Exceptional Edward

At first listen, you may think this band hails from Sussex or Liverpool. Acclaimed Columbus, OH indie rockers Exceptional Edward's EP The Exceptional EP is an addictive, six song collection of BritPop straight from the Great Lakes area of the United States. But, with comparisons to Coldplay, Oasis, Travis and U2, Exceptional Edward has managed to appeal to a wide audience reaching far beyond its midwestern home. Much like the Minneapolis-based and critically acclaimed band The Replacements, this group has artfully managed to capture a similar sound spot on.

Exceptional Edward combines effusive arrangements with effortless songwriting sensibility to reverently capture the BritSound essence. The CD embarks on its journey across the pond with the standout track "So Strange". This is not to say that the EP drops off from there. Indeed, all of the tracks are remarkably exceptional, including "Elephant" and "Things Happen", defining their sound without being excessive in their genre. The arrangements are tight, the melodies infectious and the hooks, particularly on "So Strange", are enduring. It gets inside, and then stays there.
- Mike Canter of SonicJive

The term Brit-Pop is one of those slightly nondescript terms coined by some laconic British music journalist in an attempt to define a key moment during a transitional period of U.K. based rock and pop.

It happens all the time, really. Think grunge, punk, electronica and trip-hop - all offshoots of previously defined genres. The terms are endless and coined as a result of critics and fans scrambling to sub-define and culture the music they love. Nonetheless, Brit-Pop, which emerged from the Manchester pop music explosion of the mid-eighties, is defined as pop music with a decidedly British slant to it. That's where Exceptional Edward fits in.

Influenced by such contemporaries as Oasis, The Verve and Radiohead, with perhaps a little Death Cab For Cutie mixed in, Exceptional Edward has hit its collective stride with the release of "Lost At Sea". The song that first caught my attention is "Home", a judicious intersection of infectious, searing guitars and sentimental vocals that leads to a stunningly breathtaking crescendo - I could only imagine how amazing it would be to hear this song performed live. That being said, the entire CD is brilliantly memorable, featuring a number of intelligent, sweeping epics and catchy singles. Indeed, Exceptional Edward covers the entire Brit-Pop spectrum: anthemic ("Good People"); enigmatic ("Never Come Down"); intoxicating ("Home"); atmospheric ("Buried By Gray") and hypnotic ("The Sea Captain").

"Lost At Sea" makes an indelible imprint on the Brit-Pop genre that is decidedly American, and cements their place in a resurgence of that movement. In fact, the song "Good People" stands shoulder-to-shoulder with any of the previous efforts that influenced Exceptional Edward's sound. The whole disc has a seminal, uber-cool feel to it that is reminiscent of the richly-textured, ethereal debut release by The Verve, "A Storm In Heaven", which coincidentally tops my list as the Best Of Brit Sound.

I dare you to try and listen to this disc just once (you won't be able to). Yes, it's that hypnotically entrancing. In fact, I may break out The La's, Radiohead, Oasis, The Verve, K.L.F. and Exceptional Edward's "Lost At Sea" and have my very own Brit Sound Saturday Night. - Mike Canter-Sonic Jive

http://lifeonthecbus.com/Review%3A_Exceptional_Edward.html
- Jeff Pfeiffer

I couldn't find any where in the band's press material where their name came from, but they sure got the exceptional part right. This band plays a brand of Indie rock that I would definitely describe as, 'exceptional.'

Getting their start thanks to a chance meeting at a local music store former neighbors, Jason Turner (rhythm guitar, lead vocals) and Brian Gillis (drums), then adding Garth Heasley (bass, vocals), and Dan Gillis (lead guitar) to round out the band's lineup.

Exceptional Edward has been playing live shows since 2005, and released their first EP, The Exceptional in 2006. Now the band is back with their debut full-length release, Lost at Sea.

Lost at Sea is on Tad Thunder's Ohio based Champions of the Arts Indie record label.

Exceptional Edward's sound has drawn comparisons to groups like, Coldplay, Counting Crows, Band of Horses, Oasis, and Death Cab For Cutie.

The band waste no time getting the fun started on this release with track-1, "Change My Mind," a song that kicks off with a big burst of organ followed by guitars.

The two singles from the release are "Never Come Down, and "Good People." The song, "Never Come Down," is a piano and guitar filled ballad that talks about the life of a circus runaway, but I got the feeling that it was also a metaphor for the life of a musician and always being on the road.

The second single, "Good People," also happens to be my pick for favorite track on the CD. The song is one of the most rocking tracks found on the CD and talks about broken people and also has a bit of a faith element found in its lyrics.

Two other songs that I want to mention are, "A Night Like This," and "At the Steak 'n Shake." Both of these songs have vocals that are soaked with emotions that really drive home the lyrics found in them. The songs deal with life choices and loneliness. I also really liked the way that both of the songs were arranged, starting out soft and building to a thunderous crescendo ending.

