“Exhilarama”

By Tree One Four

As reviewed by Allen Fennewald

Tree One Four is a neo-psychedelic rock band that combines elements of hard rock, neo-psychedelic, reggae and more.

They’re psychedelic in spirit but don’t lean too heavily on the trippy at the expense of song structure. There aren’t any ten-minute theremin solos, but they’ll work in some hypnotic breakdowns with face-melting guitar work.

Tree One Four is made up of guys who grew up on ’90s alternative music, and they set out from the start to avoid conforming around a genre. “I think you can hear a little of that on the album,” Frontman Brad Millaway said. “It’s a good mesh.”

The St. Louisians take their name from the StL area code (314), with a little floral twist.

Many of their jams blend the harmonious vibes of ’90s classics like Dispatch with the intricate melodies, jumping beats and tricky guitar work of dub-punk-reggae acts like Slightly Stoopid. Then there’s the dark and dirty side of the coin, with heavily distorted guitar, hallucinatory synthesizer and hellfire drums.

Brad said he was inspired by the driving yet chaotic sound of groups like The Mars Volta. “I like the fact that [Omar Rodriguez] is just weird as hell with zero remorse, but at the same time, can be extremely high energy.”

The trade between driving rock and laid-back reggae gives their songs mountainous peaks and verdant valleys. And every now and again one of those valleys hosts a wild funk party and the like. Bassist Paul Johns is a bad man, so turn up that low end a bit and enjoy.

They have jam-band hearts but a tight sound with high-quality production. Everyone in this band sets their instrument on fire, from the strings to the skins. Their sound is a full course meal, featuring spicy guitar work, buttery bass lines, savory keys and absolutely fatty percussion.

This is Tree One Four’s first earnest debut album, though they put out minor works in 2018 and ’19. Brad said this is the first album that really represents Tree One Four’s capabilities.

“I think ‘Exhilarama’ is unapologetically us,” he said. “And that’s what I love about it.”

The album was recorded at Encapsulated Studios in Maplewood, MO, by the talented Gabe Usery. “Gabe Usery deserves a lot of credit,” Brad said. “We came to him with a vision of what we wanted, and he breathed life into it. I think that’s pretty cool.”

Members of Tree One Four with Steve Ewing from The Urge
📷: facebook.com/treeonefour

The intro comes in with an extraterrestrial outlaw vibe, a glistening rhythm guitar picking out the chords beneath a windy, wahed-out lead, cymbals churning beneath them before the bass beat breaks in.

Then Brad takes over on lead guitar, carrying you through the sleepy little ghost town in the stars with a haunting tone that reminded me of Eddie Van Halen’s last guitar solo in “Dreams” — you know, that song at the end of the Power Rangers movie.

Then the floor falls out of the magic carpet and the band breaks into a tidal churning metal break, letting loose with a chugging rhythm separated by a flurry of guitar licks.

The first official track on the album takes the vibe in a more playful direction, coming at you with a zany little groove that keeps you bopping beneath a rap that flows like “What You Need” by Galactic.

The lyrics speak to the simple things that we can all relate to:

I wanna wear tie-dye and eat peyote in the desert

Wanna buy a motorcycle, wear all black leather

Wanna get a picture of my neighbor’s cat on a sweater

I want two large pizzas, everything on them, extra cheddar.

The drummer really puts on the heat during the chorus, holding down the sound as the rest of the group falls back on staccato hits to add to the tension of the lyrics. The harmony on the second chorus especially is crisp yet powerful, going acappella without losing any of the song’s energy like Queen managed to accomplish in “Bohemian Rhapsody”.

This is the list of my demands

The situation right here is getting out of hand

And if you want the hostages to walk free

You’d better write down everything that I am saying

Tree One Four @ Midwest Bearfest
📷: C. Mac Photography

“Living” comes in driving hard and fast, like that rush of slamming on the gas pedal before coasting into the first verse.

Tree One Four takes you along with them as they enjoy the relaxation of nature and the exhilaration of dancing with someone pretty.

The lyrical voicing begins light yet bouncy.

Smelling the fresh spine, reaching for sunshine

I’m doing alright

The birds are singing, no phone is ringing

I’m holding on tight

The music shifts between the driving chorus, gnarly guitar solos and dreamy reggae verses, carrying you along so well that the end of the song comes as a disappointing surprise. The last guitar solo twists you up with beautiful dissonance before the sweet release of the final chorus.

“Amen” is a modern man’s hymn in a God-forsaken world, complete with an introductory drum solo. It comes in with a swinging rhythm and tight little guitar lick. Brad takes the mic spitting like Busta Rhymes on reggae.

You wake up, then you turn around

See the chalk-drawn outline of yourself on the ground

Are you alive, are you dead, is it in your head?

Are you tripping out from something you were fed?

The lyrics get at the repetitive, trying nature of the working people’s way of life — the solace many must take in just getting by another day.

