Matthew Scharpf's Strangers and Saints

By Sal Nudo
Ridiculously catchy with a touch of elegance, especially during the first five songs, "Jamestown" is a hidden treasure of a CD. Though a bit thin-sounding productionwise, tunes like "Wakefield (the bright side)," "Roanoke" and the Dave Matthews-esque "Keith" contain an inescapable cheeriness that's contagious and hard not to enjoy. That's not to say, however, that Jamestown were pure feel-good fluff, not by a longshot. These guys wrote reflective, poignant tunes that classily and accurately captured the pains of growing into adulthood with reverence. "New England-Delaware Line" and "Finnegan's Wake," for instance, gently offer a reflective outlook that make Jamestown seem mature beyond their years as songwriters.

Jamestown were a Chicago band from the mid-1990s that met and formed at the University of Dayton. The guys were great musicians who weren't afraid to add instruments like the harmonica, bongos, keyboard, violin, accordion and banjo to the mix. The easy-on-the-ears, tenderly sung vocals in Jamestown were shared by Josh Chicoine and Lou Leone, both of whom, along with multi-talented instrumentalist Matt Scharpf, contributed the lion's share of songwriting duties. Like the band's even better 1998 album, Take This As You Will..., the "Jamestown" CD is chock full of its own graceful, reflective moments. Before it builds to an eventual crescendo, for instance, "Spiral Down" features great percussion work by Pat Buckley. The Chicoine-written tunes on "Jamestown" are contemplative and full of hooks and good transitions, while Leone's songs are equally well thought out.

Far from a cookie-cutter act, Jamestown were an above-average band cut in the same mold as Guster and a more melodic Dave Matthews Band. If you enjoy those groups, you should give Jamestown a try; for a while in the mid- to late-90s, the band created some really solid stuff. - Amazon.com