Review: Ours – Distorted Lullabies

A little known fact about Ours is that Distorted Lullabies is not actually their debut album. The band, led by multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Jimmy Gnecco, released their debut way back in 1994 called Sour, and disbanded for several years. Once Gnecco decided to get things up and running again in 1997, he would put the framework together for signing a major label record deal with Dreamworks Records and pair the band with veteran producer Steve Lillywhite (U2, Chris Cornell) to create the songs that would become Distorted Lullabies. I had the opportunity a few years back to check out Gnecco’s solo acoustic shows as he tried to get Ours back up and running full time and it was evident that he clearly still has the musical chops to take his music to the next level. During that particular performance, he told several stories of the early stages of Ours and how the label thought of them as “the next possible U2-caliber band to break out into the mainstream.” While the band did not experience the commercial success of the label’s lofty expectations, this record remains one of my favorites to come out during this time period, and I vividly remember discovering the band through their music video for “Sometimes,” that received semi-frequent airplay on MTV2. While the brooding, and darker-themed elements of their music may be remembered most during this era of the band, I’ll most remember that feeling of discovering my next favorite “underappreciated” artist.