Album Reviews

AUTOLINER
Be
(Parasol)
Champaign's Autoliner is like a distillation of everything good about modern rock/pop. The trio extracts the best bits of 60s psychedelia, 70s arena rock, 80s new wave and 90s alt.rock and blends them into a delicious dessert that goes down as smoothly as perfectly heated hot chocolate down a sore throat. Fuzzy acoustic and electric guitars, luscious vocal harmonies, dynamic arrangements, tasteful orchestration, tight songcraft and, of course, massive hooks come together on the band's second album Be, which is less a progression than a refinement of the talents displayed on their debut Life On Mars. Guitarist Brian Leach (late of the lamented Sugarbuzz), bassist John Ross and drummer John Curless have spent many years in the Midwestern pop trenches, and their collective experience gives them the expertise to balance the many elements that make up their sound with nary a misstep. Rather than trade off cuts, the vocalists trade off bridges and choruses within the same song—Ross's choirboy tenor contrasts nicely with Leach's soulful rasp, while Curless's midrange hum acts as the glue that holds the harmonies together. The musicians are masters of every kind of twist on power pop, from midtempo charmers like "Down On the Line" and "Misunderstood" to lush ballads like "No Matter When" and "Lighthouse" (Curless' lead vocal debut). Their specialty, however, is the kind of widescreen pop anthem few similarly-inclined artists bother to attempt anymore, though with the new standard set by "Supersonic Baby (In Disguise)" and "Weakened," maybe they shouldn't try. Be is nearly perfect pop. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Electric Light Orchestra, Badfinger, Owsley

DAVID MEAD
Mine and Yours
(RCA)
Once upon a time an album like David Mead's Mine and Yours would have dominated the radio. The young singer/songwriter makes beautifully melodic, emotionally mature pop music that won't insult your intelligence while it indulges your sweet tooth. Way back in the days when Paul McCartney and Harry Nilsson were regular presences on the airwaves, Mead would've found an audience fairly quickly. Sadly, in these days of niche marketing and rigidly defined formatting, his label will probably put the minimum amount of effort into promotion, since he's neither an angry white rap/metaller nor a teenage sex bomb. He'll probably generate a cult following comprised of certain hip triple-A programmers and underground pop fans, but little more. That would be a shame, as Mead is that rare artist who could appeal to a wide audience without compromising his artistic principles. His Andy Partridge-like wordplay gets along famously with his McCartneyesque melodies, and the relationship is facilitated by lush guitar 'n' keyboard melodies and a breezy tenor that was made for these kind of songs. "Venus Again," "Flamin' Angel," the playful "Girl on the Roof" and the soulful "Figure of Eight" have "hit single" written all over them, in a parallel universe anyway. In this one, they'll be drowned out by steroid-pumped teen metal and ersatz R&B. But if you seek out Mine and Yours and clutch it close to your breast