==== ISSUE 136 ==== CONSUMABLE ======== [February 24, 1998] Editor: Bob Gajarsky Internet: gaj@westnet.com Sr. Correspondents: Daniel Aloi, Joann Ball, Bill Holmes, Tim Kennedy, Reto Koradi, David Landgren, Sean Eric McGill, Al Muzer, Joe Silva, Lang Whitaker Correspondents: Tracey Bleile, Lee Graham Bridges, Scott Byron, Patrick Carmosino, Araballe Clauson, Krisjanis Gale, Eric Hsu, Tim Hulsizer, Robin Lapid, Scott Miller, Linda Scott, Scott Slonaker, Simon Speichert, Jon Steltenpohl, Simon West Technical Staff: Chris Candreva, Dave Pirmann Address all comments, subscriptions, etc. to gaj@westnet.com ================================================================== All articles in Consumable remain (C) copyright their author(s). Permission for re-publication in any form must be obtained from the editor. ================================================================== Help rate Consumable! The Ultimate Magazine Database is allowing people rate their favorite online magazines - go to http://www.DOMINIS.com/cgi-bin/ZineQuery?category=Music&src=catpg&name=Consumable&submit=Search and enter the 'music' area, then go to Consumable to rate us! ================================================================== .------------. | Contents | `------------' INTERVIEW: Mono - Al Muzer REVIEW: Various Artists, _What the World Needs Now: Big Deal Artists Perform the Songs of Burt Bacharach_ - Scott Slonaker REVIEW: Peter Case, _Full Service No Waiting_ - Daniel Aloi REVIEW: Various Artists, _Hip Hop Coast 2 Coast_ - Lang Whitaker BOOK REVIEW: "No Mercy" The Authorised Autobiography of The Stranglers by Paul Buckley - Tim Kennedy REVIEW: The Yardbirds, _BBC Sessions_ - Bill Holmes REVIEW: Bill Wyman and the Rhythm Kings, _Struttin' Our Stuff_ - Linda Scott REVIEW: Pave The Rocket, _Taken In_ - Jason Cahill REVIEW: Scott McCarl, _Play On_ - Bill Holmes REVIEW: Quintaine Americana, _Decade of the Brain_ - Sean Eric McGill REVIEW: Time Bomb Symphony, _If You See Kay_ - Bill Holmes NEWS: Dodgy, Morrissey TOUR DATES: Cravin' Melon, Fatboy Slim, Goldfinger / Sugar Ray, Irving Plaza, Chantal Kreviazuk, Life Of Agony / Far, Reel Big Fish / Pilfers / Mr. T Experience, Shake Appeal, Third Eye Blind / Smashmouth THE READERS WRITE BACK! Back Issues of Consumable --- INTERVIEW: Mono - Al Muzer Coming as no surprise to those who've paid even the slightest attention to the pop charts over the last few years, the sudden appearance of acts such as the Spice Girls, Prodigy, Sugar Ray, Jimmy Ray, Fatboy Slim, Black Grape, Hanson, Aqua and Chumbawamba on your favorite radio station's Top 40 playlist is no accident. Bored with grunge, tired of rap, not ready for metal (again), leery of power pop, not about to get behind country on anything approaching a major scale and not quite as enamored with techno or electronica as the media predicted they'd be most of America seems content letting mindless sports chants, peppy instrumentals, chirpy teen pop ditties and one-off novelty numbers fill the musical void until something comes along to unify the nation's radio dials again. In what appears to be just about the right place at pretty close to the right time, Mono's 10-song Echo/Mercury Records debut, _Formica Blues_ while not exactly the next big thing a slumping record industry was hoping for is, nonetheless, a lush, atmospheric, Phil Spectorian island of retro-futurist, Portishead-aware trip-hop-pop that sounds positively stunning when heard next to such mindless musical diversions as "Wannabe," "Firestarter," "Get Higher," "Fly," "Are You Jimmy Ray?" "Barbie Girl" or "MMMbop." The perfect soundtrack for your day-to-day grind - especially if your life happens to be an obscure French art film shot in black and white or a low budget spy flick circa 1964 - Mono is the moody, cinematic, post-St. Etienne pop creation of London-based vocalist Siobhan De Mar (whose father, Tony Meehan, played drums for Cliff Richard's Shadows) and Brighton-born producer/keyboardist/guitarist/songwriter Martin Virgo. Already semi-known for his work on tracks by Bjork, Femi Williams and Shara Nelson in addition to the minor notoriety he gained with his classic remix of Massive Attack's "Unfinished Sympathy"; Virgo was introduced to De Mar (paying the bills as a session vocalist on a number of rap and dance tracks at the time) two years ago by the duo's current manager. "I was playing around in the studio on my own searching for a new creative outlet when Siobhan and I were brought together as 'possible working partners'," chuckles Virgo during a recent phone call from London. "Who knew back then that it would lead to all this! You know, the fact that the two of us happened to work together so well from the beginning is quite odd, really, because we're both very different people. Extreme opposites, actually." "I'd been doing a lot of straight-ahead dance records and working on music that," he pauses to consider his words carefully as he tries to describe the creative catalyst for Mono's full-length debut, "while it was all quite good and was personally very rewarding, it really was lacking