Release Date: February 22, 2005
Reviewed by Scott Olivenbaum
The artwork on Open Hand’s You and Me disc depicts two hands reaching for each other. When you pull the booklet out and open it up, the female hand has actually just thrown a butcher knife into the male heart.
That pretty much sums up much of the lyrical content of the release. The emotional anguish is brought out by Justin Isham’s sorrowful vocals as they float along waves of stoner-rock guitars. The whole package comes together in what can be classified as prog-emo.
Female guest vocals pop up in several tracks but sound more masculine than Isham’s, quite likely intentionally as a statement about the broken relationship.
All is not miserable, a positive vibe that all will be ok is left, if
you can keep with it. For those not enamored with the wanderings of stoner rock, sticking with it will be a task.
Few tracks wander much above three minutes but the disc’s pacing bends time perception. That is a good thing on “The Ambush” and “Tough Guy”, easily the top cuts on the record.
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