AARON LEWIS – The Road

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Aaron Lewis’s debut EP ‘Town Line’ saw the Staind frontman experimenting with a more country-based sound.  Having grown up with country music, he said the style felt natural to him.  The result was enjoyable, but not always wholly country in a purist sense – yes, there were rootsy leanings throughout and the songs were far more country than anything Staind would likely ever record, but a couple of the tunes still had a slight rock edge.  Still, it was country enough for him to gain a couple of award nominations from the Academy of Country Music.

A couple of years on, Lewis’s first full length release first capitalises on the promise of that EP and its first three tracks are pure gold.  Lead track ‘75’ begins with a very traditional sounding country guitar played with a deep twang, joined in the left channel by steel accompaniment.  …And then, with no messing around, Lewis offers some country staples – he’s “tired of missing the moments he won’t get back”, he’s tired of missing his loved ones, tired of motels.  It may be over familiar, but the well-worn tune and combined with an oft-told tale of road weariness seems to be an appropriate place to begin this record.  Its old-fashioned sentiments and tried-and-trusted arrangement (one which would suit almost any of Lewis’s forefathers) show a greater love and commitment to the genre than pretty much anything from his previous EP.  The easy groove and dobro which drives  the title cut is akin to southern groover JJ Cale at his most country influenced, while the more upbeat style allows for a few more lead guitar noodlings to provide musical interest, while Lewis himself offers a vocal with the confident style of a man who has been making country records for years.  In a slightly poppier style ‘Endless Summer’ is a feel good tune, full of harmonies.  By the time the chorus hits, it’s clear this was made for radio.  There’s a slightly more pointed guitar solo than on the previous two tracks, edging things slightly further toward country-rock territory; the general mood could (almost) be likened to one of Nickelback’s softer hits…only covered by a country star.  It may be the album’s most throwaway tune, but looking at the bigger picture, this opening trilogy of songs covers most of Lewis’s chosen musical moods in one triple-whammy.

From that point on, things don’t weaken.  The patriotic ‘Red, White & Blue’ features some pleasing hard twangin’ guitar counterbalanced by some syrupy steel guitar, and as such is classic new country, the kind that would suit Garth Brooks or any of his million-selling peers.  Perhaps part of the featured guitar solo is a little harder than on some country records, but it doesn’t intrude too much, or weaken the overall country vibes.  Vocally, Lewis may be slightly filtered, but the deep richness in his voice shines through.   ‘Lesson Learned’ is much more restrained, it’s pastel colours allowing Lewis to deliver one of his best performances.  Set against a dobro and steel guitars (with the dobro often rising to the fore), his commanding croon sounds terrific as he works his way through a thoughtful lyric, name-checking  Johnny Cash and advising us all to “slow down a little bit, take time, rewind, appreciate the little things that life provides”.  The closest ‘The Road’ gets to its predecessor is during ‘Forever’, where Lewis allows more grit to influence his vocal.  In turn, the drums are a little louder in places and some swirling organ fleshes out the loudest moments.  With a whole world of steel guitars thrown in, it’s still firmly country and is a great song for what it is, but those coming at this from a country fan’s perspective will certainly find a stronger affinity elsewhere.

Closing the disc, the ominously titled ‘Party In Hell’ is another woozy waltz.  Musically, it’s full of country music staples, with a dobro and particularly sharp lead guitar’s string-bent, hard twang punctuating each line with great effect.  With Lewis reflecting his place “washed up and burned out” while imagining a raucous gathering with Janis, Jimi, Rick James…and Jamey Johnson drinking from a brown paper bag, the mood may be a little more heavy handed, but the musical mood brings things full circle with the opening number ‘75’. This adds to the feeling that for musicians, it’s all about the road… and the road goes on forever.

On ‘The Road’, there’s even less musically – and thematically – connecting Lewis with his alt-rock day job than ever before, but in terms of where he is headed with his solo career, that can only be a good thing. Overall, this is a surprisingly good record, one which exceeds expectations.  With ten very strong numbers to be heard, it’s a release that those who like a little – or even a lot – of country music would be foolish not to make time for. Most importantly, for a man who hasn’t always been associated with the country scene, it’s far more country than about half of what’s often peddled in the name of the genre…

November 2012

They Might Be Giants: confirmed US East Coast dates for 2013

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They Might Be Giants have confirmed a string of dates for the first part of 2013.

