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CHRIS SMITHER/ 

JONAH TOLCHIN

me&thee coffeehouse, Marblehead, MA 

1/24/14

The coffeehouse that once seemed so hard to find is as easy as a straight line. It’s cold as the dickens outside and inside is nice and toasty. Host Phillip Murphy reminds us that February 20 marks the 44th birthday of this coffeehouse and then his evil twin brother barges in to drops some rhymes about the fire exits. This is not the place you expect to hear NYC rap but it somehow fits in with the charm of the place. Phillip is back to introduce the first act—Jonah Tolchin, from Bar Harbor, ME, who’s just been signed to Yep Roc Records.  Two guys take the stage—one, wearing a winter wool hat that incorporates bear ears and pig tails, sits with a slide and Dobro. The other slight one with a worn straw hat and red plaid shirt stands at a mic with a sunburst folk guitar in hand. Jonah is the guy standing and Danny Roman is his longtime buddy. They get things kicking’ with some old hillbilly blues in the form of a song called “Mockingbird.” Danny removes his hat to reveal a grown-out mohawk. Jonah says he wrote the next one in New Jersey (where he grew up) after a long meditation. He’s a sincere man who squinches his eyebrows up together when he talks and sings like he’s from the backwoods. He treats us to his good fingerpickin’ in what turns out to be his most memorable song with the lyrical hook “She’s pretty, she’s pretty… insane.” He impresses us even further with some Flamenco-type picking on “Walk Until You’re Old” then invites vocalist Julie Guidi to belt a bluesy number a la Janis Joplin to end the set. 

Between sets is time for coffee and baked treats in the back room—something almost as good as music—well, it satisfies different senses.

Having played me&thee for more than 20 years, Chris Smither comes out and says he should have worn more clothes. Funny because with all the layers I have on, I’m starting to feel too warm. Chris starts talking about “feeling vs. non-feeling” and follows it up with “Open Up Your Heart.” His fingers fluidly dance on his fretboard while the other hand exercises its masterful finger picking control. We’re not talking shredding solos—he’s got solid melodies, chord structure, and bass patterns all happening at the same time. He also has his worldly worn smile, stories to tell, good advice, and songs with words you listen to. Now you’d think that would be enough, but his secret weapon is his invisible rhythm section… his two feet. He keeps a wooden board under them and a solid up beat gets tapped out in almost every song. And there’s a microphone aiming right at those beat makers. He proceeds to play 20 songs—and each one shines. Things Chris says that I like: Give up thinking that life is fair. If you listen to your mother, you’ll never have fun. By the time you figure out money, you’re six feet underground. I think my songs are hopeful. Tomorrow is just a grand plan for yesterday. And my favorite songs: “I Don’t Know”—the answer to his daughter’s multi-questions. “No Love Today”— about the fruit and vegetable man in Lawrence, MA—he’s got a wide assortment of vegetables—but no love to sell you. 

Chris’s double CD (a retrospective of his career) is due out in July. I’m sure it will be a keeper. Catch him if you can. You won’t forget the experience.  And unlike the vegetable man, Chris slips a little love into each song.  (T Max)

…

FUNERAL BARKERS/ 

FOXPASS/ 

ZEN ARMADA

Club Bohemia, Cambridge, MA   

1/18/14

It’s a cold, wet night in Cambridge, but it’s rockin’ hot @ The Cantab. A great full crowd experiences some veteran rockers still shakin’ some action. First up are a new quartet, Zen Armada, offering up some low-down rock (a la Morphine), with plenty of groove from John Nourse (drums) and Marty White (bass), which immediately gets the dancers up. Fronted by the twin guitars of Drew Hollinger and Bryan Russel, tunes like “The Bug,” “Hollow Day,” and “Foreign Accent Syndrome” captivate the listeners. Very promising group! 

Next are ye olde stalwarts, FoxPass—or should it be StompFox with Steve Gilligan and Lenny Shea from the Stompers as the knock-out rhythm section to complement Jon Macey and Michael Roy. Absolutely top-notch pop-rock that has everyone cheering and still dancing. They’ve been doing this since they were kids and it is always infectious and totally professional. 

Lastly, the Funeral Barkers, Phil Kaplan’s mesmerizing mix of Stonesesque material and Indian raga rock, tonight featuring the great Woody Geissmann (ex-Del Fuegos) banging out the beat. Phil’s fretless-guitar Bollywood solos are stunning. Hoots, whistles, and cheers all around. A completely satisfying evening, indeed!        (Harry C. Tuniese)

…

THE BARRETT ANDERSON TRIO with RON LEVY

Smokin’ Joe’s BBQ and Blues, Brighton, MA   

1/25/14

This year’s Boston Music Award’s Blues Artist of the Year winner just keeps getting better and better each time I hear them perform. They are an R&B groove band and the best parts of the night are always in the middle of the song when the band has found its groove and is playing well together. What I really notice right away and enjoy is the tight way that guitarist Barrett and keyboardist Ron Levy play off of each other: it’s like listening to the show in stereo as you hear their artistry come out of different speakers; and this is what I listen to as drummer Frosty Padgett and bassist Jamie Hatcher drive the band powerfully and professionally. Songs of the night are a rocking version of Muddy’s “I Can’t Be Satisfied” showcasing Barrett’s killer slide and gruff vocals, “Emma Lee” from his latest CD “The Long Fall,” and the Jimmie Reed classic “Shame, Shame, Shame.” One song right after the other; first the guitar riff to start the melody, then the band comes right in. Very cool. I look at Barrett: growling voice, eyes closed, standing up and holding  his old Telecaster with the worn fretboard; just singing into the mic. And he plays with no pick on many songs: just plucking the strings to get the most out of them.  Smokin’ Joes. Smoking band.    (A.J. Wachtel)

…

JASON ANICK

One Longfellow Square, Portland, ME  

2/6/14

I go to this concert alone, feeling a bit bereft because my husband and my son are both sick, and normally one of them would have come with me. I park the van in a big snowbank and hope I don’t get towed and walk to OLS. It is heartening to see people come out on a cold winter night to hear music.

There is a good-sized crowd but I’m early enough to get a good seat. Before long, four nice-looking young men take the stage, three of them in jackets and ties. The four are Jason Anick on violin and guitar, Greg Loughman on bass, Mike Conners on drums, and Jason Yeager on piano.

They start out with a Django Reinhardt tune. I close my eyes and the stresses of the day fall away. These guys are so good, I relax into their excellence. They play the winsome “My One and Only Love,” and tears spring into my eyes. Jason Anick’s violin tone is sweet and woody, mellow as red wine. They play with the alchemy of jazz musicians who feel their way through a piece of music, traversing landscapes—arid, rocky, mountainous, and then lush green forests of sound. Jason’s composition “Occupy,” about the movement last year, begins with a throbbing bass, then a beat, shiny cymbals prefacing, and then an electric mandolin takes off. Tempos change and shift, pianist Jason Yeager is playing with his eyes closed, Mike Connors is building, building, building on the drums. They fold into “Something,” by the Beatles, and then “The Keeper,” a tune written by Jason Anick as a teenager. The unspecificness of jazz holds the beauty—it is unregulated, unstructured and liberated. The spontaneity is the touch of the notes, eyes, and ears, they make up the language as they go. Jason Yeager lifts off his seat with enthusiasm. The ecstatic dimension of the performance becomes like making love—you make it up as you go, but when it works, it works—you’ve been there before, but it’s new.

During the break I call my husband and he tells me there’s a parking ban in downtown Portland because of the snow and I better move our van. I stay for two more tunes. Watching them is like witnessing horses let out of the barn. They run with force and joy and power and spontaneity. The first song of the second set is called “The Turn Around,” and it is full of humor and playful energy. If Ella Fitzgerald were here she would scat-sing her brains out all over this. I reluctantly leave before it’s over, but I am so glad I can hear these amazing musicians. I feel like kissing their hands, they create so much beauty… (Kimmy Sophia Brown)

…

HOWIE NEWMAN/ 

GUY ZACCARDI/ 

RYAN SWEEZY/ 

SARAH HOONAN SMITH/ 

SCOTTY ANDERSON/ 

JOHN JEROME/ 

TONY GODDESS 

Singer Songwriter Shuffle, Giuseppe’s, Gloucester, MA 

1/23/14

Giuseppe’s is a comfortable Italian restaurant where I feel relaxed and take in a variety of singer/songwriters from Cape Ann and nearby areas. Owner and host of the night, Joe Thomas greets me with a big smile and shares tonight’s lineup of seven performers, all doing 20 minutes: that’s the Giuseppe shuffle. 

Tony Goddess is up first, sitting at the piano with a slim acoustic guitar and his hair a bit messed. Tony’s already made his name in Boston, Gloucester, and beyond with Pappas Fritas, the Rudds, Jenny Dee & the Deelinquents, and his popular recording studio Bang-A-Song. His fluid talent is apparent when he bangs out a song he wrote before he landed in Gloucester, all about moving from the city to near the water. His life has followed the lyrics and he follows it up with a new song of his called “I Won’t Let Go.” And I’m sure he won’t let go of his wife, Samantha, and daughter Franny (both in attendance). His music style varies from song to song and he warns us about his piano-playing limitations but proceeds to play a Burt Bacharach-ish number, switching to guitar on the more complicated bridge. He’s got a great sense of chord structure and melody and finishes up with a hit that he helped write for Guster… “Amsterdam.” Excellent.

It’s John Jerome’s turn to sit at the piano and play his guitar. His hair and beard look evenly grown out from a shave—all hairs being about a half inch long. He’s a friendly looking guy and proceeds with a jumpy number called “Superman Lies.” The pure tone of his Taylor acoustic mixes well with his jangly guitar-playing style. Though it’s a bit hidden, there’s an element of Elvis in his singing approach. He plays a song, “When the Morning Comes,” that he wrote for his band, whose CD never became a reality. He knocks out “Once in a Lifetime” but it’s not a cover of Talking Heads. Then he wraps up his set with “Cloudy Day” that ends with  big-arena chord antics.

Joe introduces the next act as a world troubadour—and Scotty Anderson appears to at least be familiar with trippin’. Scotty starts by admitting he’s still in his work clothes. He builds up a rolling guitar groove… then unexpectedly stops to take a sip of his Clausthaler beer and remove his skullcap. He’s got a handsome smile (kinda like Johnny Damon) and dedicates the song to the key of C, as the previous groove returns.  He drifts into another world, fiddling around in C—and just when I’ve given up on this as a song, a growly voice sings a verse, and is followed by a jammy guitar solo—as if there is a band backing him up. The tune eventually ends and the likable Scotty presents “Columbian Blues” with a fingerpicking introduction. He stops again… and takes another swig. Then it’s back to his laid-back finger pickin’ routine. There’s a feel of a jam band in this solo act—and the guy sitting next to me quips, “I almost forgot what it was like to be stoned.” Scotty spins out another one with “Wheelbarrow” where he channels his days of landscaping in Canada, rides in his three-wheeled  bucket, and encourages someone he misses to write him a letter. Charming in a stoney way. Joe gives me a look that says—”How’d you like that?” My smile back at him says, “Crazy and entertaining.”

Ahhh—it’s nice to see the younger generation participating in the shuffle. The somewhat shy yet pretty 20-something (if that)  Sarah Hoonah Smith—or maybe it’s just Hoonah—sits at the mic with arms in position to play her guitar and her medium-long light-brown hair falls by her side on her open sand-colored sweater.  Her personally penned “Blackbird” (not the Beatles) floats with an Ingrid Michelson vocal style—beautiful soprano melodies that jump around quickly with simple guitar accompaniment.  Her presence is shy, but she doesn’t let that affect her likable presentation. She admits in “Lucky for You” that when it comes to love, she’s a fool. She’s got a sweet style going for her, whether she’s a fool or not.

Next up is a young man—Ryan Sweezy from Lynnfield, MA.  He masters his Epiphone acoustic guitar and has a very impressive voice too. “Truly Free” displays his youthful confidence. He’s got quite a vocal range combined with clarity and could definitely sing a wonderful duet with Hoonah, if they put any effort into it. He shows his political side with “You Can’t Bring Us Down” written in reaction to the Marathon bombing. And although he’s never done time, “Doing Time” is about his longing heart. In his final offering he shows off his hammer-ons and pull-offs impressively connecting guitar runs in “Breath.” 

Guy Zaccardi is the performer I really came to see tonight. He’s got creative qualities far beyond others. He’s loaded with a sort of foreign style that touches on cabaret—but never really goes there. When his first song ends, the audience erupts, and one guy yells out “Leon Redbone meets Freddie Mercury” and he is right on the money. With his dark mustache and old-fashioned eyeglasses, Guy could be the grower of grapes on an Italian countryside. He encourages response by repeating “every clap counts.” I don’t get the titles to any of his songs, but my notes include “Bozo Cute” (the first tune) “Goat” (a slow bouncer), and “Cotton Stuffed in a Blouse” (with creative chords).  I sit on the edge of my seat while Guy performs—you never know what rhythms may emanate from his slightest touch, or which way an odd melody may turn. All I know is I’m riveted by his performance and immediately set up a future story in The Noise. Oh—and he’s such a respectful guy—he leaves a couple of minutes at the end of his set for his Aunt Barbara (Koen), whose birthday it is tomorrow, to get up and sing an a cappella tune with some religious ties about meeting in the middle of the air. Somehow the entire set makes total sense and no sense at the same time. 