in any form of subtlety or real depth." Attracting major label interest almost from the moment their partnership was announced, Virgo and De Mar reached an agreement with Echo (a Chrysalis imprint) and the captivating singles "Life In Mono" and "Slimcea Girl" (named after a brand of bread available during London's not so swinging '70s) were released. "Great songwriting has always fascinated me, so I really wanted to convey a bit more of the actual song than is normally allowed to come through on most dance tracks, " Virgo says of his lush, dreamy, romantic, oddly-compelling musical creations that sample or recall the likes of Isaac Hayes, Gil Evans, The Ipcress Files, David Sylvian, Petula Clark, Portishead, Edith Piaff, Artery, Dusty Springfield and the team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. "My influences are the standard '60s nicks," he laughs. "You know, the Beatles, Stones, Dionne, Dusty, Burt the usual. And, while the songs on _Formica Blues_ are, I hope, obviously influenced by the classics; I really tried to look at the vocals, samples and music more as colors, moods and shadings than as an actual foundation. My ultimate goal when we formed Mono," Virgo adds after a bit of thought. "was to create something with more drama, space and dynamics than I'd been permitted to create working for other people." An immediate success, "Life In Mono" quickly caught the ear of actor Robert De Niro (in Europe working on an MTV-friendly version of Dickens' Great Expectations with Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow) and the song soon became not only the music for the closing credits of the film but the lead cut on a soundtrack album that also includes Scott Weiland, Duncan Sheik, Pulp, Iggy Pop and Chris Cornell. "We're really quite pleased to be a part of the film," Virgo comments on the movie. "It' s definitely something of a 'dream start' for Mono to be involved with a project of this size and magnitude this early on in our career." "We're in the planning stages for our first major tour," he adds, "and the big hope here is that the movie will give us a bit more name recognition when we begin our trek across America." "Actually," Virgo laughs before ringing off, "the interest America has shown in Mono so far has really surprised me. I sort of thought we might be a bit too parochial for the states, ya' know? I really didn't think we'd be able to get an American [record] deal," he chortles, "unless I shaved my head, wore devil horns and started dancing about madly on stage!" --- REVIEW: Various Artists , _What the World Needs Now: Big Deal Recording Artists Perform the Songs of Burt Bacharach_ (Big Deal) - Scott Slonaker Tribute albums have always been the favorite projects of indie labels. When the songs are already familiar, it cuts by half the name-recognition obstacle that any upstart label has to overcome. So, it follows naturally that the New York pop label Big Deal Records might celebrate its fifth anniversary by choosing a classic pop craftsman like Burt Bacharach to pay their homage to. Bacharach's compositions have been remade before, for sure (one reason why a song like "(There's) Always Something There To Remind Me" is so recognizable), but the chance for a group of acts who all generally have aspirations to three minutes of radio fame to get their hands on Burt's nuggets is tempting, for sure. And, for the most part, Team Big Deal doesn't disappoint. The two most familiar tunes covered on the record, "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" and "(There's) Always Something There To Remind Me", are right at the top, as read by Japan's Shonen Knife and the Absolute Zeros, respectively. The Knife's rendition is pleasantly foreign-sounding, all tinkly pianos and stilted girl-group harmonies. The Zeros speed up the tune most recognizable as an '80s hit for Naked Eyes to a Green Day-styled bounce. Obvious, but still fun. The more classicist acts in Big Deal's stable use Bacharach's songs to indulge a few retro fantasies. The Wondermints, currently the best Beach Boys tribute band in the world (compliment), wheel out the moogs, horns, and layered harmonies for "Don't Go Breaking My Heart". Idle adopt a similar loungy stance for "Make it Easy on Yourself". Barely Pink's wide-eyed boyishness ends up perfectly suited for "It's Love That Really Counts". Other artists are less worried about the "tribute" aspect. The Gladhands camp up "Promise Her Anything" with grin-inducing results, Splitsville (formerly known as the Greenberry Woods) graft a chunk of "Video Killed the Radio Star" onto "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" (horrors!), and Cockeyed Ghost fuzz out "Walk on By", reducing the Dionne Warwick classic to a gibbering puddle of sonic Jell-O. Special mentions should go to Hannah Cranna for giving the epic Carpenters hit "(They Long To Be) Close To You", a really tough song to do right, the old college try. Not all of these remakes are going to appeal to everyone, especially hard-core Bacharachers, but there can never be enough (mostly) well-meaning pop