Tag Archives: Rock

Manassas: Pieces

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Manassas_PiecesGreat vault finds from Stephen Stills’ post-CSN/Y band

As CSN/Y’s initial rush of productivity and fame led to a split in the early ‘70s, Stephen Stills followed up his two self-titled solo albums with a pair of albums backed by Manassas. The group, formed with Chris Hillman and others in the Stills orbit, recorded a large number of tracks across a range of rock, country, blues, bluegrass, folk and salsa styles. Their self-titled 1972 debut was a 21-track double-LP nominally divided into four sections, but cross-pollinating the styles throughout. Their followup, 1973’s Down the Road, despite its single-LP concision, had neither the spark nor focus of the freshman effort.

Rhino’s new collection offers fifteen vault selections, drawn from the original sessions, that include alternate takes, reworked solo tunes, cover songs, and live tracks. As on the group’s debut, the styles vary from straight bluegrass to tightly harmonized country, electric folk and rock, and a taste of salsa. The soulful rock of “Like a Fox” (with backing vocal by Bonnie Raitt) is interlaced with pedal steel, Chris Hillman’s “Lies” is layered with organ and slide guitar, the electric folk of “My Love is a Gentle Thing” is filled out with CSN-styled harmonies, and Stills’ “Word Game” is sped along by fast shuffling drums.

The salsa instrumental “Tan Sola y Triste” and the blue soul original “Fit to Be Tied” close the first half of the album, and give way to earthier country sounds that open with Chris Hillman’s twangy country-rock “Love and Satisfy.” A pair of acoustic bluegrass covers includes Leon McAuliffe’s “Panhandle Rag” and Bill Monroe’s “Uncle Pen,” and while Stills’ “Do You Remember the Americans” is sung high and tight, Joe Maphis’ “Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (And Loud Loud Music” is harmonized mournfully.

Perhaps the group recorded too much material for the pipeline, but it’s surprising that any of these tracks failed to see release at the time. Not only are the performances and recordings generally up to par with the group’s released works, Stills’ originals are as good as anything else he wrote at the time. Reworked versions of “Sugar Babe” and “Word Game,” originally waxed for Stephen Stills 2, and a smoking live version of “High and Dry,” give a further taste of what this band had to offer. This is a superb complement to the band’s debut, and perhaps a more rightful heir to their legacy than Down the Road. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

Dennis Diken with Bell Sound: Late Music

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DenisDiken_LateMusicBritish Invasion, ‘60s California pop and more from Smithereens drummer

As the drummer for the Smithereens, Dennis Diken’s taken both a figurative and literal backseat to the songwriting and singing of Pat DiNizio. But Diken’s a drummer with a lot of melody in him, as his first solo album so amply shows. Paired with multi-instrumentalist Pete DiBella, Diken not only keeps time but sings most of the leads and backgrounds and co-wrote all thirteen of these throwback pop tunes. Diken draws from the same mid-60s millieu as DiNizio’s Beatle-esque songs for the Smithereens, but he leans more heavily on the mod sounds of the Creation and the Who, the pre-orchestral Moody Blues, the California beach sounds of Gary Usher, the harmonies of the Beach Boys, Raspberries, and Association, and the studio production of Brian Wilson.

The Brian Wilson motifs are particularly striking on the questioning “Standing in Line” which could pass for a long-lost Pet Sounds outtake were it not an original composition. The pleading “Fall Into Your Arms” and alluring “Temptation Cake” further echo the Beach Boys, but also the jazz harmonies from which Brian Wilson drew inspiration. Diken takes inspiration from the Who’s “Bucket T” with the full-kit drumming and power harmonies of “Long Lonely Ride,” and the insistent bass and slashing guitar chords of “The Sun’s Gonna Shine in the Morning” are pure UK freakbeat. Diken and DiBella offer up the good time vibe of the Lovin’ Spoonful, by way of Vince Guaraldi’s “Cast Your Fate to the Wind,” on “Let Your Loved One Sleep” and they dabble in breezy Brazilian easy listening on “Lost Bird.”

