OK, as promised, here's a follow-up to last week's review section. There's
still a lot more music to get through and, as usual, I promise to get to it. In
the meantime, what follows is a pretty good cross-section of the Rhode Island
scene.
The Haymakers: O-Kay Plus (www.thehaymakers.net)
Wow, it's fun to hear a band grow. Since releasing the EP Spare Parts
just a short time ago, the Haymakers have done just that. With a mixture of
heavy roots rock and hard rock overtones, the band cranks it out with little
effort and lots of energy. A strum here, a little distortion there. Some of the
material, "Homewrecker" in particular, suggests a post-Stooges Iggy Pop, while
other songs, like "Lost Without You," sound like the Farrar side of Uncle
Tupelo. On "Farm Truck" and "You Said You Was Gonna," the band proves it has
enough Bakersfield-style western chops to hold its own. Those chops serve in
stark contrast to the band's boogie rock side, best heard on the vintage pop of
"Her Kind of Man" and the opening "The Wild One." Guitarists Jeff Bright and
Damian Puerini make a potent tandem, with one scrubbing out hefty rhythms and
the other complementing that rhythm with tactile lead lines. There's a surfeit
of gusto here, the kind that can send a band like the Haymakers off their
rockers live, which I've heard happens pretty frequently. Anyway, there's
something going on here that you'll definitely want to check out, if you
haven't already.
The Haymakers play the Green Room on 8/24 with the Nag.
Becky Chace Band: Entertaining Road Hazards (www.beckychace.com/)
Over the past three years or so, Becky Chace and her band have been one of the
area's largest and most successful draws. With good reason, too. Becky is an
empathic performer with great stage presence and the ability to present her
songs with an easy accessibility. It helps that she has two co-writers, Lisa
Annunziata and Brian Minisce, assisting with her straight-ahead epics. On the
new Entertaining Road Hazards, recorded at Ivy Lane Studios in North
Smithfield, Chace runs right up the gut with an abbreviated batch of them, her
best yet. Songs like "Anthem" and "Cheap Red Wine & Gin" rip with Minisce's
searing lead lines and Chace's coal-charred voice. The band takes it down a
notch on the basic blues of "Better Now," which lags a bit, but they more than
make up for it with the three bonus tracks on the disc, the best of which
includes the poignant closer "Take Me Home."
The band is at its best when it emerges from the rigid confines of
verse-chorus-verse and kicks into a jam. While it doesn't do so quite often
enough on Entertaining Road Hazards, it does come up with enough
compelling moments to make it a characteristically zesty and heartfelt
listen.
Katie Lee Hooker: KLH (Self-released CD)
I might be dating myself a bit, but if there's one band whose name I can
invoke as direct ancestors of Katie Lee Hooker, it would have to be the Flesh
Eaters with Chris D. Back in the day, that band fused the awesome power of
hardcore and punk with the out-of-control bonfire of garage rock and morbid
lyrical concepts. You get the same feeling listening to Katie Lee Hooker's new
disc, without the morbidity. Led by Jay Wright on voice and guitar and flanked
by drummer Jimmy Burke and bassist Zach Davis, the band is a full-on assault of
punk and post-punk chaos with tons of heft and just as much insanity. I don't
know what the hell they're singing about exactly, but songs like the twisted
"Big Black Hat" and the X-ish "Capicola" sound slammingly great. There's a
64-second lambasting called "1-3-2" that recalls early Black Flag, especially
the way Wright picks off Greg Ginn's lunatic riffs. I'm not sure why the band
would write a song about going to "Paraguay," but even that one's kinda good.
And hell, if you don't like a song, just wait about 90 seconds and another one
will come careening along. On the other hand, if a riff is really tasty, like
the one that propels "Fake Bird," it'd be nice if you got more of it than a "no
thank you" helping. Anyway, this is great, old school-ish stuff with a whiff of
grinding rock -- a rawkus blend of old and new that makes KLH a
blisteringly good listen.
GhosTown: Mental Therapy (mp3.com/GhosTown)
Does Newport have its own version of Wu Tang? By the sound of it, GhosTown is
looking to assemble just that -- a hip-hop clique of its own beginning with the
ambitious Mental Therapy, the posse's debut. While it has a way to go
before it enters Wu Tang territory, it does have some promise. Head MCs K-Biz
and Dro are crafty dudes, digging up some sweet samples (classical, soul) to go
along with their red-raw lyrics. And they had some help. Area MCs Jack Dirty,
Mr. Metaphor, and FlobNostic join the fray throughout the disc. Though my promo
didn't have a songlist, it did have some 15 blazin' joints, a heavy dose of
harsh reality, nasty lyrics, and a touch of the ghost of Tupac. All in all, it
proves that you can have a big city perspective in a little place like Newport.
Next up, a big city sound. Because it sure seems like these boys are ready for
it.
Jimmy "Blaze" Carello: Blaze 'n' Country (Self-released CD)
As the story goes, Jimmy Carello, a musically inclined singer-songwriter type,
had a revelation back in 1993 when he heard Garth Brooks on the radio, singing
Pat Alger's tune "Unanswered Prayers." It blew him away -- the sentiment, the
melancholia, the feel. Forever changed, Carello began exploring the idea of
jumping into country music himself. He journeyed to Nashville, shook a few
hands, and even had a chance encounter with Garth in a pick-up football game.
Carello took that encounter as a sign, and plunged in with both feet. He moved
to Nashville and started gigging, played the Bluebird and Douglas Corner, to
name a few places. Indie labels came calling, but the majors were nowhere to be
found. Perhaps they were all busy helping Faith Hill build a Number One record.
Anyway, Carello eschewed indie-dom and has since returned to Rhode Island,
where he still writes country-type music. Blaze 'n' Country is his
newest project.
Kicking off with "I'm Not Goin' Anywhere," the disc features standard
Nashville country pop. Carello is a capable singer and an above-average
songwriter who has thoroughly learned his lessons from Nashville cats. "He
Thinks About Her" is a breezy, Jimmy Webb-style composition, while a soaring
lead helps lift the smoky "Don't Hold Back" off the ground. Carello's lyrics
don't consistently measure up to Nashville standards; if it's one thing those
country songwriters can do it's write a good lyric. Carello could work on the
metaphors that distinguish the best pop country radio tunes from the rest.
"When a Parent Walks Away" is an example of a metaphor-less tune that sure
could use one. But Carello is an excellent arranger and most of the tunes have
a high-quality sheen that help them sound professional. While it may seem that
Carello was destined to play country music, he wasn't actually born to play it,
which means he lacks the roots of the music. But he has the potential -- and
some time-- before those roots get established.
E-mail me with all of your music news at big.daddy1@cox.net.
Issue Date: August 23 - 29, 2002
