The first single from Dwight Yoakam’s upcoming bluegrass LPÂ Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars… is a fine acoustic take on his second hit single.
Category Archives: Free Stream
Lasers Lasers Birmingham: Royal Blue
Classic country sounds meet modern-day experience
Ozark-native and Los Angeles-transplant Alex Owen writes in the idiom of twangy country music, but without draping himself in remembered rural sentiment. The album’s shuffling title track is pure Nashville heartache, but the lyric threads in modern vocabulary and cultural touchstones. The album’s lanky piano and crying steel accompany references to John Lennon’s lost weekend and Laurel Canyon, and the upbeat country shuffle “Hard Man to Please†finds guitarist John Schreffler Jr. dueling with himself on pedal steel and Telecaster. Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium provides the setting for an afternoon of stoner adventure, and “Anyway You Slice It†closes the EP on an acoustic note. Owen picked the band name as a portmanteau that evokes the nostalgic roots of Birmingham and the modernism of lasers, and his songs delivery exactly that. [©2016 Hyperbolium] 
The Heaters: American Dream – The Portastudio Recordings
Los Angeles new wave band turns to girl group sounds in 1983
“The Heaters†is a popular band name. There was a Danish garage rock band, a Seattle quartet (who shortened their name to the Heats), a UK power pop band, a punk band, a reggae group, a funk band, a Los Angeles new wave band that recorded for Ariola and Columbia, and more recently, a trio from Grand Rapids. This Heaters is the Los Angeles group, one that felt their studio albums never really captured their sound. In frustration, they recorded themselves on a 4-track TASCAM Portastudio – home multitrack technology that’s commonplace today, but not so in 1983 – and doubled down on the nostalgic elements of their earlier works. In particular, the core creative trio of Mercy, Maggy and Missie wrote and recorded original, 60s-influenced girl group music.
The tapes were offered to Rhino, but the label heard them as demos rather than finished product, and the group declined to re-record. Released more than 30 years later, you can hear both the label and group’s points of view. Wary of their previous experience with record companies, studios and producers, the group chose to protect the fidelity of their art. What the label likely heard was a tension between the group’s ideas of grandly imagined pop and the realities of producing yourself for the first time on a 4-track cassette. What Rhino failed to hear, or perhaps wasn’t interested in, was the group’s tuneful fusion of a DIY aesthetic with a deep appreciation for 1960s craft. Others (e.g., Denny Ward) had successfully explored this pairing on indie releases, leaving one to wonder why the Heaters didn’t do the same.
What’s comes through loud and clear on these tapes is the siren’s call of the Blossoms, Crystals, Ronettes, Shirelles, Shangri-Las, Marvelettes and others. Several of the songs, including the beautifully crooned “Every Living Day,†could pass for vintage if their 1980s origins weren’t tipped by the guitars. The album’s centerpiece, “10,000 Roses,†borrows the iconic drumbeat of “Be My Baby,†and though its melody, lyric and vocal would have made the Brill Building proud, it’s slightly ragged mix is probably what Rhino thought could be tweaked. Still, even with the “oom-mow-mow†backing vocal popping out of the pocket, you can’t help but be charmed by the song and its Spanish-flavored acoustic guitar solo.
Many of the songs would have been at home in the early-60s, but the theme gets modern with “Sandy.†The song’s baion beat and stagey vocal might suggest inspiration from West Side Story or Grease, but the gender confusion at the lyric’s heart would have raised eyebrows in 1963. The girl group focus slips a bit more as “Rock This Place†moves into the 1970s, and elsewhere there’s a muscular rock sound akin to Robin Lane and Ellen Foley. These steps outside the narrow lane of the 1960s propels the album beyond an exercise in nostalgia, and fills out the group’s reach. This may not have been right for Rhino, but Bomp should have picked it up. Thirty-three years is too long to have waited to hear this, but better late than never. [©2016 Hyperbolium]
The Well Wishers: Comes and Goes
The glories of a one-man power-pop band
