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Naked Blue
Five by Five (Bluetick)
Naked Blue, led by the super smooth
vocals of Jennifer Smith, has produced
a superb pop folk record with Five
by Five. Smith’s delivery is flawless,
lilting, soulful and never misses.
The Baltimore-based band sticks with
their folk roots, but isn’t afraid
to push that sound with a lot of funk
infused into tunes like Break Me.
This song is mesmerizing, with a jazzy
blues attitude that fits right in
with the other songs on the album.
Scott Smith also plays some incredible
acoustic guitar on this record. The
rest of the songs, a collection of
gems written by Jennifer and Scott
demonstrate the maturity of the group
with this, their fifth record. Scott
also produced this album and has done
a great job blending the varied influences.
His skill is particularly present
on Extraordinarily, where his ear
for traditional mountain music caries
the otherwise bland pop song. All
the Time in the World is a great pop
tune that could be played on any radio
station in the country and be twice
as good as anything else. The two
play off one another much more effectively
this time out, especially on the first
half of the album. The rest of the
band skillfully holds Smith’s vocals
to the light. The band rifles through
Christmas with a casual enthusiasm,
the way Lisa Loeb did in the 90’s.
But Naked Blues’ lyrics are better.
Five by Five is a great record and
should position Naked Blue among the
best folk acts working. (Lance Looper)
THE
NATIONALE BLUE
A DIFFERENT KIND OF LISTENING
(IODINE)
Keeping in mind that Fugazi is not
just the legendary DC band of post-hardcore
funk punks, but also the title of
UK proggers Marillion's best album,
might help in putting the music of
the Nationale Blue into perspective.
Their music somehow manages to intersect
both of these bands' styles. While
Trans Am played at being a kind of
post-rock version of Rush, it was
all tongue in cheek. The Blue men
seem very serious and earnest about
it, merging music that is outwardly
prog with a kind of emo-core vocal
approach, and lyrics that are as literate
as anything this side of Neil Peart.
With eight of 12 songs exceeding six
minutes, they push the envelope toward
prog, which would be fine if they
could resist the urge to sing in that
classic Ian MacKaye/Guy Picciotto
shout/sing way. That they resort to
some very classic rock type riffs
here and there doesn't help their
case much, either (they even have
their own "Moby Dick" in "Focus In
Six"; on the good side, though, no
bass solo), but program the tracks
with vocals out and you have a respectable
enough album of post-rock that comes
in one of the nicest, most well-designed
covers I've ever seen on an indie
release (kudos Scott Lefavor!). Just
remember: Even if you choose not to
decide you still have made a choice!
(d.n.l)
NEEDLE AND THE PAIN REACTION
Pheromone
Kinky Star
Another strong band on the Kinky Star label,
this Belgian power trio delivers an appealingly
unhinged style of heavy garage rock while
singer/guitarist Wim Deliveyne belts out
an entertaining bunch of songs about supermarket
heroes, a horribly disruptive friend named
Scarface, and some unruly bus riding kids
who mess up a guy's chance to meet his dream
girl. The songs don't deviate much from
the basic premise, scruffy, hard-edged mid-tempo
garage rock a la Stooges, Mudhoney, etc…,
but on about half of the record, the band
strikes gold, especially on the aforementioned
three songs: "Supermarket Hero,"
"Scarface," and "Buskidscumbags,"
the overall vibe of the band is just good,
loud rock n' roll rowdiness. --Andy
Smith
WILLIE
NELSON
TO LEFTY FROM WILLIE (COLUMBIA/LEGACY)
A full-bore tribute to honky tonker
Lefty Frizzell, noted for vocalizing
his lyrics with sustained phrasing,
this re-release from 1977 shows Willie
Nelson and his Family Band in classic
form from their heyday. Now all but
forgotten, Frizzell's first big hit
was "If You've Got The Money I've
Got The Time" (long a live staple
for Nelson) and a fast arrangement
of the song is included as a bonus
track. Nelson's rough-hewn Red-Headed
Stranger voice is at the forefront,
rarely undercut by guitar or percussion,
though a lonesome prairie harmonica
nearly takes center stage several
times, especially in the key track,
"That's The Way Love Goes." Even the
rollicking piano in "She's Gone, Gone,
Gone" doesn't overwhelm the proceedings,
though it cuts a central melodic figure
in "I Want To Be With You Always."