The ballads seem more modern on the surface, but are laced with vintage totems of mellotron, electric sitar, French horn, harpsichord, and a variety of electric pianos and organs, suggesting long-lost album tracks by the Electric Prunes. Guest appearances by Andy Paley, Jason Falkner, members of Brian Wilson’s backing band, the Wondermints, and Wilson’s one time side project, the Honeys, are complemented by lesser-known (but no less talented) figures of the retro pop scene, including one-time Optic Nerve keyboardist Dave Amels, producer/musician Andrew Sandoval, and Los Angeles drummer Nelson Bragg. That Diken can sing is no shock to Smithereens fans, but the completeness of his vision as a singer, songwriter and bandleader is a welcome surprise. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

MP3 | Let Your Loved One Sleep
Dennis Diken with Bell Sound’s MySpace Page
The Smithereens’ Home Page

Mark Stuart and the Bastard Sons: Bend in the Road

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MarkStuartBastardSons_BendInTheRoadArdent, road-hardened country and Americana

The Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash return with their first studio album since 2005’s Mile Markers, and though several players, including bassist Taras Prodaniuk, drummer Dave Raven and guitarist Mike Turner also return, there are some significant changes. First, the band has dropped “of Johnny Cash” from the back end and added singer-songwriter “Mark Stuart” to the front. In many ways the group has been Stuart’s vision from the start, as it was his interest in country music that provided the original direction; the step out front mostly acknowledges what’s already been true.

The latest edition of the Bastards, and Stuart’s latest batch of original tunes (augmented by the opening cover of Billy Joe Shaver’s “I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal”), are his best yet. The band plays with more verve and Stuart sings with more freewheeling energy than ever. You can hear the influences of Billy Joe, Waylon and Hank Jr. in his tone, phrasing and attitude; his music has become bluesier and more convincing. Perhaps it’s the refreshment of moving from California to Austin, but more likely it just the authority of road-hardened talent that allows Stuart to romance the melodies and rhythms of his country shuffles and roadhouse blues.

Stuart’s blossoming confidence shows in his songs, which flow from the grooves like old friends. The album’s originals open with the banjo, fiddle and guitar of “Restless, Ramblin’ Man.” Stuart sings against bluegrass harmonies about the uncontrollable wanderlust that’s kept him on the road for two-hundred dates a year. He writes of being blindsided, renewed and supported by love, but also of its ephemeral nature and the blue sorrow of its fade. He finds a comforting conclusion to serial monogamy on “Best Thing” and struts through a romantically sunny day on “Everything’s Going My Way.” Even when he’s kicking up his heels to escape the drudgery of the world’s ills, such as on the Mellancamp-esque “Fireflies & Corn Liquor,” Stuart keeps to the bright side.

The Bastard Sons cook up a country rock sound filled with driving beats, second-line rhythms, twangy electric guitar solos and well-placed blue notes. They only slow down twice, for the ballad “Lonestar, Lovestruck, Blues” and the beseeching lament, “Carolina.” The latter is surprisingly unresolved and morose, given the album’s definitive and upbeat tone. Stuart is on to a next-phase in his music, relaxing into the Austin scene and stepping out from the self-imposed shadow of Johnny Cash. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

MP3 | When Love Comes A Callin’
Mark Stuart and the Bastard Sons’ MySpace Page

The Band of Heathens: One Foot in the Ether

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BandOfHeathens_OneFootInTheEtherAustin-style country, rock, folk, gospel, blues and soul

The Band of Heathens’ second studio album (their fourth overall, having started their recording career with two live releases) is a big step forward. The artistic palette of last year’s eponymous release is carried forward here, but the result sounds less like a collage of influences and more like a band that’s discovered its own groove. The twin inspirations of Little Feat and the Band remain particularly strong, but as channeled spirits rather than imitated sounds. With three singer-songwriters contributing a dozen originals to this self-produced release, the group clearly knows they have the goods. Their experience as a live unit pays dividends in the studio, as they sound like a band running through their set rather than musical architects constructing a recording.

The group’s comfort is immediately apparent on the chorus harmonies of “Say.” Their multipart singing is tight as a drum but also as loose as a casual back porch harmony session. The same is true for the gospel backing of “Shine a Light” and the lead passing on both the Little Feat groove “You’re Gonna Miss Me” and sad-sack blues “Right Here With Me.” This is a group that’s clearly spent time getting comfortable with one another. Their musical sympathy is heard in jamming solos and instrumental codas, and the seemingly ad libbed exhortation to “keep it going” as “You’re Gonna Miss Me” threatens to wind down.

