From Charlottesville, Virginia, here comes a piano-driven pop rock band called Tim Be Told (Tim Ouyang, Luan Nguyen, Andrew Chae, Jim Barredo, and Parker Stanley). In their words, "The name 'Tim Be Told' was inspired by the quote 'Truth Be Told', reflecting the band's musical ethos of honesty, hope, redemption, and change." Hot off the heels of winning the 2008 UVa Battle of the Bands, they are back with a new EP, "From The Inside".
You can get a sense of what this band is all about from comments made by singer/songwriter Tim Ouyang: "Music, for me, is the sincerest expression of the human soul. It has the power to heal the heart, and the strength to soothe its anger." Complementing this conviction, the band members are largely self-taught musicians; in other words, they are doing this for the love of the game, and that sentiment comes across loud and clear in these passionately performed songs.
Listening to Tim Be Told is a bit of an adventure, as the tracks infuse a dazzling array of pop, rock, gospel and blues. Lead off track "Analyze" sounds a lot like Train, but then lead single "System" veers into territory marked by Jason Mraz. The jangle and bounce of "Third Wheel" will delight power pop fans, while "Perfect" is a grand and soulful song, so full of gospel and blues influence that Joe Cocker will want to cover it. If you like any of the aforementioned artists, or others such as Five for Fighting or The Fray, you need to give Tim Be Told a try. "From The Inside" is about as heartfelt as records can get, whose diversity should satiate even the most discriminating musical palate.
iPOD-worthy: 1, 3, 4, 5
Tim Be Told on MySpace. Official site.
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