Guitarist Jody Payne plays sublimely
in "A Little Unfair," a country classic
if ever there was one, with lines
like "what's mine is yours/what's
yours is yours" as it explores a less-than-ideal
relationship. A hokey song like "Railroad
Lady" (co-written by Jimmy Buffett)
sounds hopelessly dated but the remaining
songs here are true standards as thick
as the pineywoods of Frizzell's East
Texas hometown of Corsicana, making
this album an authentic slice of honky-tonk
heaven. (David Pyndus)
WILLIE
NELSON & RAY PRICE
SAN ANTONIO ROSE
One of Willie's notable duet records,
an easy-sounding project with old
Nashville pal Ray Price (who spent
a short stint in Lefty Frizzell's
band back in the day), this 1980 release
is considered one of their finest
collaborations. The song that charted,
"Faded Love," is a true country weeper
(with Crystal Gayle on background
vocals), worthy of the two friends
whose disparate voices blend surprisingly
well. This is a standards-heavy collection
with Ray and Willie trading lead vocals
on "San Antonio Rose," "I Fall To
Pieces," "Release Me," and true classics
that each can claim as their signature,
"Funny How Time Slips Away" and "Night
Life." While most of the versions
here are not definitive, there is
such effortlessness to each man's
phrasing and the way they trade leads
that this album goes down easier than
home cooking. Included are two bonus
tracks, including a solo Nelson on
"My Life's Been A Pleasure" that was
cut during the sessions with a band
that included Buddy Emmons on steel;
Johnny Gimble on fiddle; Leon Russell
on piano; and the rest of the Family
in the usual places. Real home cooking
from a slow simmer. (David Pyndus)
The Nematoads
Ironic Hypersonic (Deep Eddy)
This three-song EP provides a great
introduction to this excellent Austin
surf/instrumental trio. Yes it is
quite brief at 7 1/2 minutes total
running time, but these tracks show
the Nematoads strengths as a slightly
scruffier and grungier surf band.
They aren't the virtuosos that some
people in their genre have been (i.e.
Dick Dale), but they successfully
blend their obvious influences (Dale,
Ventures, Shadowy Men On A Shadowy
Planet) with a garage sound. The two
originals "Rancho Cucamonga"
and "Bandera!" are both
quite good and work even better than
their cover of the Shadowy Men's "Egypt
Texas." (Andy Smith)
THE NEVER
Antarctica
Trekky
Grandma was right...one bad apple can spoil
the bushel. It seems as though the concept
album has become something of a pariah based
on the failure of a ridiculous few rather
than the success and integrity of many.
The yardstick for measuring a concept album
isn’t really all that different than
it is for a standard song-based album; the
music has got to be good. The only other
criteria is that the concept shouldn’t
be eye-rollingly stupid. The Never kept
these considerations close at heart when
they crafted their baroque pop concept piece, Antarctica. Not content to merely
tell their story in song -- the tale of
a country lad who discovers a nuclear warhead
in his backyard and determines to return
it to the big city from whence it came --
guitarist Noah Smith has also created a
50 page illustrated booklet that furthers
the story. Musically, it’s the tension
and commonality that co-exists between Smith’s
sense of pop classicism and keyboardist
Ari Picker’s classical foundation
that drives the Never‘s orchestrated
pop engine. With elements as disparate as
Procol Harum’s grand expanse, Burt
Bacharach’s arranging finesse, Neil
Finn’s pop genius, Michael Penn’s
dark vision, and the Flaming Lips’
sense of the plausibly absurd, the Never
tell their strange tale with a deft musical
touch and a subtle gift for storytelling. --Brian Baker
THE NEW AMSTERDAMS
Story Like A Scar (VAGRANT RECORDS)
Story Like A Scar, the latest effort
by the New Amsterdams, kicks off with
the haunting opener "The Death
of Us," which provides a clear
sign of things to come. The album
features calm, soothing vocals poignantly
parading over introspective lyrics
and soft guitars creating an extremely
relaxed if not paranormal feel. A
far cry from Pryor's days of fronting
the semi-cult Get Up Kids and opening
for Weezer, this album might as well
have been a '90s Friends of Dean Martinez
record with vocals. Perhaps a bit
more pop (due to his past accolades)
and few paces faster, it still manages
to evoke moorlands and dusty country
lanes all while creating much malaise.
Beyond the fields and tumbleweed,
Pryor reaches within, conjuring up
tales of finding home, marriage and
other post Get Up Kids activities.
The results include lyrics like "tempt
me to change things because I've got
the will and the blade" in the
beautiful "Your Ghost" as
well as the self realization of "A
Small Crusade." Pseudo alt-country
tracks like "Calendar Days"
and "Intelligent Design"
feel almost out of place although
the chorus of "Past the Pines"
haunts again like most of the album.
Story Like A Scar plays like a pop
record but feels like a country one.
--Adi Anand
NEW ESTATE
Considering… (KITTRIDGE)
Melbourne’s New Estate recorded
its debut album at home and it shows.
Considering… is a bit of a mess.
The production tends to be a tad murky
and ‘all over the place’
if you know what I mean. Which is
a pity because there are a couple
of promising songs in evidence here,
diamonds in the rough, you could say.
