Meta-Lark - Meta-Lark

Meta-Lark

Meta-Lark
​self-released; 2022

By J. J. Thayer

Will Vickers, a member of several bands around the Columbus, Ohio area, decided to chronicle some of the original tunes from those groups in his Meta-Lark project. For two years, he worked on and off in his home studio, resulting in the six-track, forty-five minute Meta-Lark album. Vickers is joined by keyboardist Pat Rein, and plays the other instruments himself.

Vickers cites prog-rock influences like Yes and King Crimson, as well as the jam-band leanings of the Grateful Dead and Phish. With those guides, plus that track count and running time, you’d expect some longer cuts. Indeed Meta-Lark starts right there with its fifteen-minute opener “Raganarok.” The Yes influence is clear with the unison organ-and-guitar riffing; there are elements of jazz, funk and ‘70s soul too, especially as the instruments trade solo passages. A little over halfway through, Meta-Lark shifts to a softer feel, with spooky, Pink Floyd-esque keyboards. Rein puts a bow on the composition and caps the track with the same synth tones from the intro. It’s a nice piece, although the vocals were a bit incongruous. The sung melodies weren’t as well-constructed as the rest of the track–they’re almost an afterthought, especially in light of the work put in to the rest of the cut.

“The Ballad of Davy Westwood” provides quite a contrast to the previous track. It’s an old country-saloon rocker, with acoustic guitar, piano and an old-West lyric on top of a train-beat groove. It’s fun, the arrangement is tight and the band nails the genre.

Next up is “Surf” which features guest vocalist Sarah Wilgus and brings back some of the feel from the first track. There are elements of jazz, soul, funk, with some bluesy, riffy, prog-rock elements too. It grooves, but it’s slightly generic and wanders around: it’s more a warm-up jam, including the obligatory E7#9 chord, than a well-developed song. Rein’s keyboard work almost saves the track. The best part is the outro riff–the band’s focus comes back and they deliver a tasty section.

The instrumental “Dead Leshi” has a feel like a fancy European court dance whose name is lost to anyone born after the Eighteenth Century. It incorporates some classical elements, including figured runs, string sounds and Brian Ferry-esque pull-off guitar licks. It is a tightly-arranged, compact delight and one of the album’s highlights.

“Evermind” brings the riffs back, starting with a cool bass figure in much the same feel as “Surf.” Rein gets his blues-scale keyboard exercises in before the band shifts to clavinet-based funk with triangle-wave synths and conga drums straight out of a disco twelve-inch. It’s great fun, but there’s no transition in and out of the section, as if the engineer took two songs and spliced them together. Vickers’ lyrics (“serene tranquility of a mind / you thought it was of a certain kind”) didn’t add much here.

The nine-minute epic “Hexifis” closes the album. Meta-Lark touches on the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers and some heavier rock over the track. Rein is again the star here, with varied keyboard tones and parts that hold the various sections together well and keeps up the interest. The track moves along well, until the eight-minute mark, where we get some vocals and a moral lesson. “If you decide to spend your time / trying to make your reasons rhyme / you will find the years go by too fast / If you instead decide one day / to live another way / and never focus on the past / you will find your moments last,” says Vickers. Thanks Dad. Way to harsh my mellow.

​Meta-Lark tries a lot of things on their debut album, and achieves some success. They’re at their best when they keep their focus (“The Ballad of Davey Westwood,” “Dead Leshi”), and Pat Rein’s keyboard playing shines throughout. Let us hope Vickers and Rein keep pushing toward their next album.

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