The band’s name proves ironic as their songs are laced with biblical images. They sing of non-conformists, petulant ex-lovers, and independent ramblers, but these tales are filled with doubt and remorse. Gospel influences, both musical and liturgical, praise the hard work of salvation, cast an accusing eye towards the contradictions and hypocrisy of modern society, and call for reconciliation with one another and, seemingly, a higher power. The clanking blues “Golden Calf” warns of a false idol’s allure, and even songs of busted relationships have an eternal ring as they sing “you can give up, you can give in / but you can never quit.”

Last year’s studio debut climbed to the top of the Americana chart and promoted the band from scattered local club dates to a full touring schedule. Their continuing musical growth is evident in both the absorption of their top-line influences and the addition of new touches, such as the dripping Dark Side of the Moon styled guitar of “Look at Miss Ohio.” The results are organic and unforced, and by producing themselves and releasing on their own label, the group remains free to chase their singular, yet multi-headed musical muse. The adage “you have a lifetime to record your first album and a year to record your second” doesn’t seem to have vexed the Band of Heathens at all. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

MP3 | L.A. County Blues
Band of Heathens’ Home Page
Band of Heathens’ MySpace Page

Left Lane Cruiser: All You Can Eat

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LeftLaneCruiser_AllYouCanEatGreasy and gritty guitar-and-drums two-man blues

Two-man blues bands have become their own genre, blossoming from the font of the White Stripes and a dozen others. Left Lane Cruiser is a Fort Wayne, Indiana duo that offers roaring storms of electric slide playing by Freddy J IV (Fredrick Joe Evans IV) and powerful, driving drumming by Brenn Beck. Though the songs often settle into standard blues progressions, the raw, shouted vocals and in-your-face electric guitar force is quite unsettling. Beck is constantly in motion on his snare and kick drums, adding cymbal crashes for texture, while Evans alternates between greasy power chords, low-string riffs and slide licks that alchemize electricity into music. The torrent of distortion clears momentarily as the duo turns the volume down for finger-picking and washboard percussion on “Ol’ Fashioned.” But mostly the duo rages, with Evans’ growl sufficiently distorted to obscure many of his lyrics. But with titles that include “Black Lung,” “Hard Luck,” and “Broke Ass Blues,” the pain isn’t subtle. This is very much what you’d expect from a band that thanks Jim Beam and Pabst Blue Ribbon for “keeping us feelin’ good.” [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

MP3 | Crackalacka
Left Lane Cruiser’s MySpace Page

The Mumlers: Don’t Throw Me Away

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Mumlers_Don'tThrowMeAwayMesmerizing old-timey soul music with a mysterious touch

The Mumlers’ music seems to float from a Victrola wedged into a dark corner of a mysterious antique shop. Will Sprott sings like a megaphoned apparition, and the group’s horn arrangements have the languor of a New Orleans funeral parade that accidentally marched into a morning-after session at Stax. Even when the band adds a psychedelic organ groove, such as on “Coffin Factory,” the vibe still draws one to the beyond. This is surprising, given the Mumlers home base of San Jose, California, the population anchor at the south end of the San Francisco Bay that’s christened itself the Capital of Silicon Valley. You don’t know the way to this San Jose.

The group’s second album stretches even further than their debut (Thickets & Snitches), including the trad jazz and blues of “Tangled Up With You” and slinky second-line of “St. James Street.” The latter echoes the standard “St. James Infirmary,” but is actually a straight-up description of Sprott’s urban San Jose neighborhood. The group connects to loungecore with a slowly careening instrumental cleverly entitled “The Instrumental.” The band drifts between jazzy melodies for movie scores, circus music and the swinging-60s vibe of Bob Crewe’s “Music to Watch Girls By.” The genre mash-ups are terrifically organic, and in addition to guitars, stand-up bass, drums, keyboards, and horns, the Mumlers include euphonium, clarinet, French horn and pedal steel.