Coming back down to a normal playing field, Howie Newman is given the opportunity to close the night. Joe adjusts the microphone level while he sips on his Guinness and glances over for approval of the acts. Meanwhile Howie is discussing relationships and how you learn to accept your partners’s flaws, then goes into a novelty tune that claims, “My Baby Can’t Parallel Park.” He admits he also writes serious songs and goes on about being a father of two kids, then sings about them growing up. He’s an easy-going performer with basic chords and traditional-type melodies. He’s got it down how to entertain. For the next song, he teaches the audience to repeat “whoot woo” on a single note while his guitar changes chords. I realize before he tells us that we are rehearsing the background part for the Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil.” And although he may end up losing his backup singers throughout the song, he keeps up his end of the bargain. He tells us that the older you get the harder it is to stay out—and reinforces that notion with “Way Past My Bedtime.” A good family performance to send us on our way. Another entertaining shuffle at Giuseppe’s Ristorante & Piano Bar.  (T Max)

…

THE BONES OF J.R. JONES/ 

CARAVAN OF THIEVES 

me&thee coffeehouse, Marblehead, MA   

2/7/14 

It’s a cold night in Marblehead, MA, with the week’s new snow piled up along the winding downtown streets. The pews are packed inside the Unitarian-Universalist Church, but not for services. They have come, as they have for the past 44 years, to Me&Thee Coffeehouse to hear the latest and greatest folk music. The stage exudes a bohemian yet dignified quality, with floor rugs in front and a stately altar serving as backdrop. J.R. Linaberry, aka The Bones of J.R. Jones, is the first to perform, wearing jeans and rolled-up sleeves. He wields a chestnut-colored guitar/banjo while playing a kick drum and high hat with his legs. It sounds like a full band is filling the church hall with thundering noise, but it’s all coming from Linaberry. The crowd is enraptured by his soulful voice and furious strumming. The bluesy crawl of “Sing Sing” has a particularly haunting quality. 

After a brief intermission, Caravan of Thieves take the stage to a hearty round of applause. They are clad in their iconic ragtime-era outfits and bursting with energy. Fuzz and Carrie Sangiovanni harmonize beautifully on the lively “I Don’t Wanna” before the former retreats to a percussion kit made of trash cans and kitchenware and starts pounding away. Not only is the band full of gifted musicians, they are exceptional performers. Their set is rife with animated body language, droll repartee with the audience, and moments of pure theater. Fuzz joyfully bobs his head to the music and his ear-to-ear grin is a permanent fixture. At one point, violinist Ben Dean lies on his back while Carrie pretends to wilt under her husband’s riffing. “This is what we do. We perform, you come watch it, and it’s pretty good,” Fuzz quips after the band’s frenetic cover of “Sympathy for the Devil.” “Your Parents Did a Bad Bad Job” has the audience laughing throughout, perhaps tapping into a human desire to shirk responsibility for our shortcomings. Dean shines on “I’m Gonna Eat You,” leaning back as his playing becomes higher- and higher-pitched. Brian Anderson is equally impressive on upright bass, dancing while he plays and adding artful flourishes like the catchy bass line on “Rattlesnake.” Fuzz and Carrie enlist the audience’s help on an acoustic rendition of “Dead Wrong,” and the crowd keeps the hand-clapping, foot-stomping beat going with ease. An older woman gets up to leave midway through the set, telling the band, “You were great!” Carrie responds with the Thieves’ trademark humor: “We’ll be thinking about you after you leave!” My first trip to me&thee is as memorable as they come—a historic venue, an enthusiastic clientele, and two enormously talented acts add up to an unforgettable Friday night. (Anthony Harris)

…

DAR WILLIAMS/ 

KAT GOLDMAN

One Longfellow Square, Portland, ME

2/1/14

I arrive for the 9:30 show at 8:45, and wait outside with an anxious crowd until the doors open and we enter graciously. I’m so glad we don’t live in a place where people stampede and kill others to get a good seat! Soon I’m waiting in the third row with my hot tea. I heard that the first show was sold out and this one seems to be nearly so.

The calm and sweet presence of Kat Goldman takes the stage. She has a quiet and sincere persona. She sings her first tune, “Red Canoe,” in a lovely husky, Shawn Colvin-ish voice.There’s a little Irish trill in some of the notes and I am drawn in. She explains that she moved to Boston from Toronto to go back to school to study literature. She sings “Just a Walk Tonight,” about observing Boston neighborhoods and landmarks such as where Mother Goose is laid to rest. She has a shy smile and sings only a few songs. Her voice is sweet and sure, carrying an element of depth. She explains that the song “Annabel” was written for her deceased grandmother, and was covered by the great Canadian band the Duhks. “I’ve looked low and I’ve looked high/ tell me where does the spirit go when you die?” She playfully talks about her dreams to be a rock star, and performs her song “Traveling Band.”

Later in the show, Dar invites her back up to sing a duet of Kat’s song, “Weight of the World.” “You want to take it off/ It’s the weight of the world/ You want to set it free/ Just for today/ You can’t always be the one/ to heal everything/ and the weight of the world/ was never yours to keep.” This song makes my tears flow. 

I tell Kat after the show I want that song played at my funeral. She says she wrote it after watching the movie The Green Mile—that it came out, just like that. I love art-begets-art stories.

Dar Williams comes out looking great in a little black dress and leather boots—I always thought she and the actress Laura Linney look like they could be sisters. Jazz musician Bryn Roberts backs her up with keyboards and harmonies. He is utterly focused and supportive. She stands and delivers with the confidence of an observant and deep-feeling woman, who has been distilling the scenes of her life through poetry, music, and voice. Her voice has power and depth—it is lovely and emotional. She jokes about money, about life, and performs great songs such as “Spring Street,” with this achingly poetic line: “So April had a blizzard just to show she did not care/ and the new dead leaves made the trees look like children with gray hair.” In the song “If I Wrote You,” she tells the one that she longs to be intimate with that, “If I wrote you/ you would know me/ and you would not write me again.”

“I’ve Been Around the World” is a love song about family and work, and relationships, and what really has meaning. This song makes me sob, too. “That I know I am not alone in you/ and I know you’re the one I can tell my stories to/ I have been around the world/ there’s so much there to see/ and the story never ends/ you’re all the world to me.” “Buzzer” is about the Yale Milgram Obedience Experiments. It illustrates what people may be willing to do for money, and what they might do if they don’t have to take ultimate responsibility for their actions. The last song is a tribute to Pete Seeger who died the previous week. Dar was Pete’s neighbor. She sings, “If I Had a Hammer,” and encourages us to join in. A woman named Elly Chase joins them on stage with her cello. I belt out the harmonies I know from a deep place in my solar plexus. I sing to Pete—to freedom, and to the song about you and me, all over this land. Dar ends by saying, “I heard the harmonies. This is Portland, not New York.” I go home flying, I stay up half the night thinking about the concert. It is in my dreams, it is on my pillow when I wake up, it is with me all day. Thank you, sweet women of music. (Kimmy Sophia Brown)

…

 

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Sam Bayer

SAM BAYER

FETCHED IN A PRIVATE JET

by T Max

Sam Bayer is a unique folk singer-songwriter from Cambridge, MA.  He’s edgier than most in the field, and his intelligence is obvious as soon as he opens his mouth.  He uses his wit to create some of the most interesting and and humorous takes on life and this is what ends up on his albums.  His latest, The Great Indoors, is pure evidence of his ability to entertain.  I met Sam couple of years ago at Giuseppe’s Singer-Songwriter Shuffle and immediately took to his smart city/folk approach to performance and songwriting. When I received his CD in the mail recently, I knew that it was time to track him down for an interview.

…

Noise:  Let’s start at the beginning – how did your music career unravel?

Sam: My brother wanted to take piano lessons, so I said what the hell. For the first year the only time he ever practiced was when I wanted to. He’d slide onto the bench under me. He quit, I kept going. He later started and then quit the clarinet and the violin, too. Now he has a doctorate in modern classical composition and runs the jazz program at American University in DC. Go figure.

As for me, I got to college and one morning I woke up and decided I wanted to be a rock star. I’m not a rock star, you’ll notice. But in my own defense I did try, not very thoroughly and not very well. So I’ve settled for being a singer-songwriter idol in my own mind.

Noise: Then what is necessary to transfer that singer-songwriter idol image into other folks’ minds?

Sam: Exposure, mostly. I’m my own worst publicist, which is a shame, because I really believe in my music and my act. If you come see me, you’ll remember me. Unfortunately, finding the audience for a great act is the story of an awful lot of people’s lives here in Boston. What makes this a great town in which to learn the craft also makes it a really hard town to practice it in – lots of talent chasing too few attentive ears. I really admire the people who can make a dent, because it takes so much more than talent.

Noise:  Agreed. An old saying in the Boston rock scene was that there were more bands than fans. It’s probably true of the folk scene too. But we don’t want to dwell on that. We are on a mission to get you public attention.  What’s the craziest thing that ever happened to you at a gig?

Sam: A long time ago, when I was playing keys in the ska band Agent 13, we were booked to open for Foghat, believe it or not. They were some random incarnations of the band. You know the story. Its had one original member and a cast of midgets or something. The show was in some large no-name club in Dedham, I think. We could not turn this down, the idea was so hilarious. We got there and Foghat was doing their sound check. Apparently, the sound engineer – I kid you not – could not make the sound system loud enough for them. So they left. We and the other opening act had to do the gig.

Noise: What about in your folk world?

Sam: As for my illustrious folk career, mortifying things have happened, but crazy? Folk people aren’t really crazy.

Noise:  Then who are your current favorite uncrazy local artists?

Sam: It’s hard to say – we’re not the prominent people on the local scene, given our superannuated state. The Lied To’s, Susan Levine and Doug Kwartler, are awfully good right now.

Noise:  Do you do something besides music to supplement your income?

Sam: Hahahahahaha. Ha. I’ve been able to keep my losses down to the low hundreds of dollars for several years now. My actual job is what finances my music habit. I’m not ashamed of it, but I never talk about it to my music colleagues – I’m sure most of them haven’t the faintest idea what I do for a living.

Noise: Ahh, I see… you like to keep your non-musical life very separate from your musical life. Would this be the same case with your photographer on The Great Outdoors? The one you refer to as “She Who Must Be Taunted.” And is she also a Noble Prize Physicist winner?

Sam: If you mean does anyone know my lovely spouse’s true identity, the answer is some, but it’s more fun to use her code name. She has never won the Nobel Prize, but she certainly inspired the reference. She has demanded that, if she ever wins an award, I have to wear a tuxedo.

Noise: I’m sure she is worth it. But imagining you in a tux is quite a stretch. Getting back to the music… Where have you performed lately? And do you play with a band sometimes? If so, who are they?

Sam: My last gig was a CD release house concert hosted by my pal Rob Mattson, who runs a house concert series where I’ve played before.

Usually, I perform with my percussionist, David Troen-Krasnow, who was in Agent 13 with me. I got the idea from Paul Horton, a musician on the South Shore, who did an open mike feature with someone playing a real stripped-down kit. Dave is a wonderful musician, really imaginative and versatile, and we’ve been playing together for almost 30 years on and off.  And until the CD show he was the only person I played with.

The Great Indoors features three other musicians. The first is Jeff Root, my producer, more about whom later. The second is my brother Josh, the jazz director in DC, playing upright bass. The third – well the third is Walter Crockett, and I am humbled by his presence. He has been a legend on the Worcester scene for 40 years, and is one of the most creative acoustic lead players I’ve ever heard. His and his late wife Valerie’s band, the Oxymorons, were wonderful, and he’s been very kind and supportive to me over the years. I opened for them several times and was honored when he agreed to play on the album, as well as when he agreed to play  the CD show with me and Dave and Jeff.

I love playing with a band. I hadn’t done it in decades before the CD show. I’d love to do it again, but musicians like to get paid.  I couldn’t keep my losses down to the low hundreds if I were paying musicians on a regular basis.

Noise:  It’s been eight years since your last CD, I’m Not a Modest Man, what took you so long with The Great Indoors?

Sam: Fabulous question. Next question.

Just kidding. This is a somewhat traumatic question to answer. I wanted my next album to be a real album. I was not satisfied with the production on I’m Not a Modest Man and had a lot of very specific requirements for production and engineering. The prospect of trying to find the right person was draining. I didn’t want to work with any of the usual suspects on the local folk scene for various reasons. Plus, I really wanted to do a live album, but that wasn’t possible because my audiences aren’t large enough. Finally, I knew it was going to cost money, but spending it seemed pointless, since the chances that it would pay itself back were zero. So I felt pretty stuck. Without Jeff Root at the Root Cellar, the album never would have happened.

Noise:  So what was it like recording with Jeff at the Root Cellar in Westminster, MA?

Sam: In addition to running the Root Cellar, Jeff is a marvelous songwriter and musician, and that’s why I chose him. His own albums reflect the stylistic versatility I was aiming for with this album. He and I had a long talk at the beginning of the process, and he addressed every one of my concerns. He even promised me that I’d enjoy the process, and I usually hate recording as much as I love live performance. In the end, I have to say that I enjoyed Jeff’s company. I highly valued his musical contributions and greatly appreciated his patience. I am delighted with the result.

Noise: I agree. The Great Indoors is a wonderful collection of well-recorded great songs. What is your favorite cut on it? And which song ended up sounding the most different from the way you perform it live?

Sam: My favorite cut? Heavens, I love them all. What I have are favorite moments. Walter’s guitar solo in “Bad Song” wows me every time I listen to it. The three part harmonies at the end of “Shlomo” make me dance around the room. I love harmonizing with myself under any circumstances, but those four measures are pure, over-the-top bliss. And the moment when the organ comes in after the chorus of “Songs that Write Me” is truly poignant, I think.

But don’t make me pick a favorite song. I can’t do it.

As for the live vs. studio thing, it’s interesting, because I really strive to capture the live feel and energy in the studio. All of the songs are more arranged than they are live, but many of them are just more support for the original feel. The two that really aren’t that way are the two keyboard tunes. “Shlomo” was always going to be a klezmer/ska extravaganza, and the piano was always going to be forward. I seldom play piano live anymore, so it was always going to be different. “The Songs that Write Me” was the surprise. The piano and organ parts just came to me one day while I was fiddling with the rough mixes. It gives the song a completely different texture.

