Only Passing Through by Pattern-Seeking Animals

Only Passing Through by Pattern-Seeking Animals, excellent 2022 album, here in a version that includes two bonus tracks, a CD, and a silkscreened D-side.

We find progressive rock, but also funk and some spaghetti western touches. A solid and beautifully performed album that only confirms the greatness of this band, which I've spoken about at length in other posts. So, I'll focus on the tracks and my impressions.

- "Everdark Mountain" is a short and intense ballad that opens the album with complexity and gusto. Leonard's voice and guitar are beautiful, and Keegan's drums are truly sumptuous.

- "I Can't Stay Here Anymore" has a rock foundation but prides itself on offbeats from the start. The pace and energy are beautiful. The keyboard interludes that break up the rhythm and the synths are beautiful. An orchestral piece and a beautiful composition, but at the end it slows down and becomes more of a "song." Excellent piece, partly complex and partly melodic. The vocals are also beautiful.

- Time Has a Way, a beautiful, almost entirely instrumental track, the longest on the album at about 13 minutes, immediately launches into a prog style rich in sounds and variations. Piano, handclaps, many orchestral sounds, and synths are present throughout the song with highly refined sounds. Spectacular drums, with Meros' bass simply fantastic. The main theme is beautiful, becoming a break and a motif of virtuosity. The tempo changes and the song unwinds at times, epic, then resumes in a simpler way when the vocals, counterpoints, and choirs enter. The complexity then returns, supported by a masterful performance. It changes again when it slows down with the trumpet and a hint of mandolin over a thread of percussion. A beautiful song in all the many facets of an excellent composition.

- Rock Paper Scissors, with its initial acoustic guitar, has a ballad tempo in the opening section, then slows down with beautiful choruses and a pace reminiscent of an ancient folk song, and at times opens up with more epic and solemn sections. The vocals are extraordinary in their ability and interpretation. A beautiful song with a synth-based closing and chorus.

- Much Ado, part of a beautiful funk piece played beautifully with rock sounds. The acoustic guitar is beautiful, and once again, the drums. The piano and guitar, with the splendid drums and bass, and especially the vocals, provide moments that are almost pop, but with such precision! The guitar solo is fantastic, starting with a series of breaks in unison with the drums and bass. A monstrous moment. Almost five endless minutes. Beautiful from start to finish.

-The title track, Only Passing Through, is a beautiful song with a romantic mood and beautiful synths. It's beautifully composed and could be a pop hit, although the complexity this band manages to infuse into each song prevents me from calling it that. This is also a good piece. Very neo-prog compared to the rest of the songs, which lean more toward classic prog.

-Said the Stranger closes the B-side. It's beautiful from the start, with drums and bass dominating a rhythm as pressing as it is precise. Variations on the theme and the rhythm section are its strengths. As I've never noticed before, at least in my listening experience, there are moments reminiscent of the musicality and sound of Genesis—not references, but sensations, which are lost in their typical, dense, and complex sound. A riot of synths and electronica in the second half of the song, with a sound vaguely reminiscent of Depeche Mode. It's incredible how even a piece that initially seems simple becomes so complex, perfectly executed, and composed that it earns the title of masterpiece, because that's exactly what this song is.

- "Here with You with Me," a track that starts aggressively on a strong drum and bass rhythm, with a riot of guitars and synths. It then settles down and transitions into vocals, electronic percussion, and backing vocals in a beautiful interlude that then reconnects with the opening melody and rhythm. This too is in song form, with a beautiful composition and chorus. Once again, the guitar and drums are excellent, creating a solid, nuanced backbone.

This would be enough to call it a great album, but there are also two bonus tracks:

- "I'm Not Alright," with initial flutes reminiscent of Mexican ballads, for a sound that immediately begins to sway with beautiful, clean, and melodic rock. The flutes return at times, and there's a truly fitting chorus. Then comes a beautiful but brief section where drums and bass lay out the framework for a beautiful guitar solo, with the flutes being wonderfully more present at the end.

- The short and catchy "Just Another Day at the Beach" closes this version, with vocals and acoustic guitar, a monstrously clean and beautiful bass, in a simple and exciting melody. A beautiful song played with the instruments and talent of a group of artists. It all seems effortless, but it's just an impression.

The artwork is beautiful, featuring the deer in the dark with golden, glowing antlers, also present in the silkscreen.

At times, the album takes us back to the '80s, but not in a bad way. There are melodies and tempos that are influenced by them, moments that are almost pop, but they never are, and if they are, it's exceptional. Imagine seeing Roberto Bolle dancing in a disco: it is not and never will be a disco dance, and if it is, it's certainly exceptional.

A band that, in the different sounds expressed on the album, demonstrates that they can play practically everything excellently.

Each member of the band is delightful in their role and a protagonist in their own way, with a great balance of sounds and no prevarication. Exemplary teamwork, as always, is one of the keys to success, in this case to the success of the album, and of this as well as their other works.

This band owes much to the talent of its musicians, all of them without exception. It's incredible how strong they are individually and as a group, without a single hesitation.

And above all, the production is exceptional. An album that, in my opinion, will earn the appreciation note after note, even of the most skeptical of modern prog and prog purists, because, as one of the greatest geniuses of modern music said:

"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible." (Frank Zappa)

Highly recommended!

The Tracks
1. Everdark Mountain (2:50)
2. I Can't Stay Here Anymore (6:05)
3. Time Has a Way (1.15pm)
4. Rock Paper Scissors (5:01)
5. Much Ado (4:49)
6. Only Passing Through (4:19)
7. Said the Stranger (7:07)
8. Here with You with Me (8:14)
9. I'm Not Alright (4:17) *
10. Just Another Day at the Beach (3:32) *
Total Time 59:29
*bonus tracks

Line-Up
- Jimmy Keegan -drums, vocals
- Ted Leonard - lead vocals, guitar
- Dave Meros - bass
- John Boegehold - keyboards