Although the Well Wishers present themselves in plural, they are, or it is, or he is Jeff Shelton. After a decade with Spinning Jennies, Shelton ventured out on his own, all alone in the studio with the magic of multi-track recording. The results have the singular vision of a singer-songwriter, but the dynamism of a band. Think Paul McCartney’s and Emitt Rhodes’ eponymous albums, Todd Rundgren’s Something/Anything and Richard X. Heyman’s Hey Man. The hard-charging rhythm guitar and stacked vocals of “Impossible to Blame†bring to mind the Posies and the melody of “Come Around†suggests XTC. You can hear influences of Shoes, 20/20 and others, but Shelton’s romantic anguish is as original as his melodic hooks – rooted in something familiar, yet fresh. On “Ill-Equipped†he repeats the perfectly discouraged tagline “I don’t have what it takes to be alone,†which may be true in matters of the heart, but clearly not so in the studio, where he flourishes by himself. [©2016 Hyperbolium]
Shane Alexander: Bliss
California singer-songwriter spans acoustic folk and canyon pop
After five solo albums, and earlier records recorded with Young Art, Damone and the Greater Good, singer-songwriter Shane Alexander has self-produced his most sonically fetching work yet. The sparseness of 2013’s Ladera can still be heard in the opener, with Paul Simon-styled finger-picking and a double-tracked vocal that suggests Elliot Smith. But the album quickly expands beyond acoustic folk with the second cut’s driving drums and atmospheric piano and steel, echoing 1970s canyon rock with a melancholy lyric of haunted memories and a memorable chorus hook. And melancholy turns into panic as a relationship dies in the power ballad “Hold Me Helpless.â€
Alexander can be abstract as he introspects his history and surroundings. “I Will Die Alone†is lined by moments in time, but they’re connected weigh-points rather than a linear narrative, and the allusional “Nobody Home†has the rhythm of pursuit for its fractional imagery. Alexander’s bliss may be in the act of observation rather than the observations themselves, but he shines a lovelight on “Heart of California,†pledging his undying gratitude for the state’s inspirational bounty. His greatest bliss, however, was likely the chance to record in his own studio, allowing his songs to unfold without a meter running. For those who haven’t met Shane Alexander, this is a great introduction. [©2016 Hyperbolium]
Matthew Szlachetka: Heart of My Hometown
The first single from Matthew Szlachetka’s upcoming album adds a hint of John Mellancamp’s heartland sentiment to Szlachetka’s California canyon rock. Produced by David Bianco, who’s worked with Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Lucinda Williams, and featuring Doug Pettibone, Kevin Savigar, Shiben Bhattacharya, Derek Brown and Dave “Mustang†Lang. A nice taste of what’s coming early next year!
Mark Erelli: For a Song
Northeast singer-songwriter returns with a strong set of originals
It’s been six years since Mark Erelli released a new set of original material. In that time he’s played with Lori McKenna, Josh Ritter and Paula Cole (the latter of whom appears on two tracks here), recorded two albums with Barnstar, and released Milltowns in tribute to Bill Morrissey. Rather than taking on a coat of solo songwriter rust, Erelli’s pen has been refilled by the hiatus. His singing voice is still reminiscent of Paul Simon, but these gentle electric productions show the time off was spent sharpening his already sharp songcraft.
The album opens solemnly with a northerner’s loneliness amid the midwest’s wide-open spaces, contemplates the day’s emotional harvest and the next day’s challenges, and mulls over the existential questions that lay in the twilight. He venerates the extraordinary of the everyday in the know-how of a fixit man (“Analog Heroâ€), a contemplative janitor (“Look Upâ€) and a Dutch busker (“Netherlandsâ€). The details of his descriptions are extraordinary, and the galloping lyric of “Wayside†demonstrates his talent for shaping words into music.
His facility is equally well spent in poetic observations of a river’s destiny (“French Kingâ€) as it is in a meditation on aging (“Magicâ€) or love song (“Hourglassâ€). And his voice fits as easily into acoustic guitar laments as full-band arrangements. He’s accumulated numerous songwriting awards over the years, but as the title of his latest album attests, his greatest reward is in writing and performing songs. This collection he takes his already estimable talents to an extraordinary new level. [©2016 Hyperbolium]
Tommy Womack: Namaste
A songwriter finds his center
Brushing up against death will make you philosophical. Or at least that’s the impact it’s had on songwriter Tommy Womack, whose 2012 recovery from near-fatal addiction and 2015 recovery from a life-threatening car accident has deepened his introspection, magnified his gratitude and optimism, and sharpened his sense of humor. All are on full display in this new collection of songs, essaying everything from wry takes on aging to blunt confrontations of faith and death.