Noise: I find that most artists either excel with their live performance OR their studio work. You seem to have found a very good balance between the two.

Have you played with any national/ international acts or are there any you wish you could play with?

Sam: Well, there’s Foghat, but we didn’t actually play with them, did we. I opened for Jack Hardy several years ago, but that’s pretty much it. I haven’t really pursued anything else. I remember attending open mikes with Lori McKenna. You could tell that she was special – Mary Gauthier too. I’d love to open for Peter Mulvey someday – I knew him way back when he was just getting started in Boston, and I’d get a kick out of showing him that I learned something.

I recently shared a gig this past fall with Kirsten Maxwell. Someday, I expect, she’ll be on the list of national acts I’ve played with. Major talent.

Noise:  Do you have any special plans to market The Great Indoors?

Sam: I’ve signed up with Hudson Harding Music, run by Erik Balkey, a fine songwriter from Philly, who also does CD marketing. I’m very pleased with his efforts so far. But really, I’m counting on this interview to bring me fame and fortune. Don’t let me down, T Max.

Noise: I would never! Your fame and fortune are about to change with the double barrel shot of The Great Indoors’ release and the publishing of this interview!  Back to reality… What about touring? Are you willing and able?

Sam: Unwilling. Fat, lazy, uninterested in poverty and sleeping on sofas. The time for that was thirty years ago, before I incurred a mortgage and expensive taste in food. Now, if someone fetches me in their private jet…

Noise:  Well, good luck with hitchhiking on a runway. And before you get run over, tell me, what’s in the future for Sam Bayer?

Sam: How does the old joke go? A folk musician hits the lottery, and someone asks him what his plans are. He says, “I’ll keep playing until the money runs out.” As long as I keep my losses in the low hundreds, Boston is stuck with me until one of us dies.

…

Noise: Sam Bayer may like to downplay his role in the folk music scene, but I’m confident that if more people saw him and listened to The Great Indoors they would find a place in their heart for him. Put a dot com after his name if you’d like to invade more of his privacy… or maybe give him a lift in your private jet.

 

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SILVER CIRCLES REVIEWS Sept11

Comment on any CD Review in Reader’s Respo™
Make sure you title your comment so we know which review you’re talking about.
You can also discuss local music 24/7 at The Noise Board

WILLIE
“LOCO” ALEXANDER

Fisheye Records

The World
Famous Non-Stop Seagull Opera Meets the Fishtones at the Strand

16 tracks

To say that Willie
Alexander is music legend is an understatement. His explorations
in sound have touched generations, dating all the way back to the latter
days of the Velvet Underground. Each lineup of musicians has complemented
his dark, bluesy, garage sound, keeping it fresh with every listen.
This new release continues the tradition of musical darkness and weirdness.
The songs are dark and bluesy, bordering on lo-fi, but complex in its
arrangements and sonic textures. The songs are songs about life
and living in Gloucester. Somehow Alexander makes this dark and
interesting, combining backporch blues with trip hop, New Orleans swamp
rock, psychedelic excursions, experimental noise, Zappa-esque tangents
into the bizarre, and exploiting the mating calls of seagulls. Any and
every fan of Willie Alexander’s work will enjoy this latest disc,
and for those who haven’t yet delved into his massive discography,
this is a good entry point. While not as aggressive as some of
the more rocking stuff a few decades prior, there is plenty of rock
and weird for everyone.
(Joel Simches)

THE IN OUT

Sell You Records

The Venal Column

13 tracks

It can be fun trying
to describe the indescribable, but sometimes you’ve just gotta step
outta the ring. So it is again with these baffling bastards, who can send
skulls spinning to unknown worlds on a whim and make it sound as natural
as breathing. Some say it’s minimalist, but the open spaces allow
for massive interpretation. Forces it, actually. I hit them up for lyrics this
time, and got stuff about the terminally ill, the 1919 Boston molasses
flood, a talentless line cook, winks to obscure films, and bands from
the ’70s, parties gone wrong, blood, brains, with none of it quirky
or predictable. The groove itself here, which is pretty fucking deep,
has a decidedly dark tinge, but it’s not heavy in the usual sense,
which makes it all the heavier. Riffs and execution are insidious and
airtight. For a trio with the occasional curveball sound effect, they
infect the mindscape with methods few bands of any ilk would dare attempt.
One of those things where, when it’s not actually playing, I find
myself thinking about where it’ll take me next time. And
sure enough, it’s always a different place. I can think of no higher
praise. (Joe Coughlin)

Page Contents

ANDY SANTOSPAGO

Shiny Bombs

13 tracks

This is Andy Santospago’s
second full-length solo album (he’s also a member of the critically
acclaimed and cruelly neglected band the Vinyl Skyway). It is a fascinating
melange. Santospago’s sometimes seemingly twee eclecticism may provoke
bafflement in some, but I have always thought that an album of songs
is a better representation of an artist’s vision if it offers up a
variegated menu of different styles. You hear all sorts of possible
influences, or at least affinities, in this collection—I almost said
“confection.” For me, it evokes the sound of the third Velvet Underground
album yoked to the sensibility of Magnetic Fields; the harmonic textures
of Pet Sounds and Van Dyke Parks, the portentiousness of
post-Crazy Rhythms Feelies, and the lyrical tricksiness of Ray
Davies. Santospago’s work is notable for its eccentric, architectonic
originality and his keen sense of how incongruity can serve to offset
cliche. The opening track evokes the ambiance of that eldritch ’80s
hit “Life in a Northern Town.” “Parasite” explores somewhat
well-worn solo Syd Barrett territory. “Text and Drive” features
exaggerated melodicism somewhat perversely undercut by irregular rhythms.
Then things start getting real real going for a change. “You and Everything”
combines a Romantic-era symphonic approach with C&W touches and
almost-but-not-quite affectless lyrics. “A Happy Farm” and “My
Delivery” brilliantly evoke the poppy sentiment of an artist like
Harry Nilsson. “Smithsonian” is like a delirious slowed-down They
Might Be Giants-style pastiche of American history. His rendition of
Procol Harem’s “Shines on Brightly” resembles some of the more
discursive vocal ramblings of the Kinks. Current-events mavens will
be ticked by the ironic deadpan Philippic “My Catapult (Ode to Bernie).”
Best of all is “Cornflower Blues,” an extended suite, and a pure
product of cracked-jug pop Americana. Personally, the more I listen
to this, the more I see faces forming in the trees, the clouds, and
even the bedding. (Kidding—I’m just kidding.) We might be looking
at an album, which in the future becomes a cult favorite. (No kidding.)
(Francis DiMenno)

FOUND AUDIO

Chalk

10 tracks

These guys really get off on the whole
alternative-country crossover thing and do a damn good job with it,
too. They veer on the softer side of the alt-rock spectrum with their
laid-back mid-tempo songs full of arpeggiated guitars, chimes, and smooth
melodic basslines, but with an old-timey dialect. The finger-pickin’,
banjo pluckin’, pedal-steel twangin’ goodness and, of course, the
close-knit vocal harmonies between the two fellas has country music
written all over it. But this ain’t that rootin’-tootin’ tobacco-spittin’
knock-out-yer-teeth-out sorta country. It’s more like that sentimental
sobbing-quietly-into-yer-beer sorta country. The lyrics really stand
out with their surreal narratives and idiosyncratic phrasing. They’re
like an enigma wrapped in a riddle wrapped in Michael Stipe. And, they’re
sung with a free-wheelin’ vocal delivery that doesn’t always fall
into nice-and-neat verses and choruses, but instead spills over into
the rustic musical terrain. These guys got a real easy-going sound,
almost to a fault. In large doses, it starts to feel like the soundtrack
to a coma and I’m left waiting for a change of pace that never comes.
(Will Barry)

JIMMY RYAN

Mandolin

7 tracks

To those in the know
regarding the local music scene, especially folk and acoustic, Jimmy
Ryan is a well known personality. A professional mandolinist and fine
songwriter, Jimmy showcases six original tunes and one cover on Mandolin.
The cover tune is none other than “Sympathy for the Devil,” not
my favorite tune in the world, but it seems to fit itself very well
into a mando interpretation. This album is primarily singing voice and
solo mandolin accompaniment… if you like the sound of that orchestration,
you’d love this. Vocally though, Jimmy sounds (at times) like James
Taylor with clogged sinuses, but what do I know from heartfelt singing?
I do know that the sound of his instrument has a melancholy, waif-like
vibe that’s driven by earnest intensity and technique. The thing I
mostly like about this disc, it doesn’t get boring. That’s always
a chance you take when you put yourself out there with an acoustic stringed
instrument. Nice stuff Jimmy.
(Mike Loce)

P.J. O’CONNELL

Clang!

Join the
Crowd

11 tracks

With a stunning crowd
of several, P.J. O’Connell’s latest release is a celebration of
pure pop for now people. I can almost feel Nick Lowe peering over my
laptop. Every song glimmers with jangle, the harmonies drip of
honey, and the piano is so very Nieve-y! There are also slices
of Hoff, Sweet, Westerberg, and Martin, and of course Wilson blew me
out. The production on this disc is as clever and sparkly as the
songs. There are sweet sonic goodies to complement this razor
sharp slice of pop perfection. I really believe there aren’t
enough of these albums being made without being cynical or ironic, not
that being cynical and ironic is such a bad thing. You can listen
to these tracks again and again and know that everyone on this recording
gets it and means it. This album has an appropriate pop sneer,
but at the same time sounds like a fun time with some gifted players
on both sides of the glass—a party I’d love to attend.
(Joel Simches)

PARANOID SOCIAL
CLUB

Axis IV

11 tracks

Is it punk? Is it indie pop? Heavy
rock? Worldy ska-licious psychedelic? Some terrific melding of all the
above… that’s what it is. Blending genres like this could confuse
the mind, but I like that Paranoid Social Club is different and unexpected,
and because I happen to love indie pop rock as well as garage and punk
and heavy rock—well, it all
works for me! It’s kind of like a carnival of sound. This is really
like nothing I’ve ever heard before and I can’t say enough times
how utterly refreshing it is to hear unpredictability yet consistency.
I realize I’m lavishing compliments here but it’s a bit difficult
to break down because of its wonderful musical eccentricity. I was going
to call out my favorite tracks like I often do, but honestly each song
holds something so groovily interesting, I love them all. Based out
of Portland, ME, and started by members of Rustic Overtones, Paranoid
Social Club are four ambitious, creative, highly talented musicians
who now have a new fan named Debbie Catalano. (Debbie Catalano)

ANTIQUES

Jwns

12 tracks

I’m not really sure what to make
of these dudes. Some of their songs sound like ’90s alt rock and some
of their songs are totally indie. “The Coffin” is probably the best
song I’ve heard all week. I can’t put my finger on what it reminds
me of— Smashing Pumpkins maybe? I just wish the vocals were more dominant;
they are slightly muted in every track. “Etc” is another sweet track,
but unlike “The Coffin” it isn’t channeling the ’90s—it’s
more of a mellow indie situation a la Rainer Maria. And then “Smile
at Me” reminds me of Bright Eyes. Go figure. Despite being all over
the damn place, I dig Antiques, and I’m just grateful that I can finally
offer a halfway positive review to T Max for once. Thanks, Antiques!
(Emily Diggins)

SOMERVILLE SYMPHONY ORKESTAR

Somerville Symphony Orkestar

7 tracks

Somerville Symphony
Orkestar is the essence of borcht on the rocks. It’s only after shooting
back the vodka does the orchestra slur into orkestar, for some feisty
Kelezmer-esque jazz. Jonathan Cannon unleashes the fiddle on “Clap
for My Birthday,” a truly festive anthem that hurls the shy birthday
boy above everyone for some controlled chair-surfing action, otherwise
known as the Hora.

Each ballad tells a folktale. The tuba grunts away like a wise prophet
on “Into the Wood Chipper.” The saxophone blares on “Blagojevich!”
with a rejoicing melody that sounds off a victory for the motherland.