The dates, beginning at the end of February, but mostly taking place in March and April, will find the two Johns visiting various cities and venues up and down the east coast:

 

2/27 Portland, ME Port City Music Hall
2/28 Burlington, VT Higher Ground
3/1 Rochester, NY Historic German House
3/2 Columbus, OH Newport Music Hall
3/3 Cincinnati, OH Madison Theatre
3/5 Louisville, KY Headliners
3/6 Nashville, TN Cannery Ballroom
3/7 Birmingham, AL Workplay Theatre
3/8 New Orleans, LA HOB
3/9 Houston, TX HOB
3/ 12 Dallas, TX HOB
3/13 Tulsa, OK Cain’s Ballroom
3/14 Columbia, MO The Blue Note
3/15 St Louis, MO The Pageant
3/16 Chicago, IL Vic Theater
3/17 Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom
3/19 Detroit, MI Majestic Theater
3/20 Pittsburgh, PA Mr Small’s
3/21 Tarrytown, NY Tarrytown Music Hall
3/22 Huntington, NY The Paramount
4/3 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
4/4 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
4/5 Philadelphia, PA Theatre of Living Arts
4/6 Baltimore, MD Ram’s Head Live
4/7 Richmond, VA The National
4/9 Charlottesville, VA Jefferson Theatre
4/10 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle
4/11 Charleston, SC Music Farm
4/12 Asheville, NC Orange Peel
4/13 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse
4/14 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse

Prior to next year’s shows, there are also three end of year shows in Brooklyn:

12/29 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
12/30 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
12/31 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg

LOVER UNDER COVER – Set The Night On Fire

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Lover Under Cover is a Swedish hard rock project formed around vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Mikael Carlsson.  This debut album – released on Escape Music – has a distinct Scandinavian slant, the songs sticking rigidly to the confines of some very European sounding hard rock.  To help bring his band to life, he has enlisted the help of a few faces that’ll be familiar to fans of the genre: Coldspell’s Perra Johnsson guests on drums, Last Autumn’s Dream’s Mikael Erlandsson handles keyboards and vocals, while Escape Music regular Martin Kronlund contributes various guitar parts and handles production duties.

In all honesty, this sounds exactly how you’d expect from something Swedish with Kronlund in the producer’s chair.  If run of the mill Scandinavian hard rock is your bag, Lover Under Cover may appeal, but be warned, you’ll have heard it all before…and almost countless times.  Perhaps more importantly, you’ll have heard this kind of thing performed far, far better by others. There are two big problems here: the first being the rather weak songwriting; the second, Erlandsson’s voice: while he’s sounded great in the past with Last Autumn’s Dream, he’s obviously having an off-day here. At his best he sounds like an unpolished Euro hard rock vocalist – certainly not of the calibre of Matti Alfonzetti, Goran Edman or Coldspell’s Niclas Swedentorp, for example.  At his worst, as is the case on ‘Angels Will Cry’, his raspy voice sounds like the work of a songwriter laying down a demo track for someone else to sing later.

The album’s best tune ‘Through The Storm’ is a reasonable mid-paced rocker with the kind of pompy chorus Gary Hughes (of Ten fame) would have turned into something epic sounding.  Erlandsson’s old fashioned organ lends a little more of a classic rock vibe, while the Celtic leanings of the twin guitars hint at sounds once heard from Gary Moore’s ‘Wild Frontier’ album.  Each element had the potential to make this a great track, but despite everyone – bar the lead vocal – turning in good performances, there’s still very much a sense that these musicians are capable of better.

The upbeat hard rock of ‘Flash In The Night’ features a reasonable bassline and piano accompaniment, but any initial promise is soon swept aside by a thin drum sound and a particularly uninspiring one-line chorus.  The aforementioned ‘Angels Will Cry’ – aside from being musically uninteresting – finds Erlandsson desperately trying to pull emotion from a very limited vocal range and sounding like a man with a slightly bad throat in the process.  A little better,  ‘Standing In Line’ kicks off with best foot forward with a twin lead guitar, before settling in for some safe, clichéd rock – again with a particularly half-arsed chorus and equally weak vocal performance.  The twin lead makes a welcome return, but Kronlund’s best efforts aren’t enough to salvage this tune…or indeed many of the others that make up this album’s eleven almost equally uninspiring numbers.