bands in the world. At least as far as this critic is concerned. --- REVIEW: Peter Case, _Full Service No Waiting_ (Vanguard) - Daniel Aloi Peter Case is so well-traveled, he could sit alone in a room and come up with something that perfectly captures life on the road. That was how the songs on _Full Service No Waiting,_ his sixth solo album, came about. Locked inside with his tools -- a Gibson J-45 and his "acoustic 1960s word processor," a manual Smith-Corona -- he looks inside and draws on his experiences, creating original work with the storytelling quality and just-right feeling of classic folk songs (as in "Honey Child, a song that could be 70 years old). And he has been off the road long enough to have perspective on both the leaving and the staying. Not that he waxes all wistful and romantic about his highway miles. There are some regrets heard from the songwriter's (by now) resident cast of down-and-outers, drifters and small-time criminals on the run. In "On The Way Downtown," (written with his son, Joshua) the narrator is surrounded by the ghosts of people from his past, even as he keeps going out there with open expectations. Case often writes from his own heart, looking for the same truth in himself that he brings out from his characters. Coming to terms with approaching midlife (and finding it good), he assesses his grounded existence in "Beautiful Grind" -- finding little moments in the family day-to-day that add up to a meaningful life together for two people. He's also reflective about a defining chapter from his more than two decades as a musician. "Still Playin'" closes the album with recollections of Case's days as a street singer, busking on corners and sleeping on floors. A hard life sometimes, but one he wouldn't have traded for anything. He also recalls good times playing and singing in "See Through Eyes," even though "we laughed and threw it away." Never much of a musical experimenter, Case has a signature sound that is a comforting constant on each album -- descending guitar figures and harmonica playing, plaintive singing. It's all organic, helping his vividly drawn characters to breathe. This stamp is on all of his songs, even the ones inspired by traditional music. Producer Andrew Williams highlights Case's mastery of dynamics, with a band including overbooked roots-rock sessionman Greg Liesz, who plays an array of guitars. There are some people who look back on Case's tenure in '80s rock bands the Nerves and Plimsouls, and wonder, upon hearing him as a singer-songwriter, where he changed along the way. I'm not one of those. Case stays faithful to his heart and the lure of the open road -- even as he ignores it, contentedly staying at home in California, the land he hightailed it out of Buffalo for, as a teenager so many years ago. Call it Americana, call it Triple-A, call it Contemporary Folk. Whatever the label, this is honest music. --- REVIEW: Various Artists, _Hip Hop Coast 2 Coast_ (Priority) - Lang Whitaker Staying on top of the music world is a nearly impossible mission. Moving almost as fast as the needle on Marv Albert's lie detector, the rap and hip hop industry break new music and new stars daily. Therefore, putting together an album of the best in rap and hip hop is no easy feat due to the time constraints involved. On _Hip Hop Coast 2 Coast_ New York's Hot 97 and Los Angeles' Power 106 team up to provide a soundtrack for a "west to east musical road trip of popular rap music." There are several of rap's up and coming stars featured on this compilation. "I'll Be" pairs Foxy Brown and her ill na na, Jay Z, together like a ribald Ricky Ricardo and Lucille Ball, airing out a lover's quarrel. Master P and Steady Mobb'n are 'bout it, 'bout it, rhyming about how they're trapped in a vicious Catch 22 that won't allow them to escape the ghetto gangsta lifestyle. NYC's Lost Boyz get a much deserved mainstream push thanks to the inclusion of their track "Get Up". Also, the rising E-40 teams with Too Short and K-Ci Hailey on the anthem "Rapper's Ball". Interestingly, even though E-40 is every bit as overweight as Biggie Smalls ever was, he flows without sounding like he's got 6 ham sandwiches stuffed in his jowls. Shuffled between the newer songs are some of hip hop's finest from the last few years. "C.R.E.A.M" brings back the track that launched the Wu Tang Clan onto the world stage. Jermaine Dupri and Da Brat come funk, funk, funkin' along with the lazy "Funkdafied", and LL Cool J's "Loungin' (Who Do Ya Luv)" bring together a Carribean flavored groove with one of the more memorable hooks of the last year. Straying from the rap that dominates this album is one of hip hop's all time greatest songs, Blackstreet's "No Diggity". Producer Teddy Riley masterfully mixes a thumping bass, a piano lick deeper than the Titanic, a convicted rap by Queen Pen, a few tossed off lines by Dr. Dre, a synclavier vocal straight out of Roger Troutman territory, and four part harmony for hip hop bliss. I dare you to only listen to it once. This is the track that when you're alone, like in the car by yourself, you play