Vodka aside, the Somerville
Symphony Orkestar knows how to party. You might just be lucky enough
to experience a Penelope the elephant sighting, a plushed-out elephant
whose fallen off the wagon so many times you might see her make an unannounced
appearance at a gig— the jacket sleeve does credit Penelope for being
the token elephant of the gang. SSO’s self-titled debut record takes
music from the motherland of yesteryear and injects everything from
Django Reinhardt’s gypsy guitar, to subtle tuba ska musical interludes.
So try Cossak dancing with SSO in the background, or party hard with
the tribe. Joel, Jon, Rowen, Max, Regan—and who could leave out Penelope—are
rebel rousing gypsies that kick out the jams, along with your teeth,
with no hard feelings because a black eye only means you partied right
last night. (Justin Korn)

THE BYNARS

The Bynars

12 tracks

Highly likeable if
formulaic pure pop, meticulously buffed to a high gloss, brimming with
life, and all somewhat akin to the Raspberries gone new wave: a pastiche
of classic melodic pop-rock with knowing post-punk touches. Nearly every
one of the songs starts from a simplistic but eminently sound musical
premise and lards it up with multitracking wizardry and nuancical rhythms
and textures. “Steal My Sunshine” is the most irresistible example
of this formula, but you can also detect it in the taut A-B-E progression
of “Can You Hear It.” “Every Little Thing You Love” could have
originated as one of the lost Lennon tapes for all I can tell, and “Angeline”
is cut from the same cloth as the McCartney-Costello collaboration “Veronica,”
albeit with a nagging ostinato and nouveau-Merseybeat middle-eight,
all topped by a rave-up coda. “Love Explosion” reminds me that the
first people to crack the formula for a new direction in pop were none
other than the Cars, though Wreckless Eric and Nick Lowe also deserve
some of the credit. Some people would profess to enjoy this album only
in an ironic way, and indeed, there are cheesy synth effects such as
on “Ba Ba Ba Ba” that make it difficult to take the compositions
entirely seriously. But the Bynars may have stumbled across a future
redirection for ’80s rock revivalism—as a lively riff-based platform
from which to exploit largely forgotten or neglected pop cliches long
buried beneath a self-serious troupadour mentality of “significance”
that ultimately did nobody any favors. I haven’t liked a new band
this much since Hooray for Earth; with luck, the Bynars may ascend to
the same exalted status. (Francis DiMenno)

RIFF GALLAGHER & A MURDER OF
CROW

Won’t Be Home Soon

12 tracks

The first song is a
little silly ditty, a seemingly deliberate attempt to play a Blues Brothers’
type of big cheesy production number, but then as the album really begins
with “The Spring of 49,” Riff Gallagher has grabbed your soul.
Owing a little nod to Warren Zevon’s style of storytelling, Gallagher
offers a full plate of hope, misery, and reflection. The musicianship
is top notch and well-recorded. The arrangement and instrumentation
seems to change and adapt for every mood. While his guitar playing
could be described as quintessentially classic blues-rock, Gallagher’s
vocal approach seems to work best when he’s being more natural and
less affected. I suppose you could chalk that up to attempting
different approaches for each song and style. There are some songs
where it really works. “Billy (Lordan of the Dance)” is a
barroom cinematic masterpiece. I wish “Things (That I Like to Do)”
didn’t get buried at the end of the album. Damn, that song is epic!!
This album tries to be a lot of things, but succeeds (for me anyway)
on the strength of the fairly straight-ahead songs with minimal embellishments.
Sometimes it’s good to hear an album that tries a little less hard
to please. (Joel Simches)

VELVETEEN PLAYBOYS

Shakin’
Not Stirred

10 tracks

Contemporary power-pop
performed by an all-star cast with a wide variety of different music
genres mixed in. Paul Souza (Beat Surrender) lends his powerful vocals
that can quickly convey diverse aural images almost instantaneously.
He can go from sweet sounding to world weary in a flash and his stellar
vocals, the songs’ punchy arrangements and the razor-sharp artistry
make this project so unique in today’s market. And so good. Robert
Holmes (’Til Tuesday/ Ultra Blue) adds his expert guitar presence.
Bob Gay (New Man) and his ultimate sax and premier bassist/backing vocalist
Lenny Bradford (Entrain) join forces with drummer Anthony Steele, Mike
Null on guitar and backing vocals and Ben Zecker on keys to create real
radio-friendly music. “Virtual Girl” is the hit. “I Want That
Girl” with its power chords is my second favorite song. Ballads “Over
and Over,” “Lucky Dog,” and “Darkest Hour” all feature Paul’s
haunting and expressive voice and Bob’s superlative sax is best heard
on the jazzy opening of “Last Girl on Earth.” This song is almost
like a show tune in that it’s so theatrical sounding I imagine it
could be covered equally by either Freddie Mercury or Rick Berlin. “Burn
It Down” is techno-flavored and is very clever. A nice and different
sound: Just the way I like them. (A.J. Wachtel)

Rope &
Wine

10 tracks

I’ve been sent many CDs that were
recorded at Galaxy Park Studios, and this is by far the moodiest grower
of the bunch. There’s something of an elegiac warmth about this album.
It’s a feeling I get when I hear Neil Young’s so-called “Ditch
Trilogy,” some Buffalo Tom songs, and other albums/songs not worth
mentioning because they only make sense to me and they sound nothing
like this band. It’s just a feeling. Perhaps it’s the tuning of
the guitars—in some tracks it sounds like the standard E-A-D-G-B-E,
but roughly a quarter-tone off—a subtle trick that can effectively
alter a song’s mood. Perhaps it’s the warm distortion of the guitars
and the folky tinges (occasional banjo, etc.) that alternately appear
in these tunes, both reminiscent of said Neil Young trilogy. Vocals,
however, remind me of (yeah, this might be a stretch) a younger but
mellower J. Robbins. All told, these expertly woven elements form a
fabric rife with “the feeling.” Try this material out, break it
in. Could be a comfortable fit for you.
(Tony Mellor)

THE FATAL
FLAW

Narrow Hours

10 tracks

I’ll preface this
review by stating that I’m a bit biased in favor of the Fatal Flaw.
T Max sent me their cd to review back in 2008 and I have been a fan
ever since. I think “Narrow Hours” is a bit grittier than the band’s
last album, “We Are What We Pretend to Be.” This one has more of
a rock ’n’ roll vibe, and my only complaint is that some songs take
this heavier tone a little too far—for example, “Leviticus” is
a gang vocals, “whoa-oh,” bro-down situation that I just can’t
really get down with. The album offers the same catchy melodies and
biting facetiousness that I loved about the last one though, not to
mention Joel Reader could sing the alphabet and I’d probably like
it. The album’s title track is probably my favorite out of this set.
It’s crazy catchy, sort of bittersweet, and I think it embodies the
band’s style well, Journey references and all.   (Emily Diggins)

THE GIL CORREIA
BAND

Tattoo’s
& Blues

7 tracks

This is the band you
want to have playing when you are out partying at a blues bar. Growling
guitar at a loud volume, backed by powerful drums and held together
by a solid bass that results in both impressing and leveling the listener
at the same time. Gil plays guitar with a great, nasty tone, Dave Baker
on drums/percussion and four-stringer Scott Cormier play Chicago blues
like they are natives of the Prairie State. My favorite songs are the
opening cut “The Rattlesnake Hop” with its biting guitar, “Taken
It Back” with guest harpist Gregg Mackenzie blowing nicely, and the
final composition by Lightning Hopkins “Too Many Drivers” with it’s
sexual lyrics: “I’m in love with you honey/ I just want to drive
your automobile.” If you’re into Ronnie Earl, Kid Bangham, and Ricky
“King” Russell, this CD is for you. If you like jump blues go see
these cats perform live; this CD is hard to stop playing.
(A.J. Wachtel)

SHARKS COME
CRUISIN

A Past That
We Need to Know

11 tracks

I feel like I should
have hangover after listening to Sharks Come Cruisin’s 11-track A Past That We Need to Know as it is 41 minutes of ale-fueled drunken
sailor anthem-type tunes with a definite Irish punk-rock flavor. There
you go… fun, good-humored, sing-along festival and/or pub rock. The
vocals are often off-key, and I wouldn’t say this recording is the
most polished or full-bodied, but hey first off, I’m not an American Idol
judge, and secondly, for this genre and energy, it really doesn’t
matter. You’ll find yourself wanting to hit the local tavern and wave
your stein whilst you chant the catchy choruses from nearly all the
tracks off A Past That
We Need to Know. Enjoy, aye?!
(Debbie Catalano)

DAVID GREENBERGER WITH
JUPITER CIRCLE

Never Give Up Study

13 tracks

DAVID GREENBERGER AND RALPH
CARNEY

OH, PA

29 tracks

DAVID GREENBERGER & BANGALORE

How
I Became Uncertain

30 tracks

DAVID GREENBERGER & MARK GREENBERG

Tell Me That Before

18 tracks

Shakespeare famously
said, “The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together.”
These four CDs exemplify that philosophy, offering up Greenberger’s
well-known spoken-word adaptations of monologues by nursing home residents,
as originally published in his magazine Duplex
Planet, all backed by variegated
musical templates. The spoken-word collaboration with jazz band Jupiter
Circle is hardly unprecedented in the genre; Mingus recorded the album A Modern Jazz Symposium of Music
and Poetry (aka Scenes in the City) in October of ’57. What has advanced since
that time is the jazz form itself. 50-plus years of exotica, free jazz,
third stream, and fusion have left their footprints and moved jazz ever
more firmly into syncretism. I can’t speak highly enough of the broad
and all-embracing compositional skills of Jupiter Circle—they are
subtle and brilliant and provide a formidable but never gratuitously
heavy backdrop for Greenberger. That their music is from chamber arrangements
rather than improvisations does not diminish its luster. The arrangement
for percussion, piano, bass, and sax on “Chicken Feed” is ingenious,
and the tango motif that breaks up the introspective melody of “No
Funny Business at Roseland” is a treat. Concluding words of wisdom:
“It’s God’s place and you never feel lonesome.”

Ralph Carney has long been my hero, ever since his groundbreaking work
with the ’70s new-wave ensemble Tin Huey. As one might expect from
Carney, on OH, PA, his collaboration with Greenberger, there
is a avant-garde presence, with winds, keyboards, and treated sounds
predominant. There seems to be a strong emphasis on whimsy here, with
eccentric and often open-ended anecdotes serving as the subject matter—stories
of consequential inconsequence with significant meanings waiting to
be uncovered–and Carney provides correspondingly odd and fragmentary
musical snippets to accompany them. “Third Name” is the tale of
a girl who was thought to have died, and Carney provides a comically
portentous organ track. “Dolly Before Dolly” is a fantastical pitch
for a potential C&W hit; “Rem” is a surreal recipe for a cold
cure. The breath of life animates every one of these short short stories.

Greenberger’s collaboration with the Boston-area trio Bangalore, How I Became Uncertain, opens with “Skein a Day,” a funky take
on OH, PA’s “A Happy Soul.” Many of the instrumentals
are riff-based and jaunty and add a great deal of vivid coloration to
the often whimsical and sometimes agitated monologues, though occasionally
these backdrops are so lively that they threaten to overwhelm the spoken-word
segments. On some tracks, such as “Sandwich,” and “Second Loves,”
the collaborative effort yields results, which are pricelessly humorous;
on others, such as “Four in One Year” and “Two Legged Buck,”
and the title track, the results are in each case uniquely bittersweet
and evocative.

Tell Me That Before, the collaboration
with Mark Greenberg (plus Paul Cebar on selected tracks) is a jazzy
but also musically eclectic set, perhaps the best of the four from the
standpoint of the oddball pop music aficionado. These mini-narratives
are the usual blend of winsome and strange; commonplaces expressed by
people with unique sensibilities—notable “Realistically” and “Good
Girl Spend It.” “Thanks to the Good Little Fellow,” “Army Conditions,”
and, especially, the heart-tugging “Grateful,” are uncommonly moving.
The final, title track is a 20-minute suite with a repeated ethnic Jewish
violin motif featuring musical pieces composed by notables such as Terry
Riley, Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson. It is Greenberger and Greenberg’s
tour de force, by turns touching, reflective, and strange; a fitting
finale. (Francis DiMenno)

THE ROADKILL
ORCHESTRA

Live at the
Emporium:

Greatest
Hits Volume 3

13 tracks

This album was recorded
with minimal overdubbing in Dr. Gonzo’s Uncommon Condiments Emporium,
which is a real place in Worcester. While one can debate on the
merits of having a house band in a condiment shop, these gentlemen from
west of Boston, have perfected in a musical concept they call “garage
lounge.” Musically they straddle the fence between Dr. John
and Dr. Teeth. The arrangements and the songs are so over the top but
played with such a fierce sincerity, that one can never tell how serious
this band really is or how much of it is a put-on. The musicianship
and arrangement are tight and sophisticated, but the lyrics straddle
the fence between MIT and Wal-Mart. At times, it sounds like Steely
Dan covering Captain Beefheart or Tom Waits singing a Bruce Hornsby
song. The fact that much of this was tracked all at once gives
this album a live performance feel, but with the separation of a studio
recording. I can only imagine what a “produced” version of
this would sound like. (Joel Simches)

Dancing in
Ceremony

10 tracks

A reinvention of indie pop, former
Jaguar Club members Will Popadic and Yoi Fujita have been joined by
Nadia Brittingham. The result is Medals, a self-proclaimed “…fun
but serious, loud and good” trio. A love for electronica of
the ’90s and the music of the English alternative rock outfit, Blur,
has spawned an effort that is equal parts dance and radio-friendly contemporary.
The opener, “Lonestars,” is a haunting plea to a lover: “Before
the war comes, will you be mine? When darkness falls, don’t
leave me behind, oh no…” amid a combination of otherworldly elements,
each of which successfully convey an eerie feel. Throughout the
effort, the interplay of male and female vocal inflections is reminiscent
of Frausdots, while the synthesizers call to mind the Bravery, resulting
in a creative and cohesive collection of melodic, nighttime pop.
(Julia R. DeStefano)

MICK VALENTI

Europolis Records

Beatlesque

12 tracks

If the Beatles locked
themselves into their style of writing in 1965, traded in Ringo for
a cheap drum machine and all of George Martin’s lush orchestral flourishes
for bad general midi sounds, it would still sound more creative than
the twelve songs on this record. While Mick Valenti can certainly
write in that style and does his best cartoon impersonation of a Liverpudlian
nasal caricature, there was much more to the Beatles than this.
Claiming that this is “the music the Beatles stopped making,” is
mildly insulting to anyone who was a fan. The Beatles themselves
evolved from this era, because they didn’t want to parody themselves
and they wanted to explore other ways of making music. This album
not only doesn’t embrace that philosophy, it leads the listener into
thinking that this album is somehow some kind of loving tribute to the
Beatles. I suppose Valenti may think so, but that doesn’t make
this CD any less painful to listen to. File this in the bin at
the Beatle convention next to the book written by the daughter of the
mailman who dated Cynthia Lennon’s second cousin after the Beatles
broke up. I am sure they will both be signing autographs.
(Joel Simches)

RICHARD MIRSKY

Mommy, What’s
a Mirksy?

