The Seventh Triangle is the duo of Jason Peri and Dave Tilton. Their latest CD, TOWA, clocks in at a remarkable two hours. You can buy it as downloads, as a two-disk set or as a CD-ROM disk -- the latter has an extra half hour of songs from other CDs but will only play in MP3-compatible players.

In the past, Tilton has compared the band's sound to Steely Dan. Actually, there is quite a difference, since the Seventh Triangle seems to work from a singer-songwriter format instead of Steely Dan's jazz orientation.

Both groups are adept at writing beautiful melodies. The Triangle is not as consistent with lyrics, however. Occasionally they are brilliant, as in "SHTNR," a tribute to William Shatner, which asks, "William Shatner, did you ever wake up and forget/Whether it was Captain Kirk or really you in bed?" Other times they are more awkward; for example, "Too many days since the truth was near/Too many ways to be held by fear" on "One More Shot."

Peri and Tilton share credit for writing the songs and for guitar and vocals, although I believe Peri does almost all of the singing. The songs are based around guitar and vocals, although the best cuts have added instruments and arrangements. Tilton also plays harmonica and trumpet, while Peri plays keyboards, bass, percussion and computer.

Because of TOWA's length, the songs do blend into each other after a time, but I did not hear any mediocre "filler" material during the extended time I spent with this group.

I would recommend this CD even if it had a normal running time, but at two hours (two-and-a-half for the CD-ROM), it is an exceptional deal. You won't have to buy another CD for a couple of months.

- Rambles
written by Dave Howell
published 17 April 2004

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