Between
Dave Schramm's stints in both
Human Switchboard and
Yo La Tengo, Ron Metz's years with
Human Switchboard, and Al Greller's work with
Peter Stampfel,
the Schramms had plenty of miles under their collective belt when they recorded their first album,
Walk to Delphi, and if the results suggest the band was still fine tuning their musical personality, there's no arguing they play with tremendous skill and authority on these sessions, and
Dave Schramm leaves no doubt that he's an unusually gifted guitarist and songwriter. The striking balance of pop, rock, and folk that the band found on Little Apocalypse was still a few years down the road, and in many respects
Walk to Delphi is lighter and hookier than much of what would follow from this band, though it manages to fall a bit short of "radio friendly" -- as tuneful as
Schramm's tunes are here, and as winning the performances may be, there's a dark undercurrent to songs like "Out of the Earth," "He Has Got a Gun," and "The Way Some People Die," which belies their seemingly upbeat surfaces. But for a band taking their first turn at bat,
the Schramms sound remarkable confident on
Walk to Delphi, and with good reason, given the quality of the material and the easy skill
Schramm and his bandmates bring to these recordings. Like much of
the Schramms' body of work,
Walk to Delphi slipped through the cracks on its first release in the United States (the band would fare better in time in Europe), but it's certainly a record that demands rediscovery, and fully rewards the search. ~ Mark Deming