over and over and sing along at the top of your lungs. Incidentally, the piano in "No Diggity" sounds remarkably similar, production wise if not musically, to the piano sound perfected by The RZA on Wu Tang Clan's _Enter The 36 Chambers_ album. That this CD was pieced together by two radio heavyweights is no surprise. However, what is puzzling is that with the combined foresight and industry pull of these two behemoths, they couldn't scrounge up any tracks that were released in the past 6 months or so. They say these songs were pulled from their playlists, but Tribe Called Quest's "Award Tour"? That came out in '93. Granted, Mack 10 and AllFrumTha I do collaborate on a brand new song (the percolating "Make You Dance"), and there is a seldom heard remix (Tribe DJ Ali Shaheed Muhammad remixes Ice Cube's "What Can I Do"). But somebody forgot to tell Power 106 and Hot 97 about several of the more influential artists of the past few years: Missy Elliot, Snoop Doggy Dogg, and even (shudder) Puffy Combs. Profanity flies fast and furious, so those of you with virgin ears be warned. Priority Records is pressing two versions of this album- a clean and an explicit version. I was sent a copy of the explicit album, and my guess would be that a clean copy would be so full of beeps that it could double as a soundtrack from "The Jerry Springer Show". There is also a delicious irony nestled beneath all of this. While "rap activists" like Mrs. C. DeLores Tucker rant and rail against explicit hip hop albums, a portion of the proceeds from this compilation will go to two youth charities in New York and L.A. Even if Mrs. Tucker can't get rich off of her constant badgering of artists like the late Tupac Shakur (who once rhymed her name, Seinfeld-style, with a female body part), it's good to see some artists willing to share the wealth with the less fortunate. --- BOOK REVIEW: "No Mercy" The Authorised Autobiography of The Stranglers by Paul Buckley - Tim Kennedy The Stranglers were the first band I ever went to see back in 1978. Punk was tailing off in the capital, but in the rest of Britain it was thriving. Thousands of kids were defacing their clothing and dyeing their hair and any band that cared to tour the provinces found crowds flocking to worship their antiheroes. One of the bands that were 'semi-detached' from the punk vanguard but who attracted a fanatical following amongst punks was the Stranglers - 'semi-detached' in the sense that they pursued a distinct path, with complicated keyboard-driven yet rhythmic and aggressive psychedelic music. Keyboardist Dave Greenfield was clearly familiar with the works of Rick Wakeman and Ray Manzarek. Jet Black the drummer was at least old enough to be in sixties bands. Guitarist and singer Hugh Cornwell looked well past his teens. Only bassist Jean-Jacques Burnel could boast pretty-boy looks, though he too was no teenager. The main problem - as far as the press were concerned - was the reputation for unprovoked aggression, associated principally with JJ Burnel who was liable to take out his martial arts skills on those who crossed him. Any bad review might be followed by the hapless writer being kidnapped, driven to the next town then left gagged and bound whilst the night's set was played out on stage. After a couple of unsavoury incidents the band were 'black-balled' by the press, compounding the vicious circle further. They were involved in some gig riots on the continent, although it is not clear whether this was the fault of the band or of conditions out of their control. They made ample use of most hard drugs at one time or another, though it didn't seem to blunt their creativity. The band's reputation for nastiness was mostly deserved, judging from the comments in this book from the lads themselves alone. They seem to have mellowed somewhat now and JJ confesses his sins here and admits he was beyond the pale. However, the behaviour of the band should not detract from their music which for a period of six or seven years (1977-1984) was of great quality and clearly influences bands to this day. In these days of political correctness the tone and content of the early Stranglers records seem outrageous. Women were sex objects, violence was a regular theme and the casual attitude of the band to these issues would bring immediate condemnation if it happened today. Their banter onstage rarely went further than bad sexist jokes. However if you hunt through any band's output from the 50s up to the 80s you'll find similar gaffes, as Buckley points out. Allowances are made and excuses are given. I would merely point out that at the time punk was just about being as shocking as possible, and it was only later that writers have tried to make punk seem in some way 'pure' and 'honest'. Buckley never witnessed the band in its heyday of the late 70s and relies instead on live recordings and the recorded output to judge the band's musical merit. This is a drawback of the book, although it makes up for it by having the full cooperation of the band. The writing style is awkward and some of the comparisons are