Beautiful, Historic
DAYLIGHT DISTRICT
(MySpace.com/daylightdistrict)
Orlando/Bradenton quartet Daylight District's full-length Beautiful, Historic melds funk, punk, emo and hip-hop in a highly distinctive manner. Keyboardist/vocalist and chief songwriter Frank Friend alternates between melodic rapping and singing. The lyrics largely focus on personal struggles — but there are also a couple odes to partying. Tim Heller's bass lines, Aaron O Tobin's drumming and Paul Solorzano's guitar work flesh out Friend's eclectic musings and keyboard foundations. One of the disc's finest numbers, "Are We There Yet?," finds Friend playing acoustic guitar and rapping over a melody that climaxes into a gripping mash-up of indie-rock and funk. 3 stars
This article appears in Jun 11-17, 2008.