Thriving Ivory – Review of their self-titled album
Music genre: Alternative/Pop
Band members:
- Scott Jason – Piano and Keys
- Clayton Stroope – Vocals
- Drew Cribley – Guitars
- Bret Cohune – Bass
- Paul Niedermier – Drums/Percussion
Sounds a bit like: Maroon 5, Train, Our Lady Peace, Gavin DeGraw
Recommended for: People who like the aforementioned bands
I’ll start with the good. Thriving Ivory’s album currently has over 90 reviews on i-tunes and the vast majority of them are five stars. Not to mention, the band has received a lots of exposure on VH1 recently; I believe they’ve even broken into VH1’s top 20 Countdown. So, it’s obvious that people are liking them. They sound a little like Maroon 5 and their lead singer, Clayton Stroope, has a quality to his voice that resembles Gavin DeGraw’s. Couple all this with the fact that the bandmembers are easy on the eyes – appealing to a late teens/early twenties demographic – and you have a band that will likely do very well.
What I personally like about the Thriving Ivory, however, is that their songs are versatile and their lyrics are simple, yet emotional. This is the type of music you can listen to while working, while with friends, while relaxing, etc. The songs are melodic and catchy and the piano gives them a tender but strong sound. Lyrically, despite a few cliches (“every day is the first day of the rest of your life”), the songs are dark and romantic; they talk about secret lives and runaways. To their credit, I found it refreshing to listen to an alternative band whose lyrics aren’t too enigmatic (the Killers come to mind, for example).
On to the not-so-good. First, I wouldn’t call the band “fresh” or “new.” As I’ve already said, they’re a lot like other acts that are already out there (Maroon 5, Gavin DeGraw). This isn’t necessarily a bad thing (in fact they’ll probably do well, if only because they resemble popular acts). However, if you’re looking for something that’s unlike anything out there right now, you won’t find it in Thriving Ivory.
Finally, my last little criticism. I noticed when I was previewing the songs on i-tunes that I was, at first, a bit put-off by something. I couldn’t put my finger on what was putting me off until I read Boise Weekly’s review of the same album. As the reviewer put it: “the album is razor precise and overproduced.” In fact, this is a criticism I read on some i-tunes reviews – I found a few people who had been fans of Thriving Ivory when they had self-released these songs a few years ago (before signing with Wind-up Records). Out of curiosity I downloaded some of the older versions of the songs and I have to agree with others’ criticisms. The older versions sound much more authentic and passionate. As the Boise Weekly reviewer put it, the new versions sound almost too perfect: “the songs sound like they followed the recipe for national radio play down to the teaspoon.” In some ways, I think Wind-up Records may have done Thriving Ivory a disservice. Lead singer Clayton Stroope’s vocals are beautiful and he’s got great range, but on the new versions of the songs he comes across a little strained and even nasal. I wouldn’t say that Wind-up ruined the record, but I personally prefer the raw sound they evoke in the original songs.
Overall, I enjoyed Thriving Ivory and I’d recommend them to anyone who likes the pop-alternative vibe. However, because they sound a bit too formulaic, they get an 8 out of 10 on my scale.
