Understated art-rock innovators, The Best Around, are that rarest of things in modern music. Drawing inspiration from diverse influences ranging from country rock to Devo, Oingo Boingo, and beyond, they are a collaboration of artists that politely refuse to be pigeonholed. Their song-first approach allows them to produce eclectic fare. Camron Rushin, Todd Pruner, and Jon Merz form this tribute to what music can be when the constraints of convention are stripped away to leave room for unbridled creativity.
With a nimble elegance and poetic approach to folksy storytelling, The Best Around released their latest creation, “Call of The Void.” The swaying, subtly soulful single takes us through captivating stories that collide with dramatic swells, almost as if these narratives are crashing waves coming from high above the listener. Each verse details a moment when our heroes face critical decisions in their lives, and The Best Around’s approach to storytelling doesn’t simply vividly paint these scenarios; it transports the listener directly into the center of them. As we get lost in these verses, the instrumentation explodes into a wall of distortion that lands somewhere between bliss and chaos, depending on how you interpret the lyrics. The Best Around is one step closer to proving to be precisely that, and the imaginative “Call of The Void” introduces the band as thought-provoking, boundary-pushing musicians.
“The ‘call of the void’ is that brief, intrusive thought to do something dangerous that a lot of people get when they’re standing too close to a ledge, for example,” explains Rushin. “I wanted to explore that idea and ask if it’s something evolutionary or if it’s death giving us a little poke. We used the song to show how relative calm can turn into instant chaos. I still get goosebumps listening to it.”