laboured and unconvincing. Buckley's closeness to the band has meant he has possibly paid too much attention to the latter-day Stranglers - a rather sad reflection of their former glory, and more of a hobby for the original members still involved. What has to be emphasised is that despite the differences between the band and other punk outfits of the time outlined above, this band commanded the most fanatical following of all - and a huge one at that. The band were glorious live, and provided inspiration amongst others to Joy Division (who were a support act to the Stranglers early on) with their dark rat-infested vision. They were somewhat right-wing in outlook - possibly close to some of the beliefs of the current 'militias' of the US, though they never proposed any direct action. In the early 80s they wrote a (superb) concept album about alien abductions _The Gospel According To The Meninblack_ which very much fits into this paranoiac belief system, involving aliens breeding humans for meat and even Jesus as an alien agent. The eighties saw the band go into decline though a few singles showed that they could still sell on a large scale. The band lost its focus as Hugh became disenchanted with JJ's aggression and he eventually split. Two new members were brought in, a vocalist and a guitarist, but the lack of commercial success of the 1990s output has left a yawning gap between the financially-struggling newcomers and the rest who can rest on the security of their royalties. Hugh has become a solo artist with limited success, though he seems content enough. The two parties do not talk - Hugh is still too nervous of JJ, who detests his ex-partner for walking out. Perhaps there was no band like them. They were instrumental in showing punks that they could make more than a noise - that musicianship was important. A generation grew up that played strange dark music - ultimately 'goth' was probably the Stranglers' doing. They were never huge, though they had more 'hits' than the Clash or the Pistols during the time of punk. Songs like "Peaches" and "No More Heroes" defined punk for many of us at the time, more so than the others who rarely toured the provinces. This is an interesting and honest, though not terribly well-written, book. Nonetheless, it serves as the only source for those who want to discover this fascinating band. The decline of the band over time should not detract from the glory of what they were; this is really the story of two bands, with the latter-day group only a sideshow to the main event that was the original Men In Black. The committed fan will not find much that is new here, and will wish that the writer had dug a little deeper into the minutiae of the band - for there is much more to be found. Perhaps a compilation of the best of official fanzine 'Strangled' is in order. --- REVIEW: The Yardbirds, _BBC Sessions_ (Warner Archives) - Bill Holmes Recent years have seen the radio vaults spring open, releasing many classic hours of The King Biscuit Flower Hour and John Peel sessions, among others, and the BBC Archives certainly have more to offer than the Beatles legion of appearances. Case in point is this collection, which captures the blues-rock influenced Yardbirds in their middle guitar period (read Jeff Beck, post-Clapton and pre-Page). The sound quality is amazingly clean considering the lack of foresight most studios had at the time, and the performances are stellar. The only thing that sounds dated here is the radio chatter from the sometimes befuddled announcers, offering long-stale jargon like "that's really, really just TOO MUCH!" or some other effort to be clever. But although most tracks are introduced in such a manner, it's the fire within that's amazing. Jeff Beck simply torches Chuck Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business". As one would expect, blues covers dominate, and excellent versions of standards like "Train Kept A'Rollin", "Smokestack Lightning" and "Dust My Broom" are all two to three minute masterpieces. Naturally some of the band's most famous songs are here as well, including "Shapes Of Things" and the two Graham Gouldman numbers "For Your Love" and "Heart Full Of Soul". My personal favorite "Over Under Sideways Down" gets a major rave up as well. Naturally live recordings show warts and all, and to say the band butchers "Hang On Sloopy" would be generous. But with twenty six cuts in all, those off moments are few and far between. The last six cuts, recorded in 1967 and 1968 feature Jimmy Page on guitar. Although still a couple of years before forming Led Zeppelin, listen to cuts like "Little Games" and "Think About It" and you can hear that this new direction was already flowing through his head and fingers. While Page's style was not as traditionally blues-rooted as Beck, it's remarkable in its own right especially when you consider what was passing for lead guitar work on commercial radio at the time. Fans will be happy to gather these cuts under one roof, and those too young to remember the band firsthand have a worthwhile document that proves what the fuss