A Revolution without Wires
GEMINI RYAN
On this six-song release, Gemini Ryan seems to be attempting to combine clubby urban anthems and teen-pop balladry with rock guitar and harder-edged Beck-isms. Unfortunately, the softer stuff ("Fades Away") is half-baked, and the heavier, more hip-hop-influenced material just comes off as hollow posturing delivered over cheesy synths, coldly overprocessed guitars, stock bass grooves and redundant drum machine patterns. The music itself is overwhelmingly generic, but what really kneecaps A Revolution without Wires is Ryan's overall vocal persona. He tries far too hard to sound sexy, soulful and hard; the end result is none of those things, and his lyrics (a personal favorite: "small-town ass with the big-city titties") are, um, not good. 1 star
