover."

A special props is due to Stephanie Berecz for her performance on Gets Over You. As is mostly the case with vocalists, the risks that she takes are some of the most noticeable of all the band's members. This album sees the sultry leading lady putting a seriously conscious effort into exploring her vocal range. Even during the small collection of moments where perfection isn't reached, her effort makes up for it.

I feel like this review implies that Carry Me Home was sub-par to The Right Now's newest effort. It wasn't. I love it. It's the album that made me fall in love with these guys. But, damn, Gets Over You is one hell of a way to avoid a sophomore slump.