Spreading Some Alt Rock Love

Spreading Some Alt Rock Love

Bruce Von Stiers

Jillie Simon is an actress who has been seen in the films Confess, A Beautiful Mind and the current short Hungry. She is a member of the improv group, Upright Citizen's Brigade. Jillie is also the lead vocalist for an alt rock band called Musiciens Sans Frontieres.

The band has had a few albums out. Picture This was released in 2009. Legalize was released in 2011.

The band's third album is Spread Some Love. It is the band's most current album and was released in 2012. Jillie sent me the album quite a while back, but I never got a chance to write about it. That is, until now.

Joining Jillie in the band are Keith Golden on bass, Alex Alexander on drums and Thomas Simon on guitars, keys, synth, harmonica and vocals. Keith has recorded with Dido and Danielia Cotton among others. Alex has recorded with Phil Ramone and Sylvia Tosun and performed with Dido and at the Latin Grammys. Thomas has written for film soundtracks, along with a solo recording career.

Spread Some Love has eight songs and a play time of thirty-nine minutes. It was produced by Thomas and released by Endorphin Records.

The first song is an instrumental called Dream Segment. It has a touch of trance music. The song does bring forth a kind of dream like sound, albeit with a bit of darkness and intensity.

That is followed by Happy Monday. It is a cool, techno / rock song with great vocals by Jillie and tough background music.

Affection is a bit darker with some killer guitar.

Legalize is an anthem whose premise is legalizing marijuana.

So Many Ways is a cool, alt rock song. It deals with how we should be utilizing alternative energy sources and not be beholden to big oil and fossil fuel companies.

Dead Hero has super cool drums and guitar.

The band does a rendition of the Nirvana song Smells Like Teen Spirit. Jillie does a nice job on the vocals for the rendition. Also added into the song is a sample of the Pura Desa Temple Players of Ubad, Bali.

The final song on the album is In The Waves. It has an almost Indian styling with slick guitar and drums.

Musiciens Sans Frontieres has a unique sound. Their music is alt rock but has some other stylings mixed in. Some of their songs are topical, such as alternative energy and legalizing marijuana. Others are about relationships. Jillie's vocals, combined with the music, make for an interesting and engaging listening experience.

Spread Some Love is available at CD Baby and on iTunes.

Check out the Endorphin Records site for additional information at http://www.endorphinrecords.com/ .

You can also check out Musiciens Sans Frontieres on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Musiciens-Sans-Frontieres/198514413535854

Bac k to the BVS Reviews Main Menu