Yoke Shire: "A Seer in the Midst" Review - Boston Soundcheck Magazine 6/03

Ah, more heavy duty music! Bring it on… I had trouble getting past the first two cuts, which according to the liner notes, are something the band did to break in their new recording studio… wow, man, keep it coming! I listened to those first two cuts over and over again! Yoke Shire isn’t a band I would try to categorize… in some ways they’re a rock band but to call them "just" a rock band doesn’t do them justice. Guitars and drums they got, but wow, I swear I heard pan flutes, a xylophone, marimbas, and shit I can’t describe, all mixed together in a wild flowing musical delight! A side note, the liner notes mention that the band doesn’t use drum machines or sampling, so all of what you hear was created with instruments. If you recognize the band’s name, then run out and get this CD! (Now…I’ll wait.) The second part is a trio of cuts recorded live at their first CD release party and is almost 30 minutes of an epic melody of three tunes. If you were there, then you must have this CD, if not, then it’s a good way to get to know the band. The final four cuts are from Yoke Shire’s first studio sessions "slightly" re-mastered, and with some mixing enhancements. While the tunes don’t quite have the power of their live music, all four are dynamite! This is one band I would go out of my way to see live, and I’d buy any CD they released just on the basis of their name.