was all about. --- REVIEW: Bill Wyman and the Rhythm Kings, _Struttin' Our Stuff_ (Velvel) - Linda Scott Six years ago, Bill Wyman left the Rolling Stones; his 31-year run as the Stones' bassist came to an end when he developed a dissatisfaction with touring. After he left, Wyman pursued non-musical interests setting up London's Sticky Fingers restaurants, writing his autobiography, _Stone Alone_ , and doing professional photography. Luckily, the musical call was too strong, and Wyman has been exploring musical genres other than the hard rocking Stones style. His latest musical excursion is the ambitious _Struttin' Our Stuff_ . Wyman has a new group, The Rhythm Kings; and the band has produced a 12 track debut album featuring blues, R&B, and jazz styles dating back to the 1920s. _Struttin' Our Stuff_ is challenged to take this variety of genres over a long time period and captive 1998 listeners. A difficult project, Wyman was wise enough to select talented musicians for The Rhythm Kings (Beverly Skeete, Terry Taylor Dave Hartley and Graham Broad) and season the music with outstanding guests including Eric Clapton, Peter Frampton and Albert Lee among others. These performers add a level of sophistication and polish to the debut album. _Struttin' Our Stuff_ has a polished, professional sound that's striking even at first listen. The album opens with a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's 1969 hit "Green River". An instant attention-getter, this version is so close to the original that it's startling when Wyman and Skeete come in on vocals. Taylor does excellent guitar work here. The cover of the Stones' "Melody" is not as close. The jazz/blues sound is still there, but the lyrics have changed somewhat to accomodate the male/female duet of Fame and Skeete. Clapton comes in on guitar - always a showstopper. Wyman wrote a blues ballad, "Bad To Be Alone" which Skeete sings to perfection in the style of the 20s blues clubs, and the Wyman/Taylor composition, "Going Crazy Overnight", possesses a distinctly Southern feel. The band also covers Willie Mabon's "I'm Mad" (1953) and Howlin Wolf's 1961 track "Down In The Bottom". The album's closing track, John D. Loudermilk's hit from the early '60s, "Tobacco Road" features Paul Carrack on vocals with Frampton on guitar, and solidly wraps up this collection. _Struttin' Our Stuff_ is an ambitious album with different styles and several performers. Great performances from The Rhythm Kings and Wyman's guests make a professional 'debut' album belying the fact that each track was done in 1 to 3 takes. The album is quite good, with lots of excellent covers interspersed with original works, but it remains primarily for those with a broader musical interest range. --- REVIEW: Pave The Rocket, _Taken In_ (Deep Elm) - Jason Cahill Every once in a while a band will come along and, quite simply, grab you by the collar, slap you in the face and force you to remember exactly what it was that first drove you into the waiting, hopeful and undiscriminating arms of independent music. A band with sheer force and absolute passion, playing music that exists in a world without rules, without boundaries. Pave The Rocket is that band. From the opening chords of _Taken In_ you just know you're listening to something very special and very unique. The reason we all started listening in the first place. As a band, Pave The Rocket haven't been around all that long, only a few years. _Taken In_ is their debut release for New York City independent label Deep Elm Records. Despite their relative inexperience, however, the St. Louis based foursome have managed to put together an album laced with a maturity and emotional dissonance some bands never seem to find. Musically, Pave The Rocket's sound seems most influenced by Sunny Day Real Estate and Pond, bands with a unique ability to combine force driven guitars with atmospheric and soft melodies and vocals. The songs on _Taken In_ are raw and powerful, intense and all too moving. Highlights include the album's first two songs, "Drool" and "Remora", perfect examples of what can be accomplished with a low budget and a who cares attitude. On the beautiful ballad, "Little One", the band showcases their ability to write poignant, heartfelt lyrics while still maintaining that raw, unfiltered sound. Reminiscent of early Smashing Pumpkins, it bleeds intensity and shows a versatility most bands often lack. With its mature and emotional lyrics, and a sound which is both blistering and brave, _Taken In_ is easily the best independent release in quite some time. --- REVIEW: Scott McCarl, _Play On_ (Titan) - Bill Holmes If you don't remember the name, there's two tip-offs right on the CD cover: the words "ex Raspberries" under his name, and the immortal imprimatur of that great label Titan Records ("It's All Pop!"). In other words, if hooks and melody are your thing, pop open the wallet and get this disc right away. Raspberries fans need no excuse to grab this on sight - this isn't some sideman hanging on to someone else's legacy like a barnacle. McCarl added a strong