Faces Change

Is Bloomington, Indiana "quickly becoming the Omaha of the eastern United States" as Russ Hockenbury stated in 2006? Well, you can be the judge of that. Add to Murder by Death, Early Day Miners and husband&wife, Faces Change the debut full length album by Bloomington born and bred Alexander the Great. Recorded by Mike Bridavsky in the old Rus-sian Recording studio in Nashville, IN, Faces Change takes the band a step farther along the path on which they set out.

The energy and enthusiasm that brightened even the darkest corners of Circumnavigation practically overflows on Faces Change. Although Bryant Fox's lyrics explore some dark and challenging places, the joy of living practically explodes from the sticks, keys and fret boards as the band careens through some of the most unexpected twists and turns they have ever written. Even with such technical guitar and drum work, Alexander the Great have always been refreshingly unpretentious. They explore the potentialities of their songwriting with a playfulness and almost whimsical abandon that is disarming and magnanimous.

The biggest surprise on this record is the depth and profound sense of maturity that Fox brings to his lyric writing. Fox tackles love, uncertainty and even divorce on Faces Change. It is particularly refreshing to hear a songwriter explore his parent's lives instead of his own angst. This is grown up songwriting about grown up subjects. Fox approaches each of his themes on this record with the same respect and care. This maturity and sense of perspective is one of the most endearing qualities in a record that is above all else exceptionally endearing.