The Family Crest began in 2009 as a creative outlet for friends Liam McCormick and John Seeterlin, but in the years since, it’s morphed into something far larger. The independent San Francisco band is built around a core of seven, but boasts a sprawling “extended family” of over 400 people who have participated in some capacity — everyone from conservatory-trained musicians to friends and fans “who just sing in the shower,” says McCormick, the mastermind behind the collective. More than a rock band, The Family Crest is essentially an open musical collaboration and community that believes everyone can be musical when given the opportunity. It’s a feel-good mission statement, but an ambitious one that allows the band flexibility to create pop songs infused with dramatic orchestral passages.
With Beneath The Brine, The Family Crest’s Kickstarter-funded full-length, McCormick and company capture practically every type of instrument — trumpets, French horn and trombone trios, pedal steel and vibraphone, choirs and and string quartets. As you’d expect, the album is a complex and sweeping soundscape that gives every song a sense of cinematic scope as McCormick’s soaring vocals shake the rafters. And because of the diversity of musicianship involved in such a project, the songs can take any shape and tackle any genre — sometimes at the same time.
There’s touches of jubilant folk rock (“The World”) and earnest singalongs (“Love Don’t Go”) similar to bands like Mother Falcon or San Fermin. There’s gorgeous orchestral rock songs with cerebral arrangements and delicate flourishes (“Beneath The Brine”); and with “Howl,” a New Orleans funeral dirge-turned-rollicking hot jazz number that would fit in at any cabaret night. And while all this genre-hopping is fun to listen to, it wouldn’t mean as much if the songs and lyrics didn’t as ring true or find such emotional weight.
There’s an undeniable positivity and generosity that pervades both Beneath the Brine and the spirit of the band. By blurring that line between band and audience, The Family Crest seems artistically invigorated, and perhaps has created something special along the way.