jolt to the band and the seventeen cuts here are proof positive that the man could pull his weight. His slightly raspy vocals evoke Paul McCartney in his prime, floating across sweet pop that calls to mind Badfinger, The Records, The Beatles, and yes, his alma mater ("Go Down Swingin'" would have been a hit for The Raspberries). The first ten cuts are newly recorded, and as a bonus there are old tracks dating back up to thirty years ago! It's hard to pick favorites from the newer cuts, as there are many standouts. The beauty of the midtempo "Fallin' In Lovin'", the Rubinoos backing Scott on the infectious "In Love Without A Girl", the collaboration with Kyle Vincent "Same Ol' Heartache" (again with the amazing Tommy Dunbar and Al Chan lending a hand) and the bouncy "I'll Be On My Way" will do for starters. There truly isn't a bad cut among them. (His contribution to the Raspberries tribute CD, "Nobody Knows", is also included here). If any of the older material sounds dated, it's because of the production, not the song writing. Regardless of the time period, Scott's music echoes the feel of his influences and contemporaries. "Don't Wanna Go" has an Artful Dodger sound, while "Surrender" and "Wait A Minute Girl" will turn the head of any Badfinger fan. "Don't Make Me Sad" (the song from Scott's demo that wowed Eric Carmen) sounds like a John Lennon demo. The booklet is wonderfully arranged; each song is annotated and there's an illustrated biography that traces his career from that first moment when pop whacked him upside the head. McCarl is gracious with remembrances and kudos to fellow musicians, some of whom made it big and some who weren't as lucky. Recent interest in The Raspberries (books, album reissues) apparently reminded McCarl not only that he was among the lucky ones, but that he still had much more music to offer. If these recordings are any indication, pop music fans will reap the rewards for quite a while. Welcome back! The release is also notable for the return of Titan Records, that great pop label owned and run by Tom Sorrells (Scott's friend and fellow band member in Yellow Hair). Now Tom, how about a Gary Charlson collection to send pop fans into absolute orbit? --- REVIEW: Quintaine Americana, _Decade of the Brain_ (Roadrunner) - Sean Eric McGill I like Tool. I like Tool a lot. That being said, I'm actually surprised I liked Quintaine Americana's _Decade of the Brain_ as much as I did, since they occasionally sound a lot like Tool. Perhaps it's because you get the feeling that they just sound like Tool from time to time, and they don't want to be Tool...there's a big difference. This trio from Boston sticks pretty close to what has come to be the standard for heavier rock bands: a vocalist with a penchant for screaming, a heavy bass line, the usual. And while some of their songs have a dark edge to it, they don't seem hell-bent on trying to top everyone else's dark songs (which is good, since they'd have to top Korn's tale's of child sexual abuse...and I really don't want to hear that). I basically said that to get this one point out of the way: if you're looking for something that will change the way you feel about hard rock music - this ain't it. Which leads to another point: that's not a bad thing. Quintaine Americana creates their own sound by melding the sounds of other bands. And what's more important is that a lot of these influences on their sound aren't really evident in the first listen or so. Of note are the definitely blues-based "Swan Dive Into A Lake of Fire", and the Tool-esque "Old Tricks Again". But the highlights of the album are the album opener, "Black Car", and "Burn", two straight-ahead rock songs that had me ready to bounce around the room...but that's just me, I do that a lot. When people ask me what kind of music I review for Consumable, my answer is usually something like "heavy stuff" - and that's about right. Oh sure, my year-end lists always have some abnormality in them (like when Tool and The Artist were 1 & 2 one year), but for the most part, what I review and listen to tends to be heavier rock. This basically means that I'm pretty jaded musically (no doubt partly due to two whole Korn albums seemingly about little more than child sexual abuse). Say the word "fuck" on your album, and a few years ago, I would actually perk up an eyebrow. But alas, those days are long since gone. To put it simply...you can't shock me anymore...but you can bore me. But by not trying to be like every other band that has come down the pike since harder rock became "cool" again (it's too blue-collar to be "hip"), Quintaine Americana kept my interest from start to finish, and left me wanting more. Not that I'm overly surprised. Roadrunner has always had a knack for putting out quality hard rock that falls outside the mainstream, and Quintaine Americana is no exception. --- REVIEW: Time Bomb Symphony, _If You See Kay_ (Chequered) - Bill Holmes First, to get past the sophomoric pun in the title...then, you can enjoy the revelation that Time Bomb Symphony is actually one Darren Robbins, the Midwest pop