“Fugitive and Vagabond” features piano, harmonica, cymbal crashes and a whistled solo that seems to have been skimmed from aspaghetti western, and the set closes with the soulfully crooned “Don’t Throw Me Away,” an original that should have graced many a 1950s school dance. The Mumlers’ unusual influences and free-wheeling approach result in the sort of shape-shifting one would expect from a group named after a nineteenth century charlatan who made a living selling photos of ghosts to bereaved families. The Mumlers are the real deal, however, and their second album is one of the year’s most eclectic spins. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

The Mumlers’ Home Page
The Mumlers’ MySpace Page

Elvis: Love Me Tender – The Love Songs

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DVD_ElvisLoveMeTenderTheLoveSongsElvis’ career refracted through some of his love songs

This made-for-DVD (and PBS pledge night) special traces a line through Elvis’ career by examining the love songs he performed and the reaction they provoked from his fans. Depicted early on as a hip-swiveling instigator, Elvis’ balladry, though present at the very start of his hit-making career (e.g., 1956’s “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You” and “Love Me Tender”), didn’t make for sensational headlines. Still, his ballads were hits, regularly evoked shrieks and swoons from his female audience and became an essential part of his television appearances, film soundtracks and live shows. Early clips here feature Elvis crooning on the Steve Allen and Ed Sullivan shows, the latter a sublime version of “Love Me” in which Elvis plays to the girls in the balcony. There’s a post army clip of Elvis goofing with Frank Sinatra on a television special, and the ’68 comeback special yields Elvis reconnecting with “Are You Lonesome Tonight” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”

Much of Elvis career in the ‘60s is painted through musical clips drawn from his films. This provides ready-made widescreen color footage, but shortchanges many classic hit ballads in favor of lesser soundtrack material. Luckily, with Elvis’ reentry into live performing at the end of the decade, live footage is once again introduced, with Las Vegas performances of “I Can’t Stop Loving You” and “The Wonder of You” finding Elvis fit and energized, and Aloha From Hawaii yielding “What Now My Love” and “I’ll Remember You.” When there are no film or live performances to draw from, the producers switch to photo montages to accompany studio recordings, such as Elvis’ take on “For the Good Times.” The video closes with a Vegas-era live take of Elvis coming full circle to his early ballad hit, “Love Me Tender.” Elvis prowls the stage and kisses women in the audience as he sings.

The special is narrated by Ashley Judd, who provides background on songs, recording sessions, career machinations and a variety of Elvis trivia. There are also interview clips with Gordon Stoker of the Jordanaires, Joe Moscheo of the The Imperials, Ed Enoch of the Stamps Quartet, and Myrna Smith of The Sweet Inspirations. Thirty-five minutes of additional interview footage is included as an extra, and the stories from those who knew and worked with Elvis are often more compelling than Judd’s scripted narration. Three short commercials for Graceland are also included. Fans will enjoy this 79-minute collection of previously released performances and clips, songs and photos, but if you want deeper analysis, you’ll need to read Peter Guralnik’s biographies. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

Elvis Love Songs Home Page

Raquel!

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DVD_Raquel!Fantastic 1970 Raquel Welch TV special

Originally aired in 1970, this filmed television special captures Raquel Welch at the peak of her stardom. The bulk of the forty-nine minutes are staged song-and-dance numbers shot on location in Paris, Mexico and a ski resort, featuring Welch solo, with dancers, and with guest stars Tom Jones and Bob Hope. John Wayne also appears for a short sketch on a Western back lot set. Welch is radiant throughout, whether wearing high-end fashions or a space-age bikini and boots.

Welch sings hits of the day, including “California Dreaming,” “Everybody’s Talkin’,” “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head,” “Here Comes the Sun,” “Good Morning Starshine,” “Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In,” “The Sounds of Silence,” and a rock ‘n’ roll medley with Tom Jones that includes “Rip it Up,” “Slippin’ and Slidin’,” “Lucille,” “Tutti Frutti,” and “Jenny Jenny.” Tom Jones adds a solo version of “I Who Have Nothing.” Welch and Hope sing and dramatize “Rocky Raccoon,” with the former pulling off a credible imitation of Mae West and the latter hamming it up.

