'Round here

The Slip, Colonel Mustard, Mr. Slugg, and more

by Bob Gulla

In doing research for the following reviews, I noticed most of the bands releasing records have taken it upon themselves to do up their own Websites and that's a great thing. If you learn to work that stuff up yourself, there's no telling what kind of marketing you'll accomplish on your own and on the cheap. Most of the sites I visited were clean and fast with enough information to give the surfer the whole story. But make sure your entries are well-written and as professional looking as possible. There's no telling who'll be stopping by, and you wanna make sure to give a good first impression.

The Slip: Does

For a band, building a fanbase from the ground up is a wonderful thing, and for many reasons. First, you give the folks who come along for the ride a true feeling of discovery, that what they've latched on to is their very own and no one else's; that they've joined some kind of fraternal order overseen by said band and they now know the secret handshake. Second, building a ground-up audience also means that you do what you do for yourself and your fans, not for any commercial considerations or record company constraints. You play the kind of music that made you happy and that helped you earn your fans in the first place.

The Slip is in a great place right now. On Does, their second album, the jazzy funkenjammers pretty much follow their own muse. Whether that means doing boss, southern-style instrumental jams or slightly more jazz oriented fusion, they buy into their very original ideas with heart and soul. Because of that, Does is a tactile, exhilarating disc, and answers the question: "What kind of album does a band make when they do exactly as they please in the studio?"

Drummer Andrew Barr, his brother guitarist Brad Barr, and bassist Marc Friedman have been sharing sounds since 1991 when the three met in a high school jazz band. They moved to Boston together where they spent a year at Berklee. Soon after that, they came by their concept of fusing jazz, pop, funk and fusion in a jiffy, trio-type package. Sonically, they now fall somewhere between Phish, the Meters, and Wes Montgomery, occasionally veering -- as most jam-likely bands do -- through several idioms in a single song.

On Does' baker's dozen tracks, the Slip explores sound via a number of ways, from Friedman's Stanley Clarke-inspired bass, from Andrew Barr's infrequent but mesmerizing vocals, or Brad Barr's flexible and versatile guitar work. Unlike other enthusiastic jammers, the Slip is never in a hurry to get to where they're going. Songs like "A Crack In the Sundial" and "Hey Worrier" are almost maddeningly, but ultimately satisfyingly, mid-tempo. It's that meticulous patience that separates the Slip from its instrumental brethren, and it's what makes Does so exquisite.

Colonel Mustard: Almost Live

Like the Slip, local heroes Colonel Mustard have a way of exploring the nuances and blissful repetition of a single, simple groove. The group -- lead guitarist Joe Dirusso, bassist Tony Ashton, rhythm guitarist Bill Cordaro, and drummer Dave Saraiva -- enjoy more frolicking tempos than the aforementioned band, joining the company of other jam-happy bro's like the Dead, String Cheese Incident and Gruvis Malt. Both Dirusso and Cordaro make a capable guitar tandem, with Dirusso the one responsible for the band's squalling outbursts and Cordaro working together with Ashton to keep the chicka-chicka rhythms well-rooted.

Almost Live is a four-song, 30-minute trip through the elongated musical world of Colonel Mustard and it's a good one, if not for the songwriting -- which doesn't distinguish itself quite enough -- for the exuberant musicianship. The lone studio track, "Remember When," recorded at Blackbird Studios, is the most enjoyable and focused cut here, boding well for Colonel Mustard's studio projects to come.

If the band can enhance their bounteous enthusiasm and chops with slightly more mustard -- memorable writing and meatier, hookier grooves -- they'll surely have something to boast about.

The Fantastics (cassette)

Are the Fantastics the future or the past of rock and roll? Do they sound like the ghost of rock and roll past, or the juggernaut of noise to come? Truth is, they sound like both as they cop the techniques and tones of classic '60s psychedelic grooves and the power and potency of millennial rock.

