Give To World Voice

“The Explorers Club” are a six-piece Sunshine Psychedelic (indie pop/rock) band from Charleston, South Carolina. Their music is almost entirely influenced by the vocal hormany styles of the then famous The Beach Boys and brings back the 60s and 70s atmosphere to their music. The Explorers Club are made up of Jason Brewer (Vocals, Guitar and Piano), James Faust (Vocals, Guitar, Piano and Harmonica), David Ellis (Vocals, 12 String Guitar and Accordian), Wally Reddington (Vocals and Bass), Stefan Rogenmoser (Keyboard, Organ and Synthesizers) and Neil Thomas (Drums). In an honourable way, the band also continues to carry on the style and sound of The Beach Boys. On Television, their music has been featured on TV shows such as The O.C. and How I Met Your Mother.

Freedom Wind by The Explorers Club is full of beautiful vocals and it’ll surround you with or even bring you back to the 60s and 70s pop/rock music. Think of their vocals, only vocals, there would be a perfect Acapella performance with you always if you let them to…

Freedom Wind by The Explorers Club awed us with the beautiful vocal “Forever”. The moment Jason sang, “She’s the kind of girl who’s in my thought, all night…”, along with James, David and Wally. It was really awesome! I can’t find the right word to describe it, but it was really good. The music in Forever was equally good as well, the organ, the guitar and the drums… It was like you were listening to the most beautiful and sweetest sound in the world. Throughout the whole track, the backing vocals done by The Explorers Club, if it’s not breathtaking, then i don’t know what else to day. Forever will definitely stay in my Ipod for a long long time to come.

“Honey, I Don’t Know Why” was at times funny and yet good. Sung in a husky and rough voice but backing by cute music and harmonized vocals. One can’t help but smile when this song comes up. I bet children will try to imitate the voice of Jason in Honey, I Don’t Know Why. Even myself tried to imitate his voice due to my curiousity of finding out how Jason did that rough voice. The Explorers Club did a very good job when the break came, they went, “Mmm Bap Baby…” and Jason was doing a solo singing in the background. Talk about harmony vocals? The Explorers Club got style!

“Don’t Forget The Sun” was another song made to show The Explorers Club’s talent and forte. Jason sang a few words, the rest of The Explorers Club follow suit, in an alternate way. Don’t Forget The Sun is definitely one of the best tracks on Freedon Wind. It has this beat and tempo that is just nice for everyone to enjoy and indulge, and it’s really catchy, infectious and soothing! The best part is when they went, “I wish that summer could stay on for one more hour, i wish that summer sun would last the whole year on..” It just so good! I’m beginning to imagine seeing them performing live at a beach. It would be a blast!

“Lost My Head” has a funny start to it. There was a guy saying, “You guys are ready to lay down some tracks?” in a somewhat drunken voice that some may find it to be amusing. Not only that, there were two parts in Lost My Head, one is slow where you can hear Jason’s and co’s voice, the other sounds like a banjo or some chinese intrument which is called pipa. When Jason and co sing, the banjo and pipa will follow. Lost My Head is rather quiet and not many musical instruments can be heard. But it doesn’t matter, The Explorers Club are able to leave us in awe again with their angelic vocals.

What can i say about “Do You Love Me?”. It’s really a track with some catchy backing vocals and great teamwork by displayed by The Explorers Club. Do You Love Me? is a very simple track, what catches our attention is the hormonized and lively vocals. An acapella version of this lovely song would definitely sounds as good as the recording version, or it might even be better. If you’re thinking of singing a song to your loved one with the help of your buddies, think no further than Do You Love Me? It’s such a fun and romantic song. There are some saxaphone elements in this song as well. Really awesome stuff by The Explorers Club.

“Summer Air” is pure instrumental and i got to say it’s really good as well. The organ can be heard playing in a variety of constant rhythm and beats. Not only that, the synthesizers were used to add in some soundscape to make if fuller, as if someone were singing in Summer Air. But the fact is, this song is just pure instrumental. Perhaps The Explorers Club are taking a short break from all the vocals that they were doing. Just kidding.

“If You Go” is romantic and at times, i can feel the sorrow in Jason’s voice. When Jason breaks the bassline and sings, “If you go now, i won’t shed a tear, cause maybe somehow, our love will reappear…” his voice sort of makes me squirm. It’s a broken heart love song and Jason did a very good job on the vocal. Take note at the break where a short session of deep guitar can be heard and followed by some soothing vocals, “I woke up, i thought i heard you called my name…”. It’s all like a dream…

“In The Country” is a slow cozy feeling classical pop tune. The vocals provided by The Explorers club are really good here. The chorus especially, which goes, “You’re my girl and i won’t let you go, cause all your loves are good for my soul…” All of them give a really good listen here. It’s like listening to a group of choir. Guess when you’re good at something, you’ll always be that good when doing it. In The Country has elements of country genre in it, reminding me of some great cowboy movies.

“Safe Distance” is an acoustic song, almost appearing in Acapella version. The Explorers Club displayed their great talent again with their vocal harmonies. The music in this song is mostly created by the vocals. From the lyrics, i can only guess that Safe Distance tells the story of protecting someone from harm and danger. Great work as a band!

“Hold Me Tight” starts off slow with Jason leading the vocal and the rest of The Explorers Club add in some beautiful moans and hums. When the chorus comes, the whole song suddenly jumps into a new gear, from the second gear to the fourth gear. The tempo picks up and the beat sounds faster and richer. You can hear Jason goes, “I just wanna hold you tight, hold you walk through the night… Love nobody…” Hold Me Tight is a happy and romantic pop rock tune! You got to love it!

“Last Kiss” reminds me of Elvis Presley’s rock and roll! You can have fun and dance to Last Kiss in a party. Jason and his co take turn to sing in this soft version of rock and roll. “If i remember our first kiss (last kiss) forever…”, when Jason sings this chorus, it’s like his second voice is taking over. He sounded like a girl, and it’s really good. Bear in mind, it’s not easy to do so.

The title track, “Freedom Wind” produces an anthemic closing to this album. This is the first time on the album that Jason did the singing almost all by himself. The rest of The Explorers Club only focus more on the music.. Organs, guitars, drums.. Like all other anthems, it ended on a strong note, before fading into utter silence. Freedom Wind brings me back to the past and the organ in Freedom Wind reminds me of Fastball’s “The Way”. There are just some resemblance in it. It proves that The Explorers Club’s Jason also can be a stand-alone frontman if he wishes to, he’s got the voice.

Rating: Freedom Wind proved to be a success and 60s pop/rock music has never sounded so good. The Explorers Club has finally found a sound of their own and create magic with it. Impressing people with their layers of harmony vocals, i feel peace when listening to The Explorers Club. I feel good now and then, and the ability of bringing me back to the 60s and 70s, plus a couple of beautiful composed and sung love songs, the modern love songs nowadays are in a serious threat. It’s a matter of time before the new generation will start to notice The Explorers Club. I have noticed them, spin their record, being awed by them, tell my friends about them and many more. Freedom Wind is really good, i’m really looking forward to their next album. I’d give them 7.0 out of 10.

Stand-Out Tracks (My Picks): Forever, Don’t Forget The Sun, Do You Love Me?, If You Go, Hold Me Tight and Last Kiss. Cheers! Darren Tan Indiesurf.com

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