There’s very little else to be said about Lover Under Cover which doesn’t trot out variations on the various negative remarks already applied to the few songs covered in this review.  Even from a second division perspective, there’s almost nothing here to get excited about.

November 2012

Editorial comment: INXS officially disbands – long after most had given up on them

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After years of struggling to find an identity following the death of frontman Michael Hutchence in 1997, Aussie rockers INXS have finally thrown in the towel.

Perhaps The Sydney Morning Herald best sums up the band’s bowing out, suggesting that “For fans of INXS there will be no overwhelming emotion, no note of tragedy or life passing, for the mourning has already been conducted, the farewells made. INXS effectively ended 15 years ago for most people, ending when Michael Hutchence died in November 1997.”

It’s a sentiment surely shared by many, Real Gone included. Having followed the band’s career eagerly for the ten years, between the release of ‘Kick’ and it’s many hits and Hutchence’s passing, INXS recorded some great music, but Hutch’s death really should have been taken as a cue for the them to bow out gracefully and respectfully.

At their best they were a great, radio-friendly rock band. They recorded a legacy of great music prior to 1997 (from 1986-1992 especially), but following the death of their much-loved lead vocalist, the band’s five surviving members made distasteful choices rivalled only by Brian May and Roger Taylor’s trading off the Queen brand. From whoring themselves on a talent show, playing live with whoever seemed to be around and finally trotting out a largely woeful disc of re-recordings, the attempts at hanging on tested the patience of all but the most loyal. Their one proper studio album (‘Switch’, recorded with JD Fortune) was solid by radio-friendly rock band standards, but a world away from INXS at their best.

This is time which we feel could have been better spent repackaging the back-cat and issuing any rarities they had. ‘Kick’ got a well-deserved anniversary two-disc reissue in 2002 and a shabbily cobbled together four-disc edition in 2012, but what of the rest? Surely 1986’s classic ‘Listen Like Thieves’ is worthy of a decent revisit? Where are the out-of-print VHS titles ‘The Swing & Other Stories’ and ‘In Search of Excellence’ in the DVD market? The latter, in particular, is the definitive word on the band’s career from their formation until the late 80s and would have made an essential addition to the ‘Kick’ box set, and yet, it’s in a record company vault somewhere gathering dust… We can only hope that one day the Hutch-era catalogue will get a worthy re-evaluation. That might compensate for a decade and a half’s half-arsed wandering through the wilderness with no real sense of direction.

With the band having limped slowly to their demise over the past fifteen years, we have to ask why they did it. Fifteen years is far too long to scrape a living from past glories. After all, a decade and a half is far longer than most bands get in the spotlight (or otherwise) in the 21st century – bands who’ve certainly shown far more promise than the post-Hutch INXS could ever deliver.

November 2012

REAL GONE GOES OUT: Carter USM – Brixton Academy, London 10/11/2012

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I saw Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine live for the first time in the autumn of 1993.  It was on the ‘Post Historic Monsters Tour’ – the album had only just been released and the single ‘Lean On Me (I Won’t Fall Over)’ had cracked the top forty.  It was a special night – being my first ever gig – but aside from a handful of tunes (including the awesome ‘Say It With Flowers’), I couldn’t tell you what they played.  The adrenaline was pumping so hard, they could have played anything at all and I would have gone home smiling.  I have vivid memories of the end of the night, however, which involved my mate falling off a kerb, into the front of our car and throwing a kebab all over my lap and the passenger’s seat.  [With regard to that night’s Carter USM setlist, I’ve actually asked Jim Bob and Fruitbat what was included, and in the days of handwritten setlists and no internet archiving, they can’t remember either...]

Over the following two years, I saw the band another three times – including the short ‘Worry Bomb’ in-store launch gig in a Virgin Megastore, London on 6/2/95 – each time as good as the first, two of those with the brilliant Salad in support.  There were opportunities to catch them a couple more times before their breakup in 1997, but there were other gigs which got in the way – and truthfully, things were never quite the same during the band’s twilight years – especially once they’d signed to Cooking Vinyl, enlisted a bassist and keyboard player and become a “proper” band.