At worst, this is lo-fi indie rock
that even the likes of Sebadoh and
Guided by Voices eventually got tired
of, and rather difficult to fathom
(and justify) in 2005 where recording
costs have been reduced drastically
by improvements in technology. So
whilst the songs themselves reveal
certain versatility and eclecticism
within the broad confines of indie
rock, the poor production values render
the songs sounding a little too similar
to each other. Which can get annoying
– tracks like the glorious “Don’t
Like the Way,” the gorgeous
“Dream Planner” and the
searing “Open” deserve
better than that. Back to the drawing
board, mates! --Kevin Mathews
NEW LONDON FIRE
I Sing The Body Holographic
Eyeball Records
Dave Debiak released a plethora of albums in a relatively short time-span with Sleep Station. His new band, New London Fire fuses synthesizer beats and assorted percussion with pop melodies to arrive at I Sing The Body Holographic. Recently released on Eyeball Records, the album starts off with the radio and keyboard friendly “Different” before exploring lush lands in the layered “When I Try” and “Happy Now.” Lyrically, Debiak explores love and hope, all while tainting his words with a dark tinge. The name of the band comes from a project originally suggested by My Chemical Romance bassist Mikey Way, but due to Way’s then-current priorities, Debiak decided to move ahead with the project himself. The album fluctuates between dance floor material (the title track) and introspective pop (“Nadine”, “Tonight”). The upbeat “Someone Like You” is an interaction between forlorn lovers before uniting for a refrain that puts forth the best the band has to offer. “We Don’t Bleed” and “To Breathe” continue in the vein of sharp, tightly-knit melodies and chorus--bringing a comprehensive cohesiveness to the New London Fire sound. -- Adi Anand
THE NEW TOWN DRUNKS
…Trust Us With Your Car
Hmm
You might expect a band called the New Town Drunks to be jokey, but this Carrboro, North Carolina quartet shows on this six-song EP that the reference is much more subtle than its name implies. There’s the instrumentation, including flute, trumpet and harmonium, and Diane Koistinen’s passionate singing. The songs are mostly laid back with some Spanish music touches. No doubt, pieces such as “Autumn’s Truck” and “Ol’ Trailer Park” are lubricated and humorous, but the band is never overly silly. A full-album of the Drunks would be most welcome. --Andy Turner
NICE
MY PLANET (TANK FARM)
A Southern California-based group
sounding more like a Brit-pop band,
Nice (pronounced "neese") has released
a promising full-length debut CD in
My Planet. Formed in 2000 by the Anderson
brothers (John, Ricky, and Mike) with
two close friends, Nice has quickly
learned how to craft catchy pop songs
that are beginning to earn them a
serious following in California and
beyond. Nice is like a more upbeat
version of the Ocean Blue, and it
certainly seems that lead singer John
Anderson is shooting to sound like
that band's vocalist, David Shelzel,
though with only moderate success.
The music is the star on this release,
with the vocals being the weaker link
in the equation. That said, Anderson
does a decent job everywhere and a
very good job on some of the stronger
tracks, like the catchy "Hey You."
There are a few clunkers (particularly
"High School" and "Eighties Weekend"),
but this band shows enough polish
and promise that they could be on
the verge of making a serious splash
if they continue to mature at this
rate. (Richard E. Glover, Jr.)
MIKE NICOLAI
god fatigue in the post atom age
sma records/eclectone
With a sound built on that of the hub of Greenwich Village's early '60s heyday, Mike Nicolai's fourth album, god fatigue, is an astute echo of the '60s troubadour archetype. But the songs are anything but hoary old clichés. While the opener "Tarot Road" borrows a bit of Townes Van Zandt's restless ramble, from the second song, "The Depths of Love," with this line--"Some people will do very awful things in the depths of their love/Some people murder their mothers down in the depths of their love"--it's clear Nicolai is unafraid to confront the psychosis of these times head on. Nicolai, who's traversed the Minneapolis and Austin scenes (writing for alt-country stalwarts the Gourds and the Damnations) may run under the radar, but if "Lifesucker Waltz," a wickedly rendered indictment of organized religion, got a fair airing in these fundamentalist times, the song might do for him what "We Can't Make It Here" has done for James McMurtry, that is: Tell the truth. --Charlie Sands
1986 - s/t (Palentine)
The name 1986 gives some insights into this
band's sound as it sounds like a throwback
to the fat guitar college rock bands on
the mid-80's, namely Dinosaur Jr., although
these guys could have fit in on any number
of late 80's shows at Minneapolis' Uptown
Bar. 1986 rises and falls with
the songwriting quality of each song. "I
Know" has a bit of the Modern Lovers/Feelies
in it before the band kicks on the distortion
pedal, while "Mechanical Dreams"