I can't believe that I haven't heard of this band and their music before now. Get Lost at Sea and spread the word about this great band to all of your friends.
- C.W. Ross-Indie Music Stop

During the past several years, local indie-rock band Exceptional Edward has been putting out solid stuff, mostly in self-released EP form. That slow-but-steady process makes even sweeter this full-length debut. It's a success for a talented band and a treat for listeners who've gotten only occasional bits of well-crafted, lyrical odes and catchy riffs that draw from slick, delicate indie outfits like Death Cab for Cutie.

Here's where Chris DeVille and I differ.

My favorite track is "Change My Mind," which opens the album with a resounding organ riff and a reverby guitar that gives the no-frills chamber pop the Western grit mastered by Duane Eddy. DeVille, on the other hand, prefers "Never Come Down," a fantastic ballad driven by acoustic guitar, piano and a story about the life of a circus runaway.
- John Ross-Columbus Alive

I unequivocally love Exceptional Edward’s 11-song release “Lost at Sea.” It is artful without being arty. It is mellow without being soft. It is melodic without being saccharine. “Lost at Sea” is delicious the way thoughtful music should be.

EE draws from a variety of sources including sensitive radio-friendly fare ala Coldplay and thought provoking lyrics in the Barenaked Ladies vein. They found a way to tap eighties soft-core and drop in an acoustic vibe – successfully marrying folk and indie-pop and – well – I’m gushing.

A band this infectious only comes along every once in a while.

Jason Turner’s vocals are intriguing. He doesn’t shout the words at you – he very nearly whispers them which – if we learned anything from TV in the 1980s – is the way to get someone’s attention.

The guitar work courtesy of Turner and Dan Gillis knows exactly where it fits in the scheme of things. Simultaneously jangly and harmonic – these two musicians offer a clinic in team work. They don’t try to outshine each other – they support each other.

Brian Gillis – the drummer – does a solid job. There are no pyrotechnics here – just the right beat – the right combination – the right fill at the right time – what else can you ask for.

Garth Heasly might be getting the short end of the stick. His bass playing doesn’t ever get the prominence it deserves. Bass players – historically – don’t get their due. If they don’t stick out it is probably because they are doing such a good job – you just don’t notice.

EE and “Lost at Sea” will be the latest entry into the hallowed halls of my iPod. Only the best get in and this unassuming, little disc is right in there with the best music of the last 50 years.
- Score! Music Magazine

Best Indie

Exceptional Edward -- Lost At Sea

I said at first that this, the full-length debut from Columbus, Ohio indie-rockers Exceptional Edward, was Death Cab For Cutie as Death Cab couldn’t do it. But Lost At Sea is far more than just an aping of their major-label counterparts. At times it’s tender and toned-down (“Buried By Gray,” “Never Come Down”), while other songs, like opener “Change My Mind” or the roiling, riff-based “Sea Captain,” are all slow-burning energy. This is a tight and varied disc, and Exceptional Edward’s evocative lyrics and shimmering instrumentation add up to one well-navigated, more than promising debut.
- Daily Vault-Melanie Love

Running a music blog isn’t all that I had hoped it would be when I first started Silent Sound Waves; it’s ten times better than I ever thought it would be! The most immediate perk is that bands and promoters send us music to listen to because they want us to write about it. Most of the time the music doesn’t match the type of music we write about, but that just makes it all the more pleasing when I receive emails such as the one I got from Jason Turner, one of the founding halves of Ohio based indie pop/rockers known as Exceptional Edward.

Citing Coldplay, U2, Oasis and Radiohead as their most important influences, it comes as no surprise that the tunes these guys put together are filled with pleasant melodies and traditional arrangements that should sound well in every set of ears. That being said, I think it is safe to say that their biggest influence, at least judging by their sound, has been Death Cab for Cutie, the grandfathers of the genre. Then again, it could just be the striking similarity between Jason Turner, Edward’s lead vocalist, and Ben Gibbard of Death Cab’s voice, which in itself speaks volumes about what a capacity this up and coming band really is.

It was sometime back in 2006 that the mentioned Turner and Brian Gillis, the band’s drummer, met at a local music and, by some odd sequence of events that followed, got together to form the band that would be known as Exceptional Edward. Realizing that they needed a full band in order to maxmize their potential, the duo added to Garth Heasley on bass and then eventually Dan Gillis as lead guitarist, and the lineup was complete.

By the end of the year the hardworking group had put together their first release, The Exceptional EP, and it apparently became a hit in the local scene, and set the stage for what was to come. In April of 2008 Exceptional Edward finally released their first full-length, titled Lost At Sea, and it was this record which caught my attention. It’s full of solid tracks from the opener, Change My Mind, which is a perfectly crafted indie-radio-pop tune, via the middle-section The Sea Captain, a more serious and introspective approach, to Home at the ending, which is a strong and melodiously powerful ballad.