Following various individual projects, Jim Bob and Fruitbat reunited as Certer USM in 2007. Sporadic gigging ensued.  I missed a supposedly storming set at The Levellers’ curated Beautiful Days Festival in 2011 and two shows at Brixton Academy in 2010/11, so when Carter USM announced a return to Brixton for the end of 2012, I wasn’t going to miss them yet again…

On arrival at the venue, one of the security guards told me she had been working at Carter USM’s Brixton gig a year previously and it had been fantastic – one of the most fun gigs she’d ever worked through.  It was great to be hear enthusiasm from somebody unbiased – somebody without the rosy glow of nostalgia that often colours events such as this.  The fun didn’t kick in instantly however: first we had to endure Cud, a 90s indie band who remain largely forgotten.  Enjoyed by six or seven people bouncing at the front, their tunes barely rose beyond bog-standard indie sturm and drang, while bespectacled frontman Carl Puttnam wailed tunelessly while occasionally wiggling his tartan-clad arse in an embarrassing fashion.  It’s painfully obvious why Cud never really made the big time back in the day: they have a great bassist, but that’s it.  90s cult heroes Ned’s Atomic Dustbin were a very welcome addition to the bill and were enjoyed by many as they ploughed through 45 minutes of solid material – including hits ‘Kill Your Television’ and ‘Not Sleeping Around’ – so it wasn’t too long before the sour memories of Cud faded.

Watching the audience that filled the venue prior to Carter’s appearance, the older, fatter and largely male crowd seemed to be made up of blokes whose wives had let them off the lead for a night.  I’m also acutely aware of the passing years, noting that this particular occasion comes seventeen years since I last witnessed Jim Bob and Fruitbat play a full gig.  Once the duo appear on stage however, (to the usual barrage of “You fat bastard!” chants), it’s clear that the passing years have been kinder to these two musicians than it has to many of us.  Fruitbat looks about the same as he always did, while Jim Bob, rather perversely, has more hair than during Carter’s classic years – and more than lots of their audience ever will again.

The tunes are as vibrant as ever though, and at this show, the opening barrage of ‘Surfin’ USM’, ‘My Second To Last Will & Testament’, ‘Midnight On The Murder Mile’ and ‘Say It With Flowers’ is just about as intense as any show I’d previously seen them play…or perhaps any show they’ve played.  The two men look slightly lost on the largish stage at the Brixton Academy and there’s no visual to speak of for the most part, but it’s quickly clear that this show is more about interaction between band and audience than any flash musicianship or visual gimmickry. With nothing to prove, nothing new to promote and no record company breathing down their necks, Carter are left to concentrate on the evening’s main agenda: ensuring everyone has a great time.

Throughout the first forty five minutes there was barely time to breathe, let alone take stock of the setlist.  Having never seen it played in the Carter live set previously, the inclusion of Pet Shop Boys’ ‘Rent’ marked the beginning of a musical lull, followed as it was by ‘Falling On A Bruise’ (it’s moodiness certainly not well suited to mid set) and a slightly wobbly ‘While You Were Out’.   From then on – and pretty much throughout the last fifty minutes, both band and audience were on fire, tearing through other tunes from ’30 Something’ (three songs short of an entire outing tonight) alongside choice cuts from ‘1992’ and ‘101 Damnations’.  Perhaps the most unexpected were renditions of ‘Let’s Get Tattoos’ and ‘Glam Rock Cops’ – both from the beginning of Carter’s downhill slide – and a cover of Inspiral Carpets’ ‘This Is How It Feels’ (featuring a guest spot from Tom Hingley!).  Maybe the sagging mood midway was included on purpose, in order for the band and audience to re-charge themselves, but it would have been nice if the six minutes of ‘Falling On A Bruise’ were replaced with the sadly missed ‘Lenny & Terence’ and ‘Stuff The Jubilee (1977)’, but you can’t have everything.  It was a near perfect set after all.

Briefly, those intervening seventeen years since I last saw Carter USM could have been condensed into a much shorter time span.  Living in the moment, for those two hours in Carter USM’s presence, nostalgia never felt so good.  It would have been great if my mate who shared a couple of those past gigs had been there too to make the experience complete, but hey…at least I got home without smelling of doner meat.

Novemeber 2012