The final guitar solo is trebly in all the best ways. The wah pedal rocks heavy before the strings scream.

“Hell” is a fun little number for the title. The verses cover the trials and struggles of living in the lower stratus of St. Louis, peering through the fences of gated communities.

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence I cannot climb

Won’t you come with me to a place I know so well?

Won’t you come with me to hell?

While the song thus far is rather dark, the instrumental break is downright delightful, giving you a brief chance to dance before we fall into a black hole that worms back into the verse before ending on a monstrous little jam that hits like “Mayday” by Perpetual Groove.

“Crossroads” will getcha dancing. It starts in the hips, and before long you’ll be shaking ass across the living room. The chords are snappy, giving the bass room to walk all up and down the progression.

Putcha hands up for the chorus as it rises toward the roof. I especially love the little turnaround that resolves each measure. Give it a listen and try not to smile.

Meet me at the crossroads

I’m down the street from where we used to live

It’s 3 a.m. and I’m not going home

I’m down the street from where we used to live

If you like bass in your face, slapping and popping across your cheeks, then this is the track to put on repeat. Paul puts on a master class in the subtle art of funkery before the rest of the band breaks in with a progressive vibe that layers over the bass line like an electric blanket.

“Space Racing Bandit” is dripping in stardust. So saddle up your spaceship and get ready to disco through the Milky Way.

She’s a space racing bandit

And she drives like a shooting star

She’s a space racing bandit

In a cherry red drop-top space car

It feels like the keys really come to play on this track, offering tickling licks and splashy chords. The instrumental break is one of my favorite moments of the album, the strings flowing together up and down the scale before the organ blows: one, two, three — begin again.

As we all know, “Sam Jackson” rolls hard as a mother. So it comes as no surprise that drummer Tim Eytalis and Bongo Jak put the percussion to work harder than Phil Collins on cocaine for this one.

The skins get hit too many ways to count, but they’re all on point.

Hold on to your butts, because they’re coming to lay that vengeance upon you! Those with high blood pressure beware, this one will bring your heart rate up a bit.

Walking through despair, mother fucker like Samuel Jackson

Yeah, you know, we looking for that action

Trigger finger itchin’, and that boy get to scratchin’

While one would think a song named “Cough” would be a fun little weed song, this track gets heavy enough to weigh down the smoke. This track is cynically apolitical, urging listeners not to lean in but look within.

Come down to earth and then you’ll realize

Whether you’re right, whether you’re left, even the center’s full of lies

Search your soul, search your soul

Let it in, let it start to take control

Or we can sit right back and watch the world burn

The instrumentalists stay on point, taking the song to extreme highs before the waterfall, tumbling down and splashing into a pool of guitar work. Brad and fellow guitarist Joe Foerster fugue on a dual-guitar solo that will carry you away.

If you’re a sports fan, you’re probably going to recognize something about the introductory melody of “The Kraken”. It’s pretty damn close to that familiar “DaDaDa,” composed by John Colby.

Paul said he didn’t know about the SportsCenter theme when he wrote the riff, but he can definitely hear the similarities.

The song then moves far afield from cable television with a milky dream-state verse. Close your eyes and Tree One Four will have you floating in the ocean. Just beware of monsters, because the Kraken is coming, and it sounds like SportsCenter is on.

Now, we’ve been having a lot of fun so far on this record, but it’s time to get serious — seriously sensual. “Waterfall Skies” is a cuddle tune to put you in the mood. Let Tree One Four pick you up and rock you in their tender loving care.

I put my soul in these lyrics for you

Take with you wherever you go

Pick you up when you’re feeling blue

Girl you know I’ll always be true

Brad puts his range to the test and passes at the top of the class, crooning and swooning all over the scale. It’s fit to give somebody the vapors.

The bass solo is soft and sexy, just the way I like it. Its sultry little bops and plucks work you like a massage that’s happy all the way through. Brad comes in response on the six-string, licking each note like it’s cherry-flavored. Then the organ takes a turn, adding a twinkly solo to the night, necessary for any long night under covers beneath the sky.

Finally, we come to “The Letter”, the album’s bookend track (originally performed by The Box Tops). If we loved somebody on that last song, we’re really missing them now.

You know that feeling when you’re on the way home after a long trip, and you just can’t get there fast enough. Tree One Four does, too.

Give me to a ticket for an airplane

I ain’t got time to take no fast train

Oh, lonely days are gone

I’m coming home

My baby, she wrote me a letter

The hand drums come back hot, rattling and rolling through the instrumental breakdowns like that fast train as Brad gives an over-the-top guitar solo from his seat in the airplane.

The boys all come together on a backing harmony, ending out the album with some nice call and response work that’ll make you smile.

Be ready for more from Tree One Four. Brad said they’ve already put together four new songs for the next release. And you might even catch them at a venue near you, so check out their show sch edule.

ALBUM REVIEW: Tree One Four's "Exhilarma"