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Alone - Round & a Distant Few Circular Songs Available at Compact Discounts, Bay Rd. & Cashman's Comics, Bay City Review by Robert E. Martin True to the independent and uncompromising ethos of frontman David Prager (i.e. Ronnie Round) this latest release by the tri-city's seminal proto-punk alterna-garage band Round & a Distant Few is also their final release, with Prager's next project slated to be a full-length collaboration with Japanese and French artists Toshi and Francois on the Japanese label Hard Disc Records. But what a fitting 'finale' Alone turns out to be. Consisting of five original tracks penned by Round, with four of the songs co-authored by Screamin' Casanovas Neil Jones, Kurt Cunningham and John Cashman, this musical bon appetite embraces the boneyard of the aural garage in all of its gritty sonic splendor while breaking upward towards the heavens with memorable melodic flourishes and plenty of fast-handed 'hooks'. Thematically, this music explores many of the fundamental topics of loneliness, alienation, and integrity that the group started with 10 years ago, before countless other bands jumped upon the Punk Bandwagon. On Shy Boy, the band grinds with intent syncopation as Round bares a proud acceptance of his confessional stance, while on the ballad Broken-Hearted 2000 the sound shimmers with a lush austerity that perfectly accompanies a sense of resolve buried amidst the crooning tempo & tone of Round's evocative lament, remarkable free from bitterness, yet standing strong in the afterglow. Alone is a fitting swan song from a determined band of great integrity. One can only imagine what roads Round will travel with his next new global collaboration.
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