Fable Cry

We’ll Show You Where the Monsters Are

Independent Release, 2015

What happens when you’ve read through every Harry Potter novel and you have spent too much time indulging in some serious Cosplay?

Start a band heavy on theatricality and transfer your obsessions into performance. Nashville, Tennessee’s Fable Cry are self described as Theater-Scamp-Rock and write the sort of music which would make them welcome at steam-punk gatherings. While it can be jarring at first for just how out of left field their music is, the band themselves understand villians are almost always more compelling.

This said, Fable Cry attack the songs with aplomb and deliver suitably over the top performances. “Fancy Dancing” is an ominous song about seer’s and what lies ahead. Careful what you ask.

“Set Me Loose” is a gypsy campfire number with an airy delivery that’s breezy and loose. “Onion Grin” re-tells Little red Riding Hood’s story from the wolf’s perspective. “You Ain’t My Baby No More,” could be a blues number or delivered as a 70’s boogie, but here it’s a show styled tune driven by percussionist Rachel Gerlach. It’s hard not to visualize a stage performance in a cabaret, or intimate theater.

Musically, Joshua Dent on cello, and violinist Jo Cleary, offer the most emotion and expression to these numbers. Zach Ferrin’s vocal delivery and grooming appear to to be inpired by Snidley Whiplash. And yeah, he sells it. These players all set up to support the songs, and grandstanding is kept to a minimum.

Overblown and playing to the back row, Fable Cry are in this with something to prove. Their path isn’t unprecedented. Meatloaf did it and the Grease soundtrack parked itself on the charts for an extended stay. This is a show band without an obvious storyline. Each song a self-contained story detailing betrayal and life’s curious agonies.

Try this on if your sick of typical love songs.