The Grays – Ro Sham Bo

Fronted by former Jellyfish guitarist Jason Falkner, The Grays were, not unlike Jellyfish, a short-lived experiment in excellent power-pop in the tradition of Rod Argent. The extremely melodic rock numbers on this album are all listenable, and the Falkner-penned “Very Best Years” leads off the album, a song that wouldn’t have been out of place on Falkner’s outstanding 1996 solo album. However, I find that my favorite songs on Ro Shambo were written by Jon Brion, another member of the group. I have no idea where this one went after the Grays, but his songwriting skills shine on “Nothing Between Us” and “Same Thing”, a fantastically harmonized tune both instrumentally and vocally. It’s really a shame that the Grays seem to have vanished even more quickly than Jellyfish did, because they truly had the spark of some prodigious talents, and this album remains unjustly in obscurity. Hard to find these days, but worth the search!

1. Very Best Years
2. Everybody’s World
3. Same Thing
4. Friend Of Mine
5. Is It Now Yet
6. Oh Well Maybe
7. Nothing Between Us
8. Both Belong
9. Nothing
10. Not Long For This World
11. Spooky
12. All You Wanted
13. No One Can Hurt Me

Released by: Elektra
Release date: 1994
Total running time: 59:06