13 tracks

Allow me to answer
the question posed by the title of this barroom rock record. A
Mirsky is someone whose music caused my cat to walk up to the stereo
speakers, sniff them, wrinkle his nose in disgust and walk away before
depositing the equivalent of this music in his litter box. I’m
allowed another hundred words or so, but I don’t really think anything
else needs to be said. (Kevin
Finn)

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Red Car Records

Twisted Rico—the
Scandalous Years

20 tracks

I’ve heard of Twisted
Rico for a long time; damned if I know why it wasn’t till this summer
that I finally heard a production. Featuring a collection of songs that
upon first listen sounds like an alternative smorgasbord of different
bands, The Scandalous
Years delivers the sounds of a group coherency that can only
be obtained by multiple listens. It’s true… sometimes we reviewers
throw a disc in once, scan through the tracks and belch out a review;
I’ve been guilty of that. But this album’s music gave me intrigue;
it gave me pause. It made me listen to it again and again. Wait a minute…isn’t
Twisted Rico a band? No, it’s a management company! That’s a clever
thing to do… release a great compilation of bands from around the
area, and then title and pack it so upon first impression it looks like you’re
the artist! Well, you are if you come up with that idea. The real rock
stars are… the producers. (Mike Loce)

THE FUTURE
EVERYBODY

It Takes
Nothing

4 tracks

Andy Warhol, leader
of the pop art movement, was quoted saying, In
the future everybody will be world famous for 15 minutes. It is only poetic that the Future Everybody’s
latest EP, It Takes Nothing, just misses the benchmark—15 with 14 minutes
of phenomenal feel-good pop rock.

Affected guitar chords ring out on “Amy (Don’t Blame Me),” with
subtle synthesized chimes cueing Nate Roger’s to belt out from his
diaphragm. At times, you almost expect to hear Rogers exclaim, “That’s
me in the corner/ That’s me in the spotlight/ Losing my religion!”
But, alas, the Future Everybody showcase enough originality to ward
off all R.E.M comparisons. (Justin Korn)

SECRET SATELLITES

Secret Satellites

6 tracks

Fans of the much-missed
Sun Lee Sunbeam can rejoice as Jessica Sun Lee has returned, teaming
up with Jeff Clarke to form Secret Satellites. The Satellites’ brand
of pop is a bit of a departure from Lee’s previous band, a little
more relaxed and with an electro influence. What hasn’t changed, though,
is that Lee is still a solid songwriter. I often find this type of music
to be cold, but this is never the case here, largely due to Lee’s
honeyed vocals. The leadoff track “Siren” is the strongest, and
its title is certainly fitting. Not all the songs are overly substantial,
and the slower ones drag in parts, but it’s always good to hear from
Lee.
(Kevin Finn)

THE FAMOUS WINTERS

Carnival
Sky EP

4 tracks

If the Beatles and Pink Floyd magically
mated to create a new musical entity, the offspring would be named the
Famous Winters. It walks boldly along that side of insanity that Floyd
always brought us through. One second it is calm, tranquil, and safe.
The next, a torturous black hole of despair the only hope is that small
glimmer of light that shines brightly in the distance. The music pushes
us down the path, creating a new world to explore. The songs are mostly
stripped down to just drums, vocals, and various guitar parts. It is
so simple, that it becomes incredibly complex. I was pleasantly surprised
with the journey the Famous Winters took me through.
(Melvin O)

THICK SHAKES

Aurora 7 Records

Why Buy the
Cow

3 tracks

This band makes pop
music that attacks, bludgeoning you with a fuzzed out attack and leaving
you happily concussed. The songs are fast and aggressive, but never
at the expense of melody, a catchy chorus or a series of “oh oh oh”s.
“Go Back to New York” will play well around these parts, and so
would a full-length record. Three songs are not enough!
(Kevin Finn)

LENNY SOLOMON

“Soldier Coming Home”

1 track

We, as a people, need
a slap in the face about war. It’s happening under our nose but you
wouldn’t know it—there’s always something more important happening
to distract us from it. Lenny Solomon holds the mirror up for us and
it’s not pretty. “Soldier Coming Home” deals with the situations
that some of the unlucky soldiers face—not being able to adjust to
their post-soldier reality, and their country not being able to give
them the treatment they need. Lenny delivers this with acoustic guitar,
harmonica, and voice in the folk vein. It’s serious music about a
serious problem. “Soldier coming home from the war/ with his body
and future torn to shreds/ and leaders just refuse to see that their
policy made his reality tonight.” Good song, important message, keep
them coming. (T Max)

THE TIN THISTLE

We Were Promised
Better

5 tracks

I’ve seen these guys play live several
times, so I was excited when I was handed their CD. The excitement died
quickly when I started listening to it. I’m not sure if the title
was meant as a joke, because I repeated it like a mantra as I sat through
the longest 20 minutes of my life. Musically it is basic good old-fashioned
punk rock; it is loud, uncomplicated, and obnoxious. There is a reason
why punk songs are only a minute long though, because three plus minutes
of the same three chords grow boring real quick. Bil (singer) sounds
like what a drunken Bobcat Goldthwait would sound like if he sang bad
’80s hair metal, just not as funny. I actually have found this review
hard to write: it’s not easy typing while rocking back and forth repeating,
“We were promised better.”
(Melvin O)

GADI CAPLAN

Opposite Views

7 tracks

Gadi Caplan performs
guitar with passion and finesse in this seven-song primarily instrumental
EP. Opposite Views features contemporary jazz tunes—all fluent,
relaxing, and pleasant. Though most of the tracks are a bit too long
for my taste, it does work for this genre as you can easily disappear
into this soothing music. Along with Gadi’s wonderful guitar playing,
his songs are enhanced with keyboards, bass, drums, alto sax, violin,
flute, viola, and cello—not in each but nicely scattered throughout,
all by equally talented musicians. There are even lead vocals on one
track, “Nocturnal Adventure,” which I quite enjoyed though I believe
one of his guest musicians, Patrick McConnell, provided the vocals for
that. Gadi’s background is in rock and he alludes to progressive rock
and fusion in his material but it feels more like modern adult jazz
to me… relaxing and lovely. (Debbie Catalano)

CAROLE STOCKWELL

Ear Munchies Records

Pieces Of My Heart

11 tracks

It isn’t easy listening
to easy-listening. Quite the opposite, in fact, as this collection of
bland adult-contempo tunes proves. The album is exactly what you’d
expect from a run-of-the-mill female singer/songwriter for whom the
whole sequence of human history seems to have stopped somewhere around
1975. A hokey onslaught of folk songs and wimpy blues numbers smeared
with hillbilly honky-tonk. At times, it’s not entirely unpleasant,
but it’s still utterly unremarkable. The lyrics sound like they were
cut and pasted from a pile of old Hallmark cards—not that I expected
anything less from an album entitled Pieces
of My Heart. Did I mention
the cover-art is a photo of a heart-shaped jigsaw puzzle? I think I’m
gonna be sick. (Will Barry)

THE TAKE BACK

Win Some
Lose Some

12 tracks

This is a pretty rockin’
collection of songs for those who love Social D, the Misfits, and the
Dropkick Murphys. The band and songs are pretty tight, featuring
some solid drumming and thick guitars, the usual Pabst enhanced fist
pumping vocal approach and some great moments of rock ’n’ roll silliness!
The great surprise is the vocal harmonies and how the band seems to
be able to move beyond the cliché of the musical style and just make
great music without trying to sound as much like their influences.
Three songs in and the arrangements seem to get a little more interesting.
Almost like Social D covering an ELP tune. Oh and could we please
outlaw covering the song “Rumble In Brighton” once and for all?
This is almost as tiresome as the wah-wah wuckachucka and the hip hop
shout-out. Those should be outlawed as well, but that’s another
review for another band!    (Joel Simches)

PRESENT RHYMES

Mertz & Sun Productions

Yep, hip-hop from the land of jam bands…
these cats are proudly reppin’ the birthplace of Phish: Burlington,
VT. Scary concept, isn’t it? As you may expect, there’s good news
and bad news. Let’s start with the good. The beats are a decently
done, quite serviceable version of that East Coast underground sound
that seems virtually unchanged in the last fifteen years—so, thankfully,
none of that recent trendy bullshit. Nothing weak or wimpy, but
possibly not memorable either… Bad news: the MCs. The voices are hackneyed
and whiny—not ICP-vomit-inducing, but still pretty annoying. There’s
nothing particularly compelling about the lyrics, either. Sorry, I can’t
feel this trust-fund rap. Yeah, I know, it’s not like all hip-hop
lyrics have to be about “the struggle” or anything like that, but
I like a good story, vivid imagery and clever wordplay. Not much of
any of that to be found here. However, I’m sure people who like their
Deep Disco Moe Banana Biscuit Blackout and their Tribe Called Quest
will find this a fleetingly good time.    (Tony Mellor)

 

If you are based in New England,
send your CD for review to
T Max/ the Noise, PO Box 353, Gloucester, MA 01931.

If you’re sending a CD in to
the Noise make sure to use our new address.
And everyone else should
update our contact info too. Thanks.

T Max/ the Noise
PO Box 353
Gloucester, MA 01931
617-331-9637
tmaxnoise@aol.com

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The Fools

THE FOOLS by A.J. Wachtel

There is a lot of history to this band that hails from Ipswich. By 1975, Mike Girard, Rich Bartlett, and Stacey Pedrick formed The Fools, and by 1979, with the release of their Talking Heads parody, “Psycho Chicken,” they became very well known across the country. The group followed with “It’s a Night for Beautiful Girls,” a huge hit that peaked at #67 on the Billboard charts. EMI signed the band and they toured with The Knack and released their first album, Sell Out.  In ’81, their second album, Heavy Mental, was released with their cover of Orbison’s “Running Scared” reaching #50 on the Billboard charts. They joined Van Halen on their Fair Warning tour and drummer Leo Black jumped aboard for the ride. By 1985, The Fools put out World Dance Party, with four of the singles becoming huge hits. The title song, “Life Sucks Then You Die,” “She Makes Me Feel Big,” and a cover of Manfred Mann’s “Doo Wah Diddy” got considerable local and national airplay. Their MTV video for the last tune increased their popularity a hundred fold. In 2010, Mike released Psycho Chicken & Other Foolish Tales, a book that outlined the hilarious history of the band. Current bassist Eric Adamson became a Fool in 2012 and, currently, this gregarious group continues their quest for world domination through their own special brand of tomfoolery and musical monkeyshines.

Noise: You guys have been together performing since 1975. Most marriages don’t last that long. Why are you still together?

Mike Girard: I think we’re still together because we allow ourselves to cheat on each other and play with other bands. Rich and I also play with Beatlejuice, and Stacey and Eric also play with The Mockers.

Rich Bartlett: We tried to break up! We were unsuccessful at that, too!

Stacey Pedrick: Our longevity? Okay, well I guess you don’t know us very well, I thought it was common knowledge that Mike not only does ALL the dishes, ALL the laundry, and ALL the cooking, but he never ever asks us where all the money went! We’d be… fools… to break up.

Noise: 35 years ago, “Psycho Chicken” was released and you’ve played that song hundreds of times. Do people still remember it’s a parody of the Talking Heads song, “Psycho Killer,” or has it taken on a separate life of its own?

Mike: I don’t know what you’re talking about. Who are the Talking Heads and what is Psycho Killer?

Rich: I know you didn’t ask, but I got the idea for the guitar part from Link Wray (“Run Chicken Run”).

Noise: “It’s A Night For Beautiful Girls” is a sweet New Wave romance song. Is it a happy tune or a sad one, and what band would you have liked to seen cover it and why?

Mike: I’ve always thought of it as a happy song, but in a desperate way. It’s the way most of us feel about an approaching weekend; it’s full of promise. I’d have loved to hear 10cc cover it.

Noise: I know it’s in your book but, you toured with The Knack and Van Halen. Which headliner treated you worse as their opener and in what ways?

Mike: So many bands treated us so well: The Knack, Rush, The Ramones, J Geils, The Doobie Brothers and more. Eddy Van Halen was always friendly, but the one calling the shots at that time was David Lee Roth, a world class rock singer, but also a world class asshole. For the juicy details, read my book, Psycho Chicken & Other Foolish Tales… available at Amazon.com.

Noise: Your book Psycho Chicken & Other Foolish Tales is funny in a serious way. What are The Fools serious about in 2014? It’s a great outline of the hysterical history of the band. Will there be a Vol. II? Is there a new CD in the future?

Mike: Our job is to not take anything too seriously, but we are involved in a few local charities and I guess we’re serious about that. Yes, there is another book in the works, and I’m finally starting it. Me and Rich are also starting work on a new batch of tunes.

Noise: Are you onstage activists in a sense? Are your sets more “political and making a statement” or more of a “social commentary” in any way, or something completely different?

Mike: I want people to feel like the circus is coming to town. By the time the night is over, I hope they feel like they’ve seen something with a bit of spectacle to it, like a circus, but minus the big pile of elephant crap in the corner.

Rich: We do like to address subjects that make some people uncomfortable, but in a humorous way… sort of like an x-rated Disney cartoon.

Stacey: I think our sets are purely musical and hopefully entertaining. Sure, our un-flinching support of Legal Personhood for Pets is nearly legendary, but we don’t bring such serious matters to the stage. People should think at home.

Leo Black: I’m onstage to get into the zone with the other guys and experience the fun and the sheer joy of sharing that with people.

Eric Adamson: I see it more like political and social satire with a humorous twist. Try to have fun and don’t take anything too seriously

Noise:  Your live shows are very interactive with the audience. You walk into the audience during a song and do your schtick in a light-hearted, comical, and very entertaining way. Have these exchanges and responses generally remained consistent throughout the years? Are there any songs you don’t play anymore because times have changed and they’re not as funny anymore?

Mike: Most people come to our shows expecting to have fun. That feeling in the audience carries us in the band. When your job description is to have fun, good things happen.

