Stanley Ross Sets Fire to Indie Conventions
Nicholas Meiers aka Stanley Ross makes the alter ego musician cool again on Here With Me
Stanely Ross
Here With Me
Released on Aug 01, 2009
Alter egos, generally speaking, are cool. Hiding behind a lie because the person that you really are is too dynamic for the real world is a good thing. For musicians, the alter ego has had a mixed history. Ziggy Stardust, the guitar toting alien from Mars, made David Bowie one of the bad asses of the 70s. Garth Brooks’s side project Chris Gaines, not very cool at all. Stanley Ross, the alter ego of Chicago singer/songwriter Nicholas Meiers, is a misnomer for the type of music Meiers creates in his band. Meiers has previously worked with other notable Chicago bands such as Kaspar Hauser and Soft Jolts, so he’s no virgin to the Chicago music world. However the type of music that he’s made with these other bands cannot be the basis of judgment about Meiers’s style.
The name Stanley Ross itself reminds me of the nerdy kid in grade school, the one that instead of playing soccer with the other boys sat underneath his favorite tree and read books beyond his grade level. But the Stanley Ross on Here With Me sounds like the product of a child who loved matches and sugar, which put this alter ego under the “Bad Ass” category. The opener “UR Mine” kick starts the album straight off, ripe with the carefree flavor Stanley Ross exhibits in the rest of the album. The album displays the hopeful feelings we all have when we’re young and don’t have the will or need to over think our actions. But don’t call Here With Me juvenile. Meiers and his crew are all talented musicians, with Meier’s himself exhibiting a warm voice and well-written lyrics. “Here With Me,” a personal favorite from the album, sounds chipper and cute with Meier singing about his delight in finding someone to love. But as the song reaches the chorus we see that this person has scorned the narrator. How could a song about heartbreak be so fun? That dual nature that Stanley Ross exhibits in Here With Me is what makes the album so entertaining. It’s fun and entertaining, but it’s not something covered in pop and production that you have to be ashamed about listening to. That’s what Stanley Ross seems to be. Music doesn’t always have to be work. Sometimes you can just get together with your friends, write some songs, and produce something where it’s apparent that everyone had a blast making it. Just by listening to “Lasso” you can hear the positive energy put into this insane punk-attitude track. It’s hard to fake enthusiasm track to track, so either Stanley Ross deserves an Oscar for convincing us all that their love for music is genuine or these guys are the real deal.
High Point
Here With Me can easily appeal to anyone because of it’s mixed genres and overall energetic attitude.
Low Point
The middle of the album lags a bit. I wish Meiers would have moved some of the more upbeat tracks around so that the album maintains it’s momentum throughout.
Posted by Amy Dittmeier on Sep 24, 2009 @ 6:00 am
