Lee Simmons

The easygoing, literate songwriter rock on Antebellum should serve well to establish Lee Simmons as an up-and-coming force on the folk rock circuit. Calling to mind the breezy, smart pop of both the Finn brothers (he has the worldly-wise eye of Tim and the melodic breadth of Neil), Michael Penn and Glenn Phillips, these songs are enjoyable and eminently listenable.
Be it the Daniel Lanois-style guitar clattering in the background of “Caroline’s a Clown” or the throaty acoustic on “Green,” the playing and instrumentation here is both driving and unintrusive—always keeping the focus on Simmons’ well-crafted melodies and lyrics.

- Clay Steakley

Come here, Mr. Simmons. Siddown. Listen to me very carefully.

Sending me a CD this beautiful with hardly any press materials is really, really cruel. Halfway through the first track, I was tearing apart the envelope it came in, scanning the measly 4-paragraph artist bio and muttering “Who IS this guy?”

Yes, I talk to myself. Stop changing the subject.

I listen to many indie CDs a year. In the three years I’ve been writing reviews, I’ve heard maybe three or four that I think are perfect from beginning to end. Every note is perfect. I wouldn’t change a thing. I can’t understand why the artist is not already famous. Well, now you fall into that category. So who the heck ARE you?

Why do I like the CD so much, you ask? You’re changing the subject again. Okay, fine. As a writer, I fall easily for intelligent lyrics. You just say what’s on your mind, writing from your soul, not trying to make it sound cute. I love the part in “Mona’s Ocean” where you ask a hyperachieving woman, “Are you ever lonely underwater?” I’m also impressed with how you took an old idea of a sad clown with a happy face and gave it a fresh presentation in “Caroline’s a Clown”: “Maybe this is suicide, maybe I’ve got no place to hide, except behind the colors on my face.”

Hey, stop rooting through my refrigerator and get back here. Yes, I still eat Lucky Charms – put those back. Explain to me how you make those minor chords jump out the way they do. “Room Above” and “Green,” both quiet, echoing, thoughtful pop/rock ballads, have those minor chords that hit without warning. They grab at the heart.

You could have at least thrown one more paragraph in your bio about the experience of recording this CD. I would have loved to be there when you recorded “Falling From The Sky” so I could see you make all those playful additions to the music. Hands clapping, birds chirping. Sounds that spontaneously appear and disappear while the guitar jangles on. I could have helped out – I play a mean set of spoons.

You do realize that my friends have come to know me as someone who really knows her indie stuff, right? So what am I going to tell them when I’m driving around with some friends in my car and “Falling From the Sky” comes up on the mix tape and they start asking me who you are? Huh? Are you TRYING to ruin my reputation? Thanks to the often-rambling bios I get from other artists, I can say things about them like, “This band recorded the world’s only known death metal version of Bridge Over Troubled Water,” or “This woman paints her teeth with fluorescent White-Out.” But what can I say about Lee Simmons from San Francisco?

It would serve you right if I just made stuff up. “Oh, this guy? Great artist. Now that he’s finally out on parole after that whole Carrottop-stalking incident, maybe he’ll go on tour.” - Jennifer Layton

Lee Simmons seems to be part of a growing legion, that of the pop musician artist which actually has some depth, with intelligent lyrics and non-melodramatic melodies. Listeners rejoice! The songs here are melodic, dreamy, wistful, sometimes sad and sometimes pert. But they are all well balanced, with a 'less is more' approach. For example, take the lyrics from "Flare": "We are talking round in circles, knowing we've been here before... If I had my wits about me, I would never play pretend." Maybe if the record label bigwigs get smart and their whole "girls with blonde hair and blue eyes who can't sing" schtick falls apart, they'll actually sign on a guy with some musical and lyrical talent like Lee here. Then the people who've been despairing over the state of the music industry will have something to get genuinely excited about. - NA