Reviews for Scarves & Knives...

“On [Scarves & Knives], Cole Guerra sounds like the third member of a pop triangle with Aimee Mann and Michael Penn. There’s the art-form moodiness of the former, the solid if occasionally stealthy hookcraft of the latter, and the moonlit symphonic sweep of both.” (full review )
– No Depression

"It's as if Guerra has urbanized the Americana sound with great results." (full text)
-All Music Guide

"be sure to check out Cole Guerra's darkly beautiful [national] debut, Scarves & Knives"
-Performing Songwriter

"...complex melodies that float rather than progress from A to B to C. The slow-motion fever dreams inside Guerra's tunes ensnare with a unique alien beauty."
-Vintage Guitar Magazine

"...Cole Guerra works sophisticated changes on Scarves & Knives (Cleave). Check out the Blue Nile-like Downtown and New Orleans jazz flavored Off Off-Broadway."
-Philadelphia Daily News (Nationally Syndicated Column)
 
"impressive second album" (full review)
-Detroit Free Press
 
"The most remarkable track is the orchestral and evolving Hocus Pocus. The scope of this track, with its cryptic, chaotic lyrics, is breathtaking. It's a perfect example of the vibe of the entire CD - wonderfully experimental and mysterious. And a little intense. It stays with you." (full review)
-Indie-Music.com
 
"Guerra...extracts jazz, pop and a countryish lull from his piano and guitar for a somewhat dark take on American music. His new recording, Scarves & Knives, is a darn good find."
-Creative Loafing

"Guerra writes smartly constructed, open-ended vignettes--sonically and lyrically--about the disappointment and excitement inherent in blown opportunities, and his edge has never been as sharp and his form never as accessible... [Guerra] is an intimidatingly perceptive and suggestive new voice." (full review)
-Independent Weekly (Chapel Hill, NC)

"both meditative and moving" (full text)
-Philadelphia City Paper

"Off Off-Broadway is a song that melds all my favorite bits and pieces. There's a Jelly Roll, ragtime piano section, a trumpet with clarinet jazzy interlude and then the vocals/lyrics are a mix of Loudon Wainwright's cynicsm and Josh Rouse's introspection." (full text)
-Songs:Illinios (music blog)

Reviews for All This and More...

"It's contagious music, the kind that spins around you with flecks of wit and heartfelt exasperation at love and life."
-The Observer & Eccentric (Detroit, MI)

". . . dusky green melodies, leisurely layered guitar work and poet lyrics."
-Independent Weekly (Chapel Hill/Raleigh, NC)

"This is bold, creative expression...Guerra is not concerned with songwriting formulas. He goes where the music tells him to go. The places in the opening track, Latent, where he suddenly shifts to minor chords makes me catch my breath. Gorgeous."
-Indie-Music.com

"a remarkable songwriter"
-Michigan Daily (Ann Arbor, MI)

"All This and More is full of catchy hooks and melodic forays into emotional ambiguity. His guitar work and voice are quite soothing and instantly familiar."
-Real Detroit Weekly (Detroit, MI)

" It's how you know that a record has snuck up on you: I was doing something fairly mindless at work, when all of a sudden I started singing [the song] You're Not Funny To Me. And not just to myself, pretty freaking loud... [All This and More] is smart and its melodies have staying power."
- The Spectator (Raleigh, NC)