One song that used to work well for us was called LL Cool Bean. I’d come on as a rapping guy from backwoods Maine, wearing a green hat with flaps and a hunting jacket. But over time, as rap music turned more into hip hop, the song stopped feeling relevant… if it ever was.

Noise: How much of the group’s purpose and execution changed over the decades, or will seeing a show in 2014 be reminiscent in any way to being present at one in 1984?

Mike: We’ve always seen performing rock ’n’ roll as kind of a funny thing to begin with. It’s an art form where we scream our most heartfelt feelings to you at an ungodly volume. Our viewpoint about that hasn’t changed, but I think we’re better at delivering the goods.

Noise: One word to describe Mike Girard?

Rich: Fearlesstalentedfunnyenter-tainingfriend.

Stacey: Ubiquitous!

Leo: Best.

Eric: DEBAUCHERIST.

www.thefools-band.com

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Great article!! Great band!

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by Shady

Here’s something different: a rock band that is more concerned with the roll than the rock. Out of the ashes of the Collisions, Bo Barringer (guitar and vocals) scrapes together a pop band with soaring melodies and a dual guitar attack that is also less concerned with the attack. Rounding out the line-up is Jen Grygiel (guitar and vocals) and Jason Marchionna (drums). Don’t worry kids, they have a bass player; he or she is just TBA. Me & Joan Collins are that rare breed mixing porn and Brit-pop with classic glam sensibilities and girl-boy vocals. I mention porn because it dominated a bit of the conversation that the boys and girl of Me & Joan Collins and I had at the cozy confines of the Independent in Union Square, Somervillle. The atmosphere lends itself to intimate conversation of porn collections—found or otherwise—and other less sex-inspired discussions. When we met up the band had unfortunately just been eliminated from the opening round of this year’s ’BCN Rumble. Despite this event, they seemed high on the direction and future of the band. They are in the midst of recording a full-length disc with Dave Westner at Woolly Mammoth and plans of touring regionally are in the offing.

Noise: For some reason I want to talk about hunting.
Bo: I would like to experience the emotional hell that it would put me thr

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VACATION

The Summer Peace issue is done and after I finish distributing it, I get time off before the September issue. This year I’m actually going to go someplace. A friend is renting an apartment in Paris and I’ve been invited to stay there for a short time. I took French in high school so I’m all set if I need to find a library—ou est la bibliotheque? But I may need to know more than that to get around. Please share any tips that you think might enhance my stay in the city of lights.

GIGS FOR DREAMERS WANTED

Before I hop the big pond I’ve got some shows lined up to perform “End War Now” with Shawn Marquis and Michael Bloom (the basic band of Dreamers Wanted).

On Friday, July 6 at the Baseball Tavern, The Liz Borden Band asked Dreamers Wanted to join them on stage to sing the song that Young, Dylan, and Springsteen have already covered (click on the third song at myspace.com/dreamerswanted). Besides The Liz Borden Band, Muck & the Mires (straight from their European tour) and The Illegals are on the bill.

Then on Friday, July 13, Brian O’Connell invited Dreamers Wanted to be a part of Assembling Peace V—an alternative, fun and energizing anti-war event/party/mixer/concert (to benefit the Greater Boston Stop the Wars Coalition) at Spontaneous Celebrations (45 Danforth St., Jamaica Plain). The party is hoppin’ with Jimmy Ryan, The Gary Backstrom Band (ex-Jiggle the Handle), The Grass Gyspys, Andrew Alexander, Nicolas Despo and more. Everything gets started at 7:00.

NOISEBOARD & READERS REPO

Check out the new layout of the Noise Board. We’ve separated the music forum so you can go there and talk about music without someone interrupting you with his or her sock fetish. It’s a much friendlier place now.

Don’t forget that you can respond to any of the reviews on our website using Readers Respo. It never seemed fair to me that reviewers get the last word about the CDs and live shows that they write about. This function allows you to respond with your opinion.

T Max (publisher/editor)
74 Jamaica St.
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

 

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Lynne Taylor

 

LYNNE TAYLOR 

by Lois A. McNulty

With Lynne Taylor, what you see is what you get.  She writes the songs, she sings them, and she accompanies herself on the piano. She is a one-woman act, but there is no acting involved.  It’s all Lynne Taylor, and her music is anything but sweet, often rocking, sometimes waltz-like, and as raw as it gets. She is “pushing conventions and boundaries in the realm of social and personal awareness. Her lyrics range from dark and moody to hopeful and uplifting,” according to her website, Lynne Taylor Music. 

Taylor makes her living as a teaching assistant in a charter school while playing in three bands and also building her solo career.  She is a multi-instrumentalist—piano, upright bass, bass guitar, and voice.  A staple on the music scene in her adopted hometown of Newburyport, MA, she has been writing songs since 1976, when she was 14, and performing professionally across the northeastern U.S. for 30 years.  Critics have compared her to Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, Ani DiFranco, Gillian Welch, and Sheryl Crow.
     Taylor released a self-produced CD When Lightning Strikes in October, 2013. Previously, there was her solo CD Grace in 1996, Rantic, the self-titled 2001 CD with her band at the time, and Sooner, in 2011, with the band Liz Frame & the Kickers. She is a wife, mother, and grandmother with a large circle of friends. 

Noise:  To describe your life as busy would be an understatement.  On top of a full personal life, and a demanding  job, what drives you to keep up with the practices, the writing, the performing and touring, not to mention the behind-the-scenes work of promoting your work?

Lynne: Idealism. Idealism drives me. There’s so much that’s wrong in this world, and it just has to change.  I grew up with the strong notion that music is a powerful tool that could help change the world, raise awareness and make things better, get people honest. I still feel strongly that way today.  So, for me, it’s always about the next new song.  It’s not ego that drives me. Ego is so limited, and it will burn you out. It’s more like strong feelings that drive me to write songs and perform them, share them. I have no goals or expectations, really. I am not what they call goal-oriented.  All this that I’m doing now has just unfolded, without any plan. I have been very lucky to get the chance to work with such exciting musicians throughout my life.  Plus, I’ve always been a bit hyperactive!

Noise:  How did you come to be a musician?

Lynne: Oh music is in my blood. It was never something I found or aspired to; music was always a natural part of my life. My parents were folk singers in Cleveland, Ohio in the ’60 and ’70s. They opened for Phil Ochs and others. I grew up on Ian and Sylvia, Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger. My dad is a light-skinned African-American and my mother is white. Her family disowned her when she married my dad, pregnant with me, in the early ’60s. My dad’s career took us to Kent, Ohio where, when I was eight years old, two things happened that affected me deeply: the Kent State anti-Vietnam War shootings, and my parents’ divorce.  I became politicized at an early age because my parents were active in the anti-war and civil rights movements.  I was young, but this consciousness affected me deeply because it changed the people around me, the people important to me. The divorce killed me inside. That’s when I discovered that I could get attention by singing. I had a strong voice and an ear for harmony. I started playing piano—mostly self-taught. When I got older, I played with my family’s bluegrass band, Fishcreek. 

Noise:  You seem to be good at juggling several diverse pursuits simultaneously. Can you describe the range of bands you’ve played in over your 30-year career? 

Lynne:  In my teens I was angry, unmanageable, really. I was using drugs and alcohol from the age of 14, did a stint in juvie, bounced around between my mother’s home in Ohio and my father’s home on an Indian reservation in Arizona, and then to living with friends, all before I got out of high school. This led to my deep involvement with punk. Kent, Ohio was a hotbed for punk, the home of Devo and the Dead Boys. I moved East and started playing in a punk band with my brother, a drummer. We called it Klaxxon.  (A klaxxon is a warning siren.) This was my first band of many—alternative keyboard-based,  heavy metal, alternative folk, rock, and a heavy prog-ish band. This led me to Liz Frame & the Kickers, an alternative folk/roots acoustic band, where I’ve been playing  stand-up electric bass for the past five years. In addition to the solo singing/piano-playing gigs, I sometimes perform with The Lynne Taylor Band, which includes a rotating cast of characters including: Ed Passarella or Gerard Kennedy on bass, Scott Solsky, Mark Toolan or David Fischer on guitar, Jason Novak on harmonica, and Charlie Farr on drums.  Recently, for fun, I started a punk band with Charlie Farr and Mark Toolan. We are Halo & the Harlots and I play bass guitar. 

Noise:  It’s obvious you love all that you’re doing, and embrace each part of your musical career, but what’s the difference, for you, between performing solo and with a band?

Lynne: One thing I love about playing in a band is the camaraderie. It is just a lot more fun. You have that emotional buffer. I am someone who loves to bounce ideas off people. I love to hear other musicians’ interpretations of my songs.  You become like a little family. That’s why it’s so hard when the bands break up, or someone leaves. I get that same feeling in my gut that I do when a relationship breaks up. I’m devastated. At the same time, I like playing solo because there is no mistaking my message. You can hear every nuance of my voice, every single lyric. 

Noise:  Your lyrics are strongly, but never stridently, feminist, such as the song “Legacy.”  What informs this advocacy for women? 

Lynne:  I can answer that in one word (no, two!): Murtis Taylor.  She is the topic of the song “Legacy.” I grew up with powerful women, including my mother, Judy Platz, a teacher and poet, but among those women, my father’s mother, Murtis Taylor, stands out as a remarkable role model for me. “Life was hard, but she loved it anyway,” I wrote in the song. Born in Brunswick, Georgia, in 1913 to children of former slaves on the Oglethorpe Plantation, she was a light-skinned black woman who was taken by her white grandmother to live in Cleveland, where she was expected to try to pass as white. Murtis refused, and always played with the black kids anyway. She had a strong drive to change society. She knew the poet Langston Hughes! She went on to have a distinguished career as a social worker in Cleveland, where there is now a foundation in her name, the Murtis Taylor Human Services System, that provides community mental health, alcohol, and other addiction services. Her example was a strong influence in my own decision to get sober and drug-free at the age of 29, in 1991, after I gave birth to my daughter. 

Noise: Your songs can be personal but your topics can also be global. What  specific issues do you tend to write and sing about? 

Lynne:  Well, corporate greed motivated me to write “The Grand Empire.”  Then there’s “Pablo’s Glue,” which came after I watched a documentary  about street children in South America. The hopelessness of their lives haunted me. Then, I had a dream about a little girl who wanted her story told, and I knew I had to write that song. Then there are the ballads straight from my own adventures in love, like “Back by Suppertime,”  “Grant and Lee,” and “The Angel that Flew.”

Noise: You don’t do covers on your new album; they’re all original songs written by you. How can fans get the lyrics and hear your music?  

Lynne: I included all the lyrics in the new CD, and you can also listen to and download every song I’ve written and performed (some for free) on my website.  As I said, I hope to make my living with music one of these days, but it’s more important for me now to get it out there into people’s ears. 

…
…

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CD Reviews

SHEPHERDESS 
Tiny Radars
I’m Saving Myself for Shepherdess
9 tracks

Anyone who hasn’t followed Hilken Mancini’s post-Fuzzy work has made a grave mistake.  This second record from Shepherdess finds Mancini on top of her game, leading the band through a set of songs that are in debt as much to riot grrl punk as they are to the power pop that she is known for.  The music has a ferocity to it, but never at the expense of a good hook, and while Mancini lets her guitar hero side show, the songs never meander aimlessly.  The other band members, Emily Arkin (baritone guitar and violin) and Allison Murray (drums) excel as well, proving nimble enough to turn on a dime while also focused enough to keep the proceedings grounded.  The production is excellent throughout, fully capturing the spirit of their live shows, except for the actual live track that closes the album, which sounds dull and far away.   (Kevin Finn)

 

JAMES MONTGOMERY BAND
Open E Entertainment
From Detroit… to the Delta 
12 tracks

James swears that “Detroit blues is greasier than Chicago blues” and his latest project is a testament to this fact. First, with an all-star cast of musicians; every song is a gem in its own right. The group consists of  James on superb Sonny Boy Williamson I-inspired harp and very solid vocals. David Hull, the bassist and backing vocalist, also very ably produces this product. Guitarist extraordinaire George McCann on sizzling six-string and Seth Pappas on driving drums are razor-sharp on every cut. When the group suddenly stops in an arrangement, the momentum stalls and it’s the perfect music foil to transfer the listener’s focus back on to front man James alone. This allows him to always have control of the song, it works well, and it’s a great foundation for a great cd. I really dig “Intoxicated” with it’s hook, and Willie Dixon’s Delta inspired “Same Thing.” “Little Johnny” is a great tune with Johnny Winter on Firebird Slide guitar and Aerosmith’s Joey Kramer on drums. Listen at the end of the song when Aerosmith’s guitarist Brad Whitford joins in. Just killer. Joey also pounds on the John Lee Hooker classic “Motor City Is Burning,” for real Detroit bluze. “I Don’t Want To Have a Heart,” co-written with local vet Bruce Marshall, is another good song. I really like “Delta Storm,” with the Uptown Horns. Their presence always takes the sound to a better level. Ask The Stones. Another standout is Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love?” sung by rapper DMC. His delivery and just his appearance is way cool and it’s done “Detroit” all the way. “Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is” another “Delta inspired” blues tune, is tightly and powerfully done, showcasing the band’s many talents. The jazzy/soulful version of Ray Charles’ “Hit the Road Jack” is very interesting and Montgomery’s opening harp and vocals are really cool. “River’s Edge,” written by McCann and “Changing of the Guard” composed by Hull, are both enjoyable blues/rock that again allow the stars to strut their stuff. Finally, Cotton comes and shows everyone his own interpretation of Sonny Boy’s style with the Lightning Hopkins classic “Black Cadillac.” This is not just another harp CD.  Great music. Great performances. Great guest-stars. Play this CD loud.         (A.J. Wachtel)

 

THE WEISSTRONAUTS
Sool Recordings
Control Is in Your Command:
The Best of the Weisstronauts 1999-2012
27 tracks

