The Streams

The Streams are a four piece rock group formed in 1991. They recorded an album of driving rock called, “Today, I Died,” which sat on the shelf for a decade and a half before finally seeing release two years ago. It is available now at thestreams.net, itunes.com and most other online music sites. The group is headed by Dave Brooks with his band of grizzled New Haven music scene veterans including: Dean Falcone (Shellye Valauskas Experience), Jeff Wiederschall (Miracle Legion) and New Haven guitar dazzler, Bill Beckett. The songs on “Today, I Died” derive inspiration from the pages of Shelby Foote’s history of the Civil War, which gave a detailed and personalized view of the times devoid of political fence hopping, and the Ken Burns visual history of the Civil War, which also brought a unique and human perspective. Recorded simply and with not a lot of studio affectation to eight- and sixteen-track tape in the l1990′s, the record still sounds vibrant and contemporary in the 21st century notwithstanding its 19th century subject matter. The songs are chiming, heartfelt, rocking. One hears the sweat, the fear, the courage. The instrumentation is grounded by a solid rhythm section with some folky flourishes of mandolin, banjo and organ generally accompanied by raging electric guitars. The songs are tightly crafted pop rockers and lyrically run the gamut from blisteringly pompous war cries to quiet acoustic meditations on loss and heartbreaking destruction. While songs from “Today, I Died” are centered lyrically around the American Civil War, Brooks’ current tunes are more personally oriented. But they share with his older songs a strong individual musical vision.