This was a high-budget special with excellent location footage, generous helpings of helicopter shots, extravagant costuming for Welch and the dancers, and A-list guest stars. The choice of middle-of-the-road material and tried-and-tested mainstream guest stars show Welch aiming square at the heart of middle America. Welch’s beauty often obscured her talents as a singer, dancer and comedienne, and then-contemporary clips of a British press conference show her to be witty and bright, to boot. This is a superb time capsule of  late ‘60s hippie culture finding a cleaned-up and watered-down place in the mainstream. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

Mike & The Ravens: No Place for Pretty

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MikeAndTheRavens_NoPlaceForPrettyObscure early-60s rock band continues their comeback

Is it possible that an obscure early-60s garage rock band that broke up after a few regional singles could find their mojo forty-five years later? Last year’s Noisy Boys: The Saxony Sessions proved the answer a definitive ‘yes,’ and this year’s No Place for Pretty shows they have even more hard-driving pre-British Invasion frat stompers to bestow upon the world. Hailing from the Northeast Northfield/Plattsburgh scene, the Ravens early years can be found on the collections Nevermore: Plattsburgh 62 and Beyond and the broader Heart So Cold!: The North Country ‘60s Scene, but unlike just about any sixty-year-olds who’ve set out to recapture their youth, the Ravens actually rock harder and meaner and looser than they did in 1962.

Bassist Brian Lyford and drummer Peter Young lay down primal rhythms that are embellished by the hammering rhythm guitar of Steve Blodgett and decorated with screaming leads from his brother Bo. Mike Brassard’s vocals may not have the range or flexibility of his younger years, but they have just as much passion, and passion is what counts here. The Ravens pump out the dark strain of rock that flourished briefly between the original ‘50s innovation and the ‘60s British Invasion reinvention. It’s got the urgent DIY feel of mid-60s garage rock, but without the reactive counterculture pretensions. This is sledgehammer dance music for frat parties, teen dance clubs, roller rinks and dark, sweat-filled bars.

The band’s originals, written with their producer Will Shade, are the sort of elemental rockers that would sound at home on Wailers, Sonics and Kingsmen records. There are crunchy guitar riffs, Bo Diddley beats, a driving guitar instrumental, and plenty of vocal swagger. The album loses a bit of focus in the second half, with the six-minute practice room jam “Dum Doovi,” a loose instrumental coda on “Broken Boy,” and psychedelic inflections that occasionally drift from the rock fundamentals. The album closes strongly with the bass-riffing, “I’ve Taken All I Can,” reminding listeners that well after the novelty has worn off of sixty-something rockers relocating their mojo, these boys are still making some rock ‘n’ roll noise. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

MP3 | Sister Raeven
Mike & The Ravens’ Vintage MySpace Page
Mike & The Ravens’ Contemporary MySpace Page

The Clean: Mister Pop

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Clean_MisterPopKiwi legends resurface for a laid-back reunion LP

Thirty-one years after their formation, this Dunedin, New Zealand trio is still breathing life into original compositions. Their formation spurred the creation of the legendary Flying Nun label, they drifted apart, broke up and reformed a few times to release singles and EPs throughout the 1980s, and finally waxed their first full length, Vehicle, in 1990. The group’s career continued to be marked by dissolutions, side projects and occasional reunions for albums and tours (and live albums of tours), culminating in the 2-CD overview, Anthology, in 2003. This latest reunion album brings together the classic lineup of Kilgour, Kilgour and Scott back to the studio.

The DIY punk-rock and organ-driven pop of the band’s lo-fi 4-track works have been refined over the years, with properly recorded studio sessions that include chiming guitars and keyboard drones. Many of these new productions have a psychedelic (or at least lightly drugged) feel, including the Eastern inflected guitar of “Asleep in the Tunnel” and the thick, Pink Floyd styled instrumental raga “Moonjumper.” The bulk of “Are You Really on Drugs” and “In the Dreamlife You Need a Rubber Soul” are fashioned by repeating their titles as lyrics, the former hypnotizing in the manner of a long stare at ceiling tiles, the latter suggesting time for philosophical rumination. Their music is sinewy and muscular, modern but with the spark of their punk roots.

The Velvet Underground’s influence is heard in the monotone dispassion of “Back in the Day,” and a variety of instrumentals and instrumental backings include breathy female choruses, dark organ chords, folk-electronica and droning modernism that sounds like a garage rock version of Stereolab. The Clean has evolved organically from its late-70s roots but also taken in the second-hand influences of its members’ outside projects. You could draw a straight line back to the melodies of their earlier works, but they’re packaged here in slower tempo and trippier tones that are more thought-provoking than mere punk provocation. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

MP3 | In the Dreamlife You Need a Rubber Soul
MP3 | Tensile
The Clean’s Home Page
The Clean’s MySpace Page