There are twelve songs actually, on the vinyl release—plus a mind-roasting 15 bonus tracks on the CD release. Y’know, judging from the first track, “Get It Together,” this band might strike the uninitiated as purveyors of the type of allegedly “hip” music” listened to the squares in the film version of The Graduate. But these instrumentals actually span the 14-year run of this collective of musicians gathered together to pay homage to exhausted styles past—from heavy duty funk (“Fibonacci”) to bubblegum pop (“Fruity”) to seedy pop psychedelia (the previously unreleased “Handball”). The aptly named “Psychedelic Whiplash” affectionately sends up both Blue Cheer and crazed 1960s LA radio DJ raps (e.g., “The Diamond Mine”). Make no mistake:  this best-of collection is nothing if not eclectic. We also get a Byrdsy-Liverpudlian amalgam of folk-blues-pop (“Hoopin’”) side by side with  twangy Johnny Cash style country (“Hot Dog City”). The sparkling and aptly named “Perky” appears here in a brighter 2011 remix. As for the CD bonus tracks, the standouts include “Tommy the Smelter” and its interpolated “Gimme Shelter” riff; the spectacularly jaunty “Last Train to Shartlesville”; the sheer verve of the previously unreleased cover of “Hot Smoke and Sassafras,” and the glad-making “Thrifty 2,” sounding like a picture perfect portrait of 1966, alongside of the cover of “Pleasant Valley Sunday,” with its nitrous oxide punch at the finale. All in all, it has been a fun ride, kids. Let’s keep up the good work.         (Francis DiMenno)

 

ORB MELLON
Reltone
Love & Violence
10 tracks

Former Dirt Merchants founder Mike Malone emerges with his latest release under the moniker Orb Mellon.  This collection of tunes features solo home project recordings from two different periods of time and digs deep into the whiskey drenched delta blues/juke joint wave. The varying qualities of these recordings make this album sound instantly and simultaneously like a recently unearthed blues fossil and a modern edgy classic. Love & Violence has a healthy blend of soulful, intimate, fragile, and bombastic, as good albums should, without trying to sound all “faddy,” as if vintage were something you could simply buy at Guitar Center with a discount coupon.  All the songs on this sound honest and from the heart, with the charm coming from differing degrees of sonic fidelity. Sometimes the only way to achieve that is with a home recording. This is a record worth having in the collection.          (Joel Simches)

 

AMERICAN THREAD
Killing Days 
11 tracks

Recorded at Proofbox Studios with multi-instrumentalist/producer Steve Mayone, the lads from American Thread have got a great, well-rounded sound. Like a cross between the Pogues, Billy Bragg and Steve Earle, they waste no time to blast out some high octane Americana infused with healthy portions of country blues and barroom rock. Guitarist/singer Brendan Ahern and drummer Geoff Downing pair nicely, and fill out their sound with Michael Taggert on lead guitar and Gary Taggart on bass. American Thread is the kind of band I can easily picture playing at Bull McCabes or Toad, strumming their working class anthems over acoustic guitars and tall glasses of Irish whiskey. Like the best folk songs, each tune tells a story. “Fisherman’s Lullaby” is one of my favorites, depicting the tough times of today’s fisherman.  “Parade” is another fun folk song; it has a ring of Bruce Springsteen doing a Bob Dylan cover.  The organ on “Lost and Found” is a nice touch and allows that song to stand out a bit more instrumentally. “39 Days” somehow reminds me of an acoustic Bob Mould tune.  If this is the kind of stuff you dig, check out American Thread.      (Kier Byrnes)

 

BIRD MANCINI
Second Story Records
Bird Mancini Lounge  
12 tracks

This music is a mix of the usual eclectic roots rock sound of Bird Mancini and the Bossa Nova. Both Ruby and Billy Carl sing great.  Ruby wrote the opening, “If You Wanna Get To Know Me,” and Billy wrote all the rest.  Their Bossa Nova songs that could have been covered by Brasil 66 or Astrud Gilberto include: “You Don’t Know What I’m Saying,” the instrumental “What Gets Me This Way,” with the great groove, “Midway Green Café,” “Jet Setting In Morocco,” “Patagonia,” and the closing cut, “Running To You (Coda).” Less danceable but just as lounge-ish are “The Listener,” “Somedays,” and “Pond Life,” a song co-written by Mr. Curt  that could be on an Adventure Set set list. Instruments included on this CD that I am unfamiliar with their specific sounds are: axatse, china cymbal, and a rain stick. This is rock solid, enjoyable, and certainly not just elevator music. Pour yourself a martini and listen.                 (A.J. Wachtel)

 

GROOVE LOUNGE 
TVP Records
Volume 1  
14 tracks

I love the modern electro-soul sound.  There are many categories for this type of funky jazzy hip hoppy compilation, but “electro-soul” really resonates for me.  It sounds 21st century, looking at it from the 22nd century.  The artists in question on this hipolific mix are really at the mercy of New Hampshire Seacoast producer Scott “Sir Buck” Ruffner—and are performing as THE sound of TVP Records.  Hailing from the (and inhaling the) Portsmouth vibe and sea air, Sir Buck and his compassionate cohorts have welded together a nasty and smooth mix of flash and brash, spunk and funk, mix, licks, and some chicks.  Before I venture further into questionable beat poetry rhyme schemes, let me say that this CD is a great party soundtrack to keep rolling… though I haven’t been to a great party in many moons.  Tasty bits of guitar work, positive-energy lyrics and seamless integration in the many artists’ sounds in the tracks lead my ear to a pleasing sense of completion and flow throughout the work.      (Mike Loce)

 

MOE POPE & RAINS
Let the Right Ones In
19 tracks

When they reminisce about good Hip Hop this album will be amongst the ranks.

Out of the gate there is a sense of euphoric nostalgic transcendence.  As soon as the beats drop, it is apparent that this LP blends many different types of styles and influences from rock, ADM, and ’90s trip hop.

Moe and his cast of characters are droppin’ more knowledge than glitter on the Bean with very conscious and reflective lyrics.  His mixed cast include several Boston musical luminaries such as Dua Boakye from BAD Rabbits, Reks, and Julia Easterlin.   The first track, “Gothham feat. Easterlin,” is beautious out the gate. “Annie Mulz” is a super sonic gritty party anthem. Track 10, “Pressure,” is grimy and raw.  Just about every joint on this album seduces you on the low like a not so silent assassin with all its heavenly and heavy beats. This album truly has mass appeal, which I feel will be appreciated by hip hop heads.      (Lara Jardullo)

 

JIMMY RYAN
Ruido Guide Records
Readville 
8 tracks

The mandolin pickin’ is good—nothing truly virtuosic—the songs are okay—nothing top out of sight brilliant—the singing is of variable quality—some of the melodies are sprightly—notably “Gone Yer Gone,” the Dylanesque “Rocket to the Soul,” and, notably, “Just Like You,” where Mr. Ryan’s voice is heard to best effect. I love anthemic mountain music—from Bill Monroe to the Anglin Brothers to Jim Eanes. I love it with a passion bordering on the fanatic. These songs don’t move me in any of the same ways. At best, they only tickle my fancy and whet my appetite for some of the real thing, which, in and of itself, is no mean feat.     (Francis DiMenno)

 

HOWLING BOIL
Maiden America
11 tracks

This is an outstanding album from an outstanding band. It’s all the more impressive that this is their debut release and not the work of a band 10 years in and five albums deep. Stylistically, they are as ambiguous as they are adventurous, touching on country, blues, and prog-influenced groove-heavy jams, with the occasional dash of avant-garde jazz licks and metal riffing. Broadly defined, I’d call ‘em art-rock. Their upbeat and whimsical style with its chunky fuzzed-out guitar leads, bouncing basslines, and lighthearted organ/synth is really compelling. They’re like Blur, without the British accents. They’ve got a knack for writing catchy tunes full of quirky modulations, sudden style shifts, and outstanding musicianship—especially with the layers of interwoven lead guitar lines and the dense harmonies of the backing vocals, yet, their unorthodox approach and technical badassery are never overpowering enough to alienate even the most casual of listeners.       (Will Barry)

 

Z*L  
Midriff Records
Z*L
10 tracks

The self-titled opening salvo from Z*L is a musical flavor I don’t taste too often, a blend of surf/psych rock tinged with some heavy reverb and a few cool effects. We’re definitely off to a good start, and I get the feeling that this trio has a lot more in store. Mournful ballads like “Mermaid Knife” contrast sharply with the fuzzy, shred-filled “Steev Millar,” and “A Town Called Romeo” gives the full-frontal assault to the ears that you hear more than once in this album, and the intensity makes me wonder what a live show with Z*L is like.

The vocals of Isabel Reilly (bass) and Ian Adams (guitar) are mournful and heavy, but it’s the kind of darkness that just wants to impart a story, rather than drag the listener down into a depression they never wanted. Ian’s a familiar face as a solo artist, and has transitioned to this band seamlessly. The bass and guitar steal the show,with shredding solos that flood the air. The drum work of Jack “Knife” Guilderson is effective and on point, and maintains a strong presence with his bandmates. All in all, an impressive debut for a band that’s worth keeping your eyes on.                             (Max Bowen)

 

T MAX 
Dove Records
Thinkin’ Up a Dream 
8 tracks

Re: Opening number “Clickity Clack.” Whew. Who knew the world was at long last ready for a Mungo Jerry revival? Though, actually, it sounds more like “Mirror of Love” by the Kinks, croaked in a dyspeptic Bob Dylan caw, or maybe a slowed down trippy version of the Wilson/McGuinness collaboration “Ding Dang.” Next, we get more of the swoony guitar mode—in fact the treated guitar sound on this recording is the unique selling proposition—on “Fade Away, Fading In.” We then get a slab of Jonathan Richman style eerie-but-touching goofiness on “My Friends’ Pets.” And “Thinkin’ Up a Dream” is hokum jazz revival ala “That Cat is High” and such. “(Let’s Go Down to) Dogtown” recalls the novelty stylings of a certain unnamed local Irish-heritage rock band, and the chantey “Dundabeck” continues in a similar vein (though, for the record, the rogue sausage-maker’s name was actually Donderbeck.) “Train Sleep” is twangy skiffle hokum, a mildly amusing novelty number. The most compelling song here is the shortest: “Fading In”: a dazed and fitting coda to the proceedings. This release is shot full of songs in a genre—call it groovy Americana—which was and is a rich vein tapped by the Holy Modal Rounders, Dylan, Phil Ochs, Dave van Ronk, Beefheart, et al., long before its putative revival in the 1990s. I long ago predicted the whole Americana craze—a hillbilly aesthetic which was the inevitable counter-response to the black-leather-jacket garage hoodlum. But we forget that at one time the hobo was also at the cutting edge of hipsterdom. Even Richard M. Nixon referenced the far-away lonesome train whistle in the night during his maudlin acceptance speech to the 1968 Republican National Convention. So now I’m going on record to predict a movement called the Hobo Revival. Will this be the opening salvo? Only time will tell.      (Francis DiMenno)

 

THE DRUNK NUNS
The Winchester LP
12 tracks

These songs are mostly fast screamers with attitude, sorta like Slayer meets the Butthole Surfers meets the Ramones. Industrial rock, punk and metal are the main influences here and songs like “What Now,” “Reckless,” “The Boys,” my favorite “Tell Me,” “Juvenile,” and “We Don’t Know” assault your eardrums from start to finish. All the songs are written by growling vocalist Joe Barron and guitarist Andrew Dedousis, who sets his amp at vol. 11 from beginning to end. Drummer Andy Mac and bassist Frank Ashe ably keep all the mayhem together and even a slower, quieter stomp like “Winchester” is just as menacing. This is manic music sure to help make you hard of hearing. Fast and furious and not for the fainthearted, I like it like this.  (A.J. Wachtel)

 

MAX GARCIA CONOVER
Clip Records
Burrow
11 tracks

Max Garcia Conover’s first full-length album is aptly named. One song in, and I want to disconnect the phone and let the music be the only thing on my mind. His fingerpick style is quick, sure, and delivers a great folk sound that sucks the stress out of your soul and replaces it with a relaxed tranquility. The album opens with “Teem,” a chill instrumental piece that showcases Conover’s skill with the strings, and damn does he have skills. Whether a slow strum or a fast, surgical tone, he’s on point each time. His vocals are light, but no less effective in connecting with the audience, like a casual conversation that lasts for hours. Based out of Maine and recognized as Best New Act by the Portland Music Awards last year, Conover shows us that the title wasn’t won for nothing. His music takes you into the forests and fields of his home state, or to a quiet café for an acoustic show. Either way, where this music goes, you want to follow.      (Max Bowen)

 

JULIET & THE LONESOME ROMEOS
No Regrets
10 tracks

Americana music that gets foot-tappin’ at times, Juliet is raunchy in “Narcissus,” my favorite song, and wails a weeper in the ballad “Song For You.” She goes Nashville in the country/ soul “Learn to Love Again” and the country pop/ rock “Last Kiss.” I love “Unkindest Cut,” sorta like Pure Prairie League meets Lucinda Williams. I can also hear the Neil Young influence in “Wishing Well” and Emmylou Harris in “Failed Highway.” Produced by Ducky Carlisle and Michael Dinallo, I would imagine they perform on this project also. Most of the songs are written or co-written by Juliet and the music jumps out of the speakers. For both your dancing and listening pleasure check out the jangling guitars and versatile vocals the next chance you get.    (A.J. Wachtel)

 

