For their 2024 studio release, Stained Glass, Southern California band Venice have, to paraphrase one of their old song titles, gone “back to the well” to give their fans a heavenly slice of their enriching, harmony-filled sound. If you are a fan of well-crafted songs featuring supreme vocals in the vein of the Eagles, Crosby, Stills and Nash, and others known for their Southern California sound of the early to mid 1970s, along with listener-friendly instrumentation, then this is the band for you. They have released quite a few records since the late 1980s and they seem to get better and more likeable with every release.
Co-produced by Michael Lennon and Andre Kemp, Stained Glass is a collection of 16 songs written by the band’s core members — brothers Michael and Mark Lennon, along with their cousins Kipp and Pat Lennon — with help from Kemp, Mark Harris, and John Vester. If their surname sounds familiar, then you are correct. The Lennons are all related to the famed Lennon Sisters vocal group, who gained popularity on The Lawrence Welk Show.
Being a family affair is very evident in their philosophy and writing styles. The band typically gathers at a family retreat to write and arrange ideas, and the outcome is often very identifiable to everyday things such as relationships, parenting, aging, and many other things that we all go through on a daily basis. There’s no rock operatics or any kind of avant-garde experimentation; just home-grown, easy listening music perfect for a night by the fireplace or a cookout at the beach.
“Call It Human” the track that opens this collection is a great introduction to the “feel good about yourself” ethic. Kipp Lennon’s warm tenor is just as reassuring as the song’s message — that we all are broken in some way, but are together in humanity, so it’s all going to be alright. That theme continues on the lovely “Odd And Ends” in which Mark Lennon’s lead vocal blends with those of his brother and cousins seamlessly. This is followed by “Morning Star,” which really spotlights the bands patented four-part harmony, and is simply gorgeous to hear.
Having two lead vocalists in Kipp and Mark Lennon sets this band apart from many others, and Stained Glass has successfully given both these voices the spotlight, as well as shown the dynamics of combining them together and frequently being rounded out by both those of Michael and Pat Lennon, whose guitars are so prominent on virtually every song, both acoustic and electric. It’s simple, but bold.
The introspect of finding a new love and direction is explored in Kipp Lennon’s “Set My Course.” It is followed by Mark Lennon’s waltzing “Empty Avenues” that has such a sense of adventure and sounds huge, like an orchestral number. The danceable “Blame It On The Milky Way” is the first single and will be a fun one when performed live with its almost disco era vibe. Michael Lennon takes the lead vocal for “Together Soon” and his guitar playing brings to mind Carlos Santana. The backing vocals are so well layered that they sound like a chorale.
Kipp and Pat Lennon figure prominently on the ole-timey “Black And Blue,” which brings to mind something that the band’s fathers would have sung in THEIR vocal group (The Lennon Brothers) back in the 1940s and 50s. Mark Lennon supplies the lead vocals for two of my favorite tracks — the breezy “Avalon By The Sea” about Catalina Island off the California coast where the Lennon family has a vacation home, and the bouncy “Patience Of A Lion” that instinctively makes you want to sing along on the chorus as a fifth harmony voice.
Every song on this record has a great, feel-good vibe to it, all in a familiar way. There is something that reminds you of something good past, present, or both, in every track, which sadly, is a rarity these days. I’d have to say that this is their most ambitious and solid release in their ever-growing catalog.
~ Jordan West
