A Love Restrained finds
Granfaloon Bus mining territory similar to
Uncle Tupelo or a less-ethnic
Camper Van Beethoven: a wide range of rock music peppered, at times, with various country and americana influences. Instruments like accordion, fiddle, clarinet and mandolin add a nice old-timey simplicty to the some of the arrangements. Songs vary from electric rockers with strange movie samples, like "Cuba Libre" and "Mea Maxima Saurus" to mostly acoustic, poppy numbers, like "3rd Time," which could have come from the
Camper Van Beethoven songbook.
Leader Felix Costanza sings in a voice that is perfectly suited to their hidden cover of
Neil Young's "Powderfinger"; a laid-back, half-sung style similar to
Howe Gelb of
Giant Sand. The band does a fine job on everything from the acoustic side to the extended electric workouts, but the ride seems somewhat meadering at times. The lyrics of "Noah's Showgirls" and "Pitchin' Woo" show that Costanza can really turn a phrase; however, it's songs like "Heathen's Landlord" and "Love Restrained" that point to a more uniquely individual style that melds very poetic lyrics beautifully with rootsy rock. ~ Sean Westergaard