THE SKELETON BEATS
Shake Your Bones
10 tracks

The Skeleton Beats prove that you don’t have to be very original to be a good band as long as you possess a true rock and roll spirit as well as a keen knowledge of where your strengths lie.  The band plays the kind of music that used to find a home at the Abbey.   The songs are fast, loud, and in debt to the holy trinity of punk, garage and rockabilly.  Most importantly, these guys and gal bring the fun, an element that seems all too lacking from a lot of the music that lands in my inbox these days.   Being able to write ear candy like “Bad for You” doesn’t hurt either.   That number hasn’t left my brain for days, and I’m clearly a better person for it. Thanks, Skeleton Beats!     (Kevin Finn)

 

I AM NEXT
Cemento Records
How to Tell the Phonies From the Phakes
10 tracks

This is a pretty slick piece of power pop. While the songs are bright and zippy with some brilliant harmonies, their sound harkens back to ’70s and ’80s proto-indie-pop bands like the the Raspberries, the Buzzcocks, and the Knack, with bits of Peter Case and Marshall Crenshaw, and the attitude of the Smithereens, and the Replacements, except without all the cheesy gated reverb on the drums.  The production is tight and punchy, but the songs initially are kind of hit and miss.  The first four songs are desperately in search of good hook to tie together all the little bits.  Perry Leenhout’ s voice, while really good, seems to lack the swagger that some of these songs need and there isn’t much emotional dynamic, until the album hits its stride with “Hallucination Mania” and “Radio Wave Goodbye.” The broader psychedelic approach to those tracks seems to suit his laid-back melodic tones. While there are so many great ideas, they tend to outstay their welcome, often within the same song. I am sure this band kicks it pretty well live. I would like to see that.                      (Joel Simches)

 

BEES DELUXE
Livevil 
8 tracks

This is powerful old-school guitar driven music with heavy Hendrix/ Clapton/ B.B. influences. It is nothing new but always enjoyable and rocking. This “limited edition collection of unauthorized live recordings” is just the music you’d expect from a transplanted Brit who landed in Boston. A mix of originals and covers, Conrad Warre admirably wields his axe while Brad Smith on keys and Patrick Sanders on drums accompany him through cool tunes like “Look-Ka Py Py,” “Ain’t Nobody’s Business,””Funky Miracle,” and “Watermelon Man.” Solid vocals surrounded by a tight band, and check out the tones he gets out of his guitar; this cat can play.     (A.J. Wachtel)

 

CAIXA
Caixa
10 tracks

Right off the bat, Caixa’s sound collages conjure something Kubrick might have used in 2001: A Space Odyssey with their eerie, drone-heavy tone. The music is chock-full of amorphous textures, electronic outer-spaciness, and lush cymbal splashing that slow-simmer to a seething boil with track 4, “P.I.G.,” a bawdy funk piece tinged with acid-jazz and thick with gritty guitar and keyboard-mashing cluster-chords. It is definitely a stand-out tune. The album overall has a touch of the Far East with its trance-inducing beats, psyched-out effects-drenched guitar lines, long synthesizer oms, and gamelan-like vibraphone pitter-patter. Ominous and hypnotic, Caixa’s drone-heavy sonic explorations bring me to a goddamn theta state. Nirvana, here I come.                  (Will Barry)

 

CRYOSTASIUM & THOR MAILLET
Twinnings
8 tracks

The first track on this album is entitled “The Fun Is Done,” which, in case the sound of babies screaming wasn’t enough, pretty much lets you know what you’re in for. These tracks aren’t really songs as much as they are soundscapes that would fit in well in a horror movie or a dark video game like BioShock. In fact, I found myself wondering what the intended purpose of this music was. It’s intelligently put together and effectively spooky, but it doesn’t seem like something you would just sit down and listen to on its own. It also, I learned, isn’t something you want to listen to right before you go to bed, as you will most likely have very creepy dreams about being murdered on the beach at night.  (Kevin Finn)

 

CHOOSE TO FIND
Auxetic Records
Songs Without Words  
10 tracks

I would say that this is music for big venues.  Theaters.  Arenas.  Concert halls with reverb.  The idea of a group with this sound playing at a small dive is just an ass-chapper.

This is instrumental rock music.  Grand.  Big. Lush at times.  Anthemic.  Thematic.  Wide.

The “introduction and farewell” is quite a piece of music… a romp in seven from the Yanni trick book to a phase-in of Alan Parsons Project with Vince Guaraldi bashing on piano.  The primary songwriter is piano man Todd Marston, who no doubt has had a fun time honing his crew. I hope it’s lucrative.  I still hear that old Frank Zappa quote about the futility of performing instrumental music, and the importance of having a voice plopped onto it.  Here, the music IS the voice.  Rock on guys.  Hope to see and hear you live some day, and in a bigger arena than a small dive.    (Mike Loce)

 

HAYLEY JANE & THE PRIMATES 
Color Me
7 tracks

On their first proper EP, Color Me, Hayley Jane & the Primates concoct a crazy mix of gothic Americana, folk, jazz, and rock. It’s incredibly difficult to put a finger on how to categorize the results. I suppose the key is that the mix is freaking fantastic.

From the dark, murder-ballad stomp of “Saving Kind,” to the playful swing of “Worrisome Thing,” and on through the near-country twang of “Everybody Runs,” there’s never a moment that Hayley and her band don’t bounce from one genre to another.

The Primates are adept at keeping up with the characters that Hayley embodies at each turn. One moment they could be playing in a dusty saloon, the next in a college-town bar. All the while, Hayley moves her vocals deftly from Erin McKeown to Kim Deal to Ani DiFranco.   (George Dow)

 

PETER BALDRACHI 
Prodigal Son Records
Tomorrow Never Knows  
11 tracks

Fluty-voiced pop with a new-wave edge; some groovy fun for fans of Benny Mardones, perhaps; all well and good. The songs are tuneful and catchy pop trifles and the lyrics are, unfortunately, the usual lightweight clichés. It would have been a delightful companion-piece to the likes of the Outlets back in 1985; nowadays it comes across as a head-scratching anachronism, and, ultimately, in its utter lack of originality, I’m sorry to say, this collection verges upon the profoundly annoying—like being slapped repeatedly in the face by a washrag soaked in warm milk.   (Francis DiMenno)

 

GRACIE CURRAN & THE HIGH FALUTIN’ BAND  
Proof of Love
9 tracks

Gracie is one of the best blues divas on the local scene today and this CD allows her to strut her stuff behind her fine band. The result, mixed and mastered by blues harp legend Rosy Rosenblatt (D.K.’s Full House) is a great example of why our local blues scene is one of the best around. Listen to: “Can’t Getta,” “Take You With Me,” “Even With The Rain,” and “Been All Over” (with Rosy’s great harp) to hear her country-blues sound at it’s best. The sweet and sad twang of “Take You With Me” should be heard on country radio stations everywhere. It’s always cool when blues royalty makes a cameo. Keyboardist extraordinaire Bruce Bears, from Duke Robillard’s band,  joins in here too. I also really like when the horns are employed in her music; their brassy additions always are short and sweet and greatly add to the total package. Whether torching an Americana ballad or pouring her heart out in a romp, the nice guitar work of Tom Carroll, the good bass of Geoff Murfitt, and solid pounding of Derek Bergman on drums mix well with Gracie’s great vocals for a real treat. Check it out.   (A.J. Wachtel)

 

LIOTTA ST. JOHN
Driving Records Music Group
Good Day For A Beggar
10 tracks

Good God, this is painful.  Is it so much to ask to tune one’s guitar before recording something people are going to actually hear? Obviously this guy has a great, soulful voice and the potential to record something that could move mountains and make angels weep, but there is a profound difference between DIY and just bad quality decisions.  I get it.  It sounds like the band wants to “capture the moment” and what happens happens—warts and all, but ignoring this fairly simple courtesy of being in tune and putting a little thought in making your album that you work hard to write and record look and sound like something that people other than your immediate friends and family would want to listen to and spend money seeing live, just seems disrespectful to any potential new listener.  It is truly brilliant stuff otherwise.    (Joel Simches)

 

T. JOHN CADRIN
Nothing Is Hidden
5 tracks

Nothing Is Hidden, a quirky indie-pop romp with elements of Big Star, Jellyfish, and Boston’s Bleu, features changing time signatures and musical twists à la Be-Bop Deluxe and They Might Be Giants. Verses, choruses, and bridges not only sound like they were plucked from different songs, but from different musical genres.

Fantastic production showcases strong, at times Jeff Buckley-esque vocals, evocative and intelligent lyrics, haunting harmonies, and almost subliminal incidental keys, guitars, and  percussion.  Nothing Is Hidden is an example of no-holds lyrical and instrumental barred risk-taking.   (Marc Friedman)

 

THE BRIDGEBUILDERS
Love In Vain
3 tracks

Released late last summer, the Bridgebuilders offer this snippet of their world.  They are a band determined to shake up what people think about conceptually when hearing the tag “singer/songwriter” bandied about like an hooker at a crack party, or something. Sure there are good, solid songs, but they are arranged and performed with instruments and sensibilities of indie bands who aren’t afraid of making folk a lot less pretty and tidy around the edges.  While there is acoustic guitar and jazzy-groove drums, there is also distortion, tape echo, ripping solo sections, and string/fiddle arrangements with a nasty disposition.  In fact, the contrast between smooth and prickly could not be starker and that is the band’s biggest musical strength. It is nice and somewhat rare to hear “folk” music played with such genuine ferocity. It’s good to know people like that are out there!                      (Joel Simches)

 

MEI OHARA
Antimatter EP
6 tracks

Ohara’s driving industrial beats with their booming low-end and the darkly prismatic array of synth sounds make for an eerie dystopian backdrop that is both chilling and seductive. Her high-soaring silvery soprano, though, is what carries the tunes, cutting through the densely-packed steam-powered productions with its cathedral-sized echo, haunting vibrato, and sky-high range. The cherry on top of this EP, however, is the high-pitched wail of her violin that’s so wet with psychedelic effects, it must be tripping hard on brown acid. She may be classically trained, but her space-age fiddle warbling is so far from classical it’s not even in the same galaxy, let alone ballpark. More Hendrix than Haydn. Man, I could listen to this for hours. Probably will, too.       (Will Barry)

 

PETTY MORALS
The Cotton Candy Demo
3 tracks

Given my love of Tijuana Sweetheart and Cult 45, I had pretty high hopes for Petty Morals, but unlike a good chunk of life, The Cotton Candy Demo is anything but full of disappointments.  Poppier than either of the previously mentioned bands, Petty Morals wants to send you to the dance floor, but they do it with the punk edge of Le Tigre and Spinnerette.  Taiphoon’s voice provides just the right mix of honey, soul and danger; LoWreck’s drums make things swing, and the guitar and synth of Chrissy V and Naz T Naz make things bounce.  All three songs are solid, but the closing “Radio Action” is the standout, sounding like a dangerous version of the Go-Go’s.  Hopefully, there’s a full-length in the near future.               (Kevin Finn)

 

JERRY VELONA 
Karunabird Records
Dream Girl 
5 tracks

Both takes of the title track, the second with vocals, are swoony and delirious smooth jazz, appealing if you’re an aficionado; tolerable even if you’re not. The New Orleans-styled “Wishful Intuition” (both takes, large and small band) is less successful, though the small band version is more intimate. The cover of “If You Stub Your Toe on the Moon” is pleasant enough—it’s a catchy song—but seems more a low-key exercise in nostalgia than a dynamic interpretation.      (Francis DiMenno)

 

MARS
Red Planet Records
Everything You Want and Need     
6 tracks

Mars sounds like what would happen if a group of your dad’s suburbanite businessmen friends collectively had a midlife crisis and decided to try to revisit the rock ’n’ roll past of their youth.  Nowhere is this more apparent than on “Mrs. Stinson,” which has the band coming across as a neutered New York Dolls and on “Looking for You” with lines about youth that come off sounding quite silly. These guys do at least have some chops, and when they find their sweet spot in the mellower numbers, you find yourself wishing they went in that direction more often, as they do seem to have the rare ability to distinguish being tasteful from being boring.            (Kevin Finn)

 

RACHEL TAYLOR
Heartbreak Is For Everyone 
4 tracks

This CD produced by Peter Hayes from the group Black Rebel Motorcycle Club really showcases Rachel’s beautiful and passionate vocals. The title and opening cut is a nice Americana ballad that gets a bit funky. “Satisfy” is a country-flavored pop/rock tune and “Broken” is softer and slower, and brings iconic singers like Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn to mind. I really dig her sultry, haunting sound and her soaring melodies. Just great. A bit of alt folk/ ’50s country & western, and unplugged pop, the ending cut, “You Might Be Surprised,” is killer. Rachel, Peter, and band mates Jesse and Dan Russell really shine on this and make me want to hear more music from this talented artist. Acoustic and very well done.                           (A.J. Wachtel)

 

THE RADICALS  
Suburban Daydream
6 tracks

If you took Operation Ivy and stripped out the ska you would still be left with one mighty fine puck rock band. Proof of this fact can be found in the Radicals.

Their third release, Suburban Daydream, rolls through all of the touchstone effects canonized some 25 years ago on Operation Ivy’s debut, Hectic EP. Sloppy, back-and-forth dual vocals—check! Blue collar gang-choruses—check! Popping bass noodling—check! Quick-paced punk with a hardcore edge—check!

Some might worry that with so many similarities the results would be a derivative rehash of punk’s glory days. If three twenty-something blokes from north of Boston can so perfectly meld all that made late-’80s So-Cal punk so vital, I say bring it on!        (George Dow)

 

TONY JONES & THE CRETIN 3
Midnight Mass 
5 tracks

The first (and title) track is your standard hillbilly-schlock-metalcore ala the Cramps and, as such, is not half bad. “Christine” is reminiscent of “Bodies” by the Sex Pistols; “Cindy Was a Terrorist” evokes the Pistols and the Ramones; only the crazed and utterly original “Bobby’s Shed” displays an incoherently creepy grandeur.       (Francis DiMenno)

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