THE DEAL: Charlotte trio — Joelle Kittrell, Michael Pepe, Joseph Pepe — releases debut, five-song EP.
THE GOOD: Side By Side‘s starts off with the soaring pop-rock song, “My Heart.” Kittrell’s rhythmic vocals are clearly the focus, with a tone similar to Natalie Merchant. “Smile” has a harder edge to the music, though more of a radio-friendly, anthemic pop style, as well. The lyrics read more like diary entries, often tackling the universal theme of love and loss. There’s a fine line between poetic and sappy … Kittrell’s delivery helps rescue it from being in the latter category. The band wraps up the EP with its strongest track on the album, the emotional, piano-driven “To the Sky.”
THE BAD: The band’s delivery is relatively basic in its chords and lyrical construction, and I sometimes wondered if it was too simple.
THE VERDICT: Overall, Side By Side has a good sound and one not commonly found on the local music scene. An interesting debut that makes me curious to hear the band live, as well as hearing more studio efforts. With its debut album, the band offers a strong foundation — it’s just a matter of seeing where they build it from here.
This article appears in Mar 8-14, 2011.
Jeff – if you like their CD, you’ll love ’em “live”. Everyone on stage is entertaining to watch. Anyone can tell they are seasoned musicians; comfortable with being on stage & performing in front of people. Very good stage presence as a band, and they work the crowd well – especially Joelle.