revs up with a classic pop-punk guitar riff
and great rough-edged rock vocals. Some
acoustic flavored tracks break up the main
idea a bit with "Holiday" being
a good downcast song without being self-indulgent
though it still rocks. "Comatose"
is the record's most sedate song but doesn't
stand out among the best tracks. ".22
Caliber" and "Creep Like Me"
have a edgier-Seattle early 90's Subpop
sludge sound. As a result, 1986 ends
up being a bit all over the place, which
is interesting for what is really just straight-ahead,
lead-footed barre chord rock.--Andy
Smith
90 DAY MEN
TO EVERYBODY (SOUTHERN)
The oft-elegant piano-work of 90
Day Men's Andy Lansangan occasionally
puts the group's sound in the expressionistic/chamber
music territory of Rachel's or the
Black Heart Procession. But unlike
those groups, 90 Day Men are resolutely
a rock band. The whiplash playing
of drummer Cayce Key and bassist Robert
Lowe make sure of that. In the past,
90 Day Men have drawn comparisons
to such punchy Chicago brethren as
Jesus Lizard and Rapeman. But except
for a stray snatch of guitar noise
here and there, that heavier sound
has been left behind. Instead, To
Everybody finds the Men ambitiously
exploring the outer territories of
art-rock, recalling everyone from
King Crimson to Can to Tortoise along
the way. A multifaceted song like
the cheekily-titled "We Blame Chicago,"
filled with melodic piano scales and
detours, would not have sounded out
of place on one of John Cale's solo
albums from the early 70s. On "St.
Theresa in Ecstasy" the band take
what could have been a typical post-rock
guitar song and reduce it down, over
the course of several minutes, to
an entrancing, repetitive chime as
hypnotic as a swinging pocketwatch.
It's an album full of pleasant surprises,
as the group clearly pays close attention
to the tiniest detail of each composition
and are able to flesh out every melodic
passage thoroughly without ever dragging
the music down with wasted flash or
flourish. (Matt Murphy)
North Mississippi Allstars
Electric Blue Watermelon (ATO
Records)
With dandy cover art by my Memphis
pal Tom Foster, the NMAS's fourth
studio album continues to plough the
furrows of down home Mississippi Delta
and Hill Country blues, folk, and
funk, all the while mixing musical
types that've rarely shared the same
bed. On their last studio album, the
brilliant Polaris, the band ventured
into new territory with drummer Cody
Dickinson's love for pop and even
Britpop styles; this time out, Noel
Gallegher wouldn't have known what
to play if he'd been asked to guest
star again. The album opens with a
fantastic version of Charley Patton's
(the original godfather of the delta
blues) "Mississippi Boll Weevil";
let there be no mistake about it right
up front - Luther Dickinson's guitar
work is quickly equaling that of one
of his idols, Duane Allman. My favorite
cut at the moment is "No Mo,"
a song that as a native Mississippian
just makes me proud as can be; there
may not be a 'new South' in our lifetimes,
but folks like the Dickinson brothers
and longtime bassist/partner Chris
Chew are the crucial bridge between
Mississippi's storied past and, hopefully,
more promising future. Two of the
album's best tracks, the enigmatic
"Teasin' Brown" and "Hurry
Up Sunrise" were derived from
Luther's tapes of the late fife-and-drum
master Otha Turner, improvising on
his front porch; the latter features
a particularly well-lubricated vocal
from Lucinda Williams. "Moonshine"
is the finest of the new band compositions.
Now, it's my hope that the NMAS will
make more albums with exceptional
pop fare like Polaris, but it has
to be said that this album is easily
the finest of their three more traditional
efforts. With dad Jim Dickinson producing
them for the first time, the NMAS
are showcasing a level of extraordinary
instrumental ability that equals the
finest ever to come out of the Deep
South. Five albums on, counting the
live 'family' one, and it sounds like
they've only just begun to tap their
potential. Long may world boogie reign!
--Kent H. Benjamin
No Wait Wait
s/t (Chairkickers)
After assembling the LOW documentary
included in last year's LOW boxed
set, filmmaker Marc Gartman moved
to Duluth, and has since taken a role
in running their Chairkickers label.
So, it stands to reason that the label
would also serve as home for Gartman's
musical pursuits, No Wait Wait. While
both Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker
put in appearances on the album, thankfully,
No Wait Wait never strive to sound
like LOW. Instead Gartman's music
is a pleasingly up power pop amalgam
that reminds one of the Posies, TMBG,
and Fountains of Wayne. There are
a few songs later in the album, ”Doesn't
Have to Be” and ”Love's
Lost Cause,” that take it down
a notch, but even those stay away
from Low-ness. The songs do seem to
have a personal nature about them,
but they never get in too deep. The
results and the influences are never
very distant from one another, but
that never stops No Wait Wait from
being a completely enjoyable listen.
--d.n.l
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