The album opens with hope and wit in “Angel†and “Comb-Over Blues,†before turning to a Lou Reed-styled monotone for “End of the Line.†The latter reflects on the heightened awareness of mortality brought by recovery’s second chance, and segues seamlessly into the Dylan-ish “It’s Been All Over Before.†That second chance is met head on in “I Almost Died,†a harrowing first-person account of a drug-fueled near-death in which Womack recreates an addict’s obstinate dependence on “almost.â€
Now in his fifties, Womack’s more sanguine about bad times, drawing from them an ability to see his own beliefs in context. He stacks his religious views against Christian history in the twangy country shuffle “God III†and his beat poem “Nashville†is a love letter to a city of contrasts, one in which songs are written by appointment and swapped in informal songwriter nights. He closes with the optimism of “It’s a Beautiful Morning,†a sentiment that’s knowing rather than naive, and a fitting cap to stories of hard-earned lessons. [©2016 Hyperbolium]
Robert Rex Waller, Jr.: Fancy Free
Stellar covers album from I See Hawks in L.A. frontman
After seven albums with I See Hawks in L.A., singer-songwriter Robert Rex Waller, Jr. decided it was time to step out for a solo album. But unlike singer-songwriters who want to work a cache of songs that weren’t right for the band, Waller endeavored to escape his own writing by waxing an album full of cover songs. The album rambles through well known hits and deep album cuts, drawing a picture of Waller’s personal musical tapestry. Among the best known titles are a lovely piano arrangement of the Kinks’ “Waterloo Sunset,†a Casio-based take on the Oak Ridge Boys’ “Fancy Free,†a synth backed version of the Hollies’ “The Air That I Breathe,†and a Waylon-esque vocal on Dylan’s “She Belongs to Me.â€
Cover songs are a unique opportunity for an artist to both pay tribute to and fuse with their influences. In the best case, the cover neither replaces nor leads inextricably to the original, but illuminates new dimensions of the song, its writer and its covering artist. And that’s exactly what we get as Waller takes us for a ride through the formation of his musical consciousness and into his present day imagination. He samples from the songbooks of Utah Phillips, Neil Young, Daniel Johnston and Mike Stinson, filling out a mythical jukebox that would keep you at the bar for a few more rounds. This is a deeply personal collection that will resound strongly with Waller’s fans. [©2016 Hyperbolium]
The Rave-Ups: Town + Country
Overdue reissue of country-punk-rock ‘n’ roll shoulda-beens
Originally from Pittsburgh, this hyphenate country-punk-rock ‘n’ roll band regrouped and restaffed a few times before making their mark in the clubs of Los Angeles. This 1985 full-length debut was a college radio hit, and led to a high profile appearance in the film Pretty in Pink (but not, alas, on the soundtrack album), and a deal with Epic. Their major label debut, The Book of Your Regrets, failed to capitalize on the band’s momentum, and after an uptick with their third album, Chance, the band was dropped, and broke up a few month later. But not before providing TV’s David Silver the soundtrack for his contest-winning dance moves on the Spring Dance episode of Beverly Hills 90210.
The band’s Epic albums were previously reissued as a two-fer, but their debut EP and album for the Fun Stuff label have remained maddeningly out of print. Until now. The vault door has finally swung wide open, providing not only the album’s original ten tracks, but eleven bonuses that include live radio performances and material produced by Steve Berlin and Mark Linett for a scrapped second album. Over 78 minutes of vintage Rave Ups that sounds as vital today as it did thirty (30!) years ago. Stephen Barncard’s production has none of the big studio sounds that have prematurely aged so many mid-80s records, and the band’s timeless rock ‘n’ roll foundation was cannily woven with potent threads of country, punk and blues.
“Positively Lost Me†opens the album with a memorable rhythm guitar lick and the boastful kiss-off “you lost a lot when you lost me.†The bravado appears to crack as the forfeiture is inventoried in a pedestrian list of ephemera (“six paperback books and a dying treeâ€), but it’s a setup, as the real price is lost confidence and broken trust. Singer-songwriter Jimmer Podrasky was full of great lyrics and catchy vocal hooks, and the band stretched themselves to find deep pockets for his songs. There’s a punk rock edge to the square-dance call “Remember (Newman’s Lovesong)†and the Beach Boys pastiche “In My Gremlin,†and an improbable demo of “If I Had a Hammer†is cannily wed to a La Bamba beat.
The Dylanish “Class Tramp†(which is about breeding rather than schooling) is complemented by a cover of Dylan’s “You Ain’t Going Nowhere,†and the album closes on a rockabilly note with “Rave-Up/Shut-Up.†The bonuses include radio performances of “Positively Lost Me†and Merle Travis’ rewrite of Charlie Bowman’s “Nine Pound Hammer,†early versions of songs that turned up as B-sides and later LPs, and several titles that never turned up again. There’s some excellent material here, but the album, recorded in stolen moments in A&M’s studios, is the fully polished gem. The Rave-Ups deserved more success than fickle industry winds blew their way, but at least Omnivore’s reissue blows this terrific debut back into print. [©2016 Hyperbolium]