On their four-song EP, they make a pretty impressive statement of intent. "Reclamation," which kicks off the record, conjures up the paisley voodoo of much-loved, neo-psychedelic bands like the Flaming Lips, the Lyres and the Dream Syndicate, while "Alltogether" (sic) and "Down To Get Down" find Eric Smith, Bill Machon, Todd Campisi, Brian Traister, and Joe Flatley digging into wild, neo-psychedelic singalongs. Of the four songs here, only "Ego Trippin' " deviates, sounding more like the early synth-driven New Romantic noise of Depeche Mode, threatening to explode but never giving in.

Mr. Slugg & the Legion of Doom: Cold Cold Cold (CD)

Stalwart dark music hawkers Mr. Slugg and his kooky cohort Chicken Chuck explore a few styles of their own on the funny, creepy, ingenious Cold Cold Cold, a rather homemade-sounding disc featuring Slugg on guitars and programming and Chuck on vocals and "bad ideas." Newcomers to the band will notice affinities for the mid-'80s goth of Bauhaus, Alien Sex Fiend, the Birthday Party, and Jesus and Mary Chain ("Too Many Monkeys"), while noticing the band squeezing in a few B52's references ("The Big Pink Gorilla").

In fact, the grisly alchemy put forth by Mr. Slugg and the Legion of Doom, is, like their boogaloo-Halloween-gone-bad press photo (mp3.com/mrslugg), about as unfashionable as "popular" music gets around here. I'm not complaining. Songs like "I Want to Sleep With You, Too" and "Rumble," the cool Link Wray cover, do some ample damage. But if the band wants to take this somewhere, they've gotta cut their goth with a contemporary vibe, clean up the misspellings on the back cover (c'mon, guys), and start taking themselves and their music -- which could be pretty cool -- more seriously. Cold Cold Cold is a reasonably good launching point for something worthwhile. Here's hoping that Mr. Slugg can find the dark alley that'll lead him to the goods.

Illustrious Day

Jackie Fiske-O'Brien and Illustrious Day weigh in with their latest as-yet-untitled en-try, a brisk, emotional four-song EP, full of crisp, well-recorded performances. In a press clipping, Jackie has referred to Concrete Blonde and the beloved Johnette Napolitano as an influence and you can truly hear it on edgy, acerbic tunes like the subtly punk-metallic "People of the World" and "Red Dress."

Guitarist Jim Foster, responsible for the band's melodic electric guitar noise, steps out impressively on "Red Dress," while the rhythm section of Jim O'Brien and Art Rossi do a fantastic job of moving Illustrious Day's sound forward.

On the downside, Jackie's studio vocals, sweet and pungent (ala Napolitano) have a little too much echo on them, especially on the opening "Busy" and "Letters 'n' Polaroid." Nothing a little work on the mix wouldn't resolve. Beyond that, Illustrious Day's got themselves an illustrious accomplishment.

Chris Lopes (Four-song demo)

It doesn't take long to discover that Providence songwriter Chris Lopes has a unique voice. To date he's played with the unique voices in outfits like Chicago Jazz Underground, the chic jazz-avant-rock outfit Tortoise and locally with the Nina Ott jazz quartet. Lopes has all kinds of chops, too, taking care of guitar, bass, drums, vocals, and whatever other instrument comes his way. His music, at least on this demo, reflects his fondness for minor-key jazz vocal stuff, ala Brazilians like Caetano Veloso or Gil Gilberto, as well as spooky Palace-type pop. We're not sure if he tackled the recording himself or hired some compadres to do his studio work, but we are sure that he's got a singular style on songs like "Tired Old Town," the wickedly cool offbeat "Haunted Life," and the rather chilling but brief guitar instrumental "Small Cafe."

We hope that he can distinguish himself on a full-length recording sometime soon. There's too much to offer in Lopes's repertoire to let it go unheard.

Bob Gulla can be reached at b_gulla@yahoo.com.