It has been ages since I last fished through a bin of recordings. There's been
so much going on this summer music-wise, I couldn't find the time or the space
to review them until now. As a result, I've got a big ol' backlog of stuff
that'll take me a few weeks to get through. But be patient and I promise I'll
get through them. There's lots of really good stuff a-waiting for the big
thumbs up (or otherwise), so stay tuned.
Shiver: Smooth Me Out (self-released)
One-half of Shiver, singer-songwriter Matt Wunsch and Ed Fishell, is fresh off
a stint with the Jungle Dogs, which means that the band has a solid rock and
roll foundation and seasoned pro-rock experience. And while Smooth Me
Out, the band's debut, reflects that sturdy foundation, it also sounds
surprisingly original, unusual for a start-up project.
Recorded with Scott Rancourt at Dream Edit in Newport, Smooth Me Out is
largely a rock and roots set, falling somewhere between the Band ("Take Me
Away"), Skynyrd ("Pick It Up"), the Yardbirds ("Blanket of Lime"), and the
Stones ("How Much Green," "Only Good Change"). If that doesn't sound original
exactly, it's the way the band cross-pollinates these influences that makes
them unique on disc and a damn good live draw.
Wunsch's guitar playing, in tandem with Fishell's, is tactile and versatile,
swinging from reggae inflections to heavy blues rock. The duo rarely doubles up
on the same line, yet they don't stumble over each other either, giving the
overall sound a richness that threatens to push Shiver to the next level. The
band could use some work on their lyrics -- thought it's hard to quibble with
something that trite. After all, aren't lyrics simply a way to pass the time
between juicy guitar parts?
Fast Actin' Fuses: Sayonara (Rodent Popsicle Records)
(Liquid2k.com/fuses/index.html)
From the first few sibilant strikes of Jim Maxine's hi-hat through this entire
disc, the Fuses lean hard into a screaming barrage of three-chord punk and hard
rock, which is just about as satisfying as a night in the pit without all the
third-person sweat. Led by Kevin Darling's everyguy vocals and the blistering
guitar duet of Scotty Montropolis and Andre Stoopid, FAF sounds like a cross
between the Dictators and early Alice Cooper, with lots of distortion, one-bar
guitar solos and a keep-it-simple-stupid rhythm section courtesy of Maxine and
bassist John Darga.
What sets FAF apart from its many punk comrades lies underneath all the
bluster. The tempos are slightly slower, the hooks are a wee bit more
pronounced, with a few '70s-style classic hard rock guitar bends thrown in for
good measure. It may not be much, or obvious for that matter. It's in the
thrash break down of "Need Some More," the New York Dolls influence of
"Psycho-Delic-Kill," or the bright chords that open "Teenage Blood." But the
cumulative effect of these minor changes gives FAF a serious leg up on their
more straight on 4/4 brethren.
Barn Burning (Self-titled/self-released EP)
While it's not hard to hear Barn Burning's influences on their debut EP, it is
hard to play the kind of music they play without sounding like so many of their
contemporaries. That said, Barn Burning, fronted by Anthony Loffredio on vocals
and acoustic guitar and flanked by Erik Wohlgemuth on various guitars, is a
band that uses bands like Uncle Tupelo and the Walkabouts as a jumping off
point, and ends up in a place almost all its own. On this four-song EP,
recorded by Mark O'Brien at Saddle Rock Studios in Providence on a single
Sunday morning, the lap steels whine, the vocals sound mournful, the harmonies
Carter Family-esque. The band unfolds gently on the six-minute opener "The
Troubles," and does a melancholy waltz on "Around." But they hit their stride
on the more groove-oriented "Windshield," a song that moves forcefully from
beginning to end without stopping to kick mud off its boots.
John "Crawlin' Snake" Mac: Doctor Doom (Laughing Mountain)
(Crawlinsnake.com)
When Mr. Mac pulls out that ol' slide geetar, boy, the sound of the Delta
comes a-crashing in. On the opening instro to the man's rollicking new disc, a
song called "Delorez Rulz," Mac is devastating on dobro, with a sweet resonance
you might here from classy guitar guys like Paul Geremia and few others. But
Mac isn't content to let his dobro do all the talking. He goes for the hard
blues-funk on "Walk with the Living," some raunchy harp blues on "Irresponsible
Blues," and a crunchy electric blues rock thing on "Call Waiting." In fact,
Doctor Doom is loaded with all manner of blues, which is one reason why
it's such a cool record. As he's proven in the past, Johnny Mac has an
incredible fluency in so many blues idioms, from the grit of Muddy Waters to
the harp of Sonny Boy Williamson, from the slide of Tampa Red to the jerky solo
motions of John Lee Hooker. Personally, I believe the guy is devastating when
he trots that dobro out and strums a few big, reverberant slide chords. I'll be
damned if it doesn't rattle your bones, just like great blues should.
HITTING THE ROAD. Mike Hamel and Freakshow are beating a hasty
retreat outa town this summer, but for good reason. They're leaving for a
30-day tour, kicking it all off at the Met Café on Friday (the 16th)
with Slugworth. The band's first two significant outings adhered pretty much to
the East Coast, but this time around Freakshow will launch an all-out national
assault, with shows in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. Their final destination,
California, is something called an Unsigned Live gig in which they go into a
studio, get videotaped and recorded, then shopped around. Hopefully, by the
time they return next month, they'll have some news for us. Break a leg,
brah.
WANDERING EYE. In related Freakshow news, their former bass player Mike
Charpentier has assembled a new band of his own. They call themselves
Transparent and include Keith Pirtle on vox, Adam Riley on guitars, and
Marco Carreira on drums. They have plans to push out a CD real soon, like in
the fall. You can catch 'em out in public for the first time at the fifth
annual Backroom Music Fest with SOC and the band toward the end of the month,
the 31st to be exact. More on that day of mayhem a little later.
By the time you read this, Ricky Valente should be finished recording
the tracks that will make up his first studio CD since 1999, when the kid was
just a senior in high school. The last one, Place In My Dreams,
showcased Valente's well-publicized blues-rock chops but also showed that he
was much more than an SRV clone. The new album will be out sometime in
September. In the meantime, you can hear him roar on Saturday (the 17th) at the
Met Café.
E-mail me with all of your music news at big.daddy1@cox.net.
Issue Date: August 16 - 22, 2002