It wasn’t without reason why The Daily Vault Music Reviews rewarded Lost at Sea with the title “Best Indie Album� of 2008: It really was at the very least one of the best among all the ones I got a chance to listen to. And with prospects of not only new songs, but a new entire full-length coming this year, I suggest you jump right over to their MySpace profile and give them a listen. It should take you no more than 60 seconds before you realize just how good this is, and by then it is about time you do yourself a favour and purchase their album, because this is one of those bands if that if you start paying attention to the now, you’ll get bragging rights when the day comes that all of your friends are talking about them as well. - Silent Sound Waves-Lars-Christian

When I popped in this disc, the full-length debut from Columbus, Ohio indie-rockers Exceptional Edward, I thought I had put in Death Cab For Cutie’s Plans or Transatlanticism (a.k.a. flawless Death Cab, pre-this year’s spotty Narrow Stairs). It’s uncanny, really, how much vocalist Jason Turner sounds like Ben Gibbard; his voice, like Gibbard’s, is high, sweet, soaring, though admittedly Turner sometimes sounds a little less in control than his predecessor. The instrumentation, too, is all irresistible hooks and sparkling guitars, lovely melodies that lodge in your mind à la a more intimate, fresh spin on U2 or Coldplay. There’s still an intriguing roughness to this batch of eleven tracks, be it in the fuzzy guitars or Turner’s sometimes hesitant croon, which sets the still relatively new group apart from the big-label slickness that’s recently hit my beloved Death Cab.

If it’s the Death Cab card that pulled me in, it’s the lyrics that kept me there. At once sharply wrought and sometimes surreal, for the most part the songs here have the depth and range of a band with twice Exceptional Edward’s longevity (the group released a self-produced EP in 2006 before this disc).

Opener “Change My Mind” is simple yet evocative, launching out with an
Arcade Fire-esque organ before laying on a shimmering guitar riff and introducing an out-of-sorts Turner singing about “a city filled with light / Though the brightness hurt my eyes / I was still okay.” Swerving through an encounter with a man taller than the trees, Turner finally walks up into the sun -- “And I was not the only one who was headed home,” he says as the low-key guitars continue percolating in the background. It’s not as hooky as later single “Good People,” but it sets up the slow-burn part of Exceptional Edward’s sound.

Next up “Places And Faces” feels too vague after the imagery of the opener, and the track doesn’t really go anywhere despite a nice, nimble guitar interlude from Dan Gillis. Still, it’s a pretty unsatisfying lead-in to one of Lost At Sea’s standouts, “The Sea Captain.” Starting out with a guitar line that’s simultaneously jittery and almost hypnotic, this track is a little ominous, strangely catchy, and altogether excellent. Turner’s deeper, more confident vocals and the seamless transition from the brooding intro that tells the story of a lonely, aimless sea captain following the stars to a driving, powerful anthem. “I have to keep this ship afloat,” Turner proclaims against a backdrop of chugging drums and blossoming melodies, and it’s stunning and resilient -- check this out, if nothing else.

Single “Never Come Down” is a more toned-down, thoughtful affair, just light guitars and delicate accompanying piano on this no-frills, crisply-told tale of glamorous circus life with the achingly bare refrain, “But I’ll never come down.” It’s tough to say it’s representative of the Exceptional Edward sound, since “Good People” suddenly has vintage Oasis written all over it, with big, ringing guitars and Brian Gillis pounding away on the drums (although I’m pretty sure Oasis never penned this sensitive an anthem about lepers and searching desperately for a savior.)

From West Coast disillusion that swiftly morphs into a gorgeous, honest ballad about a not-right love (“All we do is drink our dreams…I see each day fading into another / Sorry I can’t give you more”) on “About A Boy” to the sunny rhythms and hopeful sentiment of “Goodbye” to the double-punch of full, soaring vocals and guitars on “A Night Like This” and “Home,” it’s tough to find a track on Lost At Sea that isn’t, well, exceptional. I’m only a few listens in to this disc and I’m already blown away. This is what Death Cab’s last album should have sounded like, but since they missed the boat it seems time to hand the wheel over to Exceptional Edward, who have managed to find their way beautifully in this Sea. - The Daily Vault Music-Melanie Love

Exceptional Edward - Lost At Sea - CD
(ExEd) Now this is an interesting disc. The music reminds me of early college rock bands such as Camper Van Beethoven and early R.E.M. with a lo-fi sound and tinges of alt-country. The sound is primarily rock, but with a bit of spacey experimentalism and a roots country-rock backbeat at times and soaring guitars when called for, but never overdone. The singer has a unique voice that would be at home in any geekcore band and I’m sure is annoying to some, but has a unique appeal to me. He really has a knack for storytelling within his songs, being able to flesh out quite elaborate characters in a short space. My favorite song on the disc is the sonically soaring and emotionally tortured “A Night Like This.”
-- Grog Mutant (2008) - TheChickenFishSpeaks