master who released _Steals Your Girlfriend_ a few years back. I don't know why he and Adam Schmitt (who also has his first in many a moon coming out this year) are forever linked in my mind, but perhaps it's because they're both multi-instrumentalists who have an ear for a good hook and the chops to serve it up. The opening cut, "Take Me Or Leave Me" is a perfect example - pulsating drums, sweeping guitar chords and energetic vocals. An even better comparison would be fellow Midwesterners The Shoes, except Robbins packs more of a wallop. While I've always admired The Shoes' pop sensibilities, ultimately they wear thin on me because of the production; everything sounds limp. If you feel the same then you might want to check out "Better Love Next Time" and "LMLYD (Love Me Like You Do)", two good examples of mid-tempo pop with a better punch. Not that the songs here are bombastic - _If You See Kay_ has the same demo/lo-fi production technique but somehow gets a little more fuzz on the guitar, a little more snap on the drums. Darren's voice is different than your classic pop tenor - it's a huskier sound not unlike Jules Shear - and his playing is solid. His writing displays versatility, from the raucous, chunky "See You In Hell" to the bouncy "Perfect Rose" (complete with "Tainted Love" keyboard riff). And yes, there's a couple more bad puns, from the rocking "Act Your Rage" to "Better Love Next Time", the latter another great Shoes meets Cars sound. The album closes strongly with the catchy "Connected By The Moon" and the rollicking bonus track "Heaven", which might be my favorite song on the record. While there's not any one song here that jumps off the disc and screams "release me as a single!", _If You See Kay_ is a solid effort that will please his old fans and hopefully gather some new ones as well. --- NEWS: > U.K. trio Dodgy are set to release a greatest hits album in the summer of 1998, followed by a 'farewell' concert at the Phoenix Festival. The band are expecting to be on a hiatus from each other that could lead to a permanent dissolution of the band. > Another Morrissey compilation, _My Early Burglary Years_, will hit shelves on May 12. In another of the 'repackage' series, this effort collects 16 tracks from B-sides, albums, and an unreleased song. The enhanced CD includes the video to the UK hit "Sunny", along with both B-sides ("Swallow On My Neck", "Black Eyed Susan"), other B-sides including "Sister I'm A Poet", "Girl Least Likely To", "At Amber", "Pashernate Love", "I've Changed My Plea To Guilty", "I'd Love To", Michael's Bones" and "Nobody Loves Us". Album tracks include "Reader Meet Author" and "Boy Racer", a live version of "Jack The Ripper" and "Boxers". The previously unavailable track is a live version (from the early 90s) of the T-Rex hit "Cosmic Dancer". --- TOUR DATES: Cravin' Melon Feb. 24 Buies Creek, NC Campbell Univ Feb. 27 Danville, VA Sir Richards Fatboy Slim Mar. 3 Chicago, IL Cabaret Metro Goldfinger / Sugar Ray Feb. 24 Miami Beach, FL Cameo Theatre Feb. 25 St. Petersburg, FL Jannus Landing Feb. 27 Houston, TX Theatre @Bayou Feb. 28 Dallas, TX Bronco Bowl Mar. 1 Austin, TX Ranch Studios Mar. 3 Tempe, AZ Hayden Square Mar. 4 San Diego, CA SOMA Irving Plaza (NYC concert hall - www.irvingplaza.com) Mar. 3-4 Reel Big Fish / Mr. T Experience Mar. 5 Government Mule Chantal Kreviazuk Mar. 2 Columbus, OH Ludlow's Mar. 3 Cincinnati, OH Bogart's Mar. 4 Atlanta, GA Cotton Club Life Of Agony / Far Mar. 1 Colorado Springs, CO Pure Energy Mar. 4 Spokane, WA Outback Jacks Reel Big Fish / Pilfers / Mr. T Experience Feb. 24 Jacksonville, FL State Fairgrounds Feb. 25 Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle Feb. 28 Washington, DC 930 Club Mar. 1 Providence, RI Lupo's Mar. 2 Scranton, PA Tink's Mar. 3-4 New York, NY Irving Plaza Shake Appeal Mar. 3 Philadelphia, PA Khyber Third Eye Blind / Smashmouth Mar. 1 Washington, DC Bender Arena Mar. 3 Providence, RI Lupo's Mar. 4 Boston, MA Orpheum --- THE READERS WRITE BACK! > I was pleased to see Tim Kennedy's enthusiastic review of the Stereophonics album, _Word Gets Around_ . A year ago (January 1997) I was in London where I grabbed the opportunity to see them play at the NME Brat Festival. They were openers, one of 4 acts that night, and they knocked me out! Tight, powerful, confident music from three guys who looked too young to buy liquor legally. The next day I prowled the local record stores and came up with a brilliant "single" CD with two A sides. ("Looks Like Chaplin" and "More Life In A Tramp's Vest"). I've had a copy of _Word Gets Around_ for months. It's as satisfying as Tim Kennedy says in his review. S.Z., Palo Alto, CA --- Founded in August, 1993, Consumable Online is the oldest music reviews publication on the Internet. To get back issues of Consumable, check out: WWW: http://www.westnet.com/consumable (Delphi) Music Fandom forum; GO ENT MUSIC To subscribe to Consumable, send an e-mail message to consumable-request@westnet.com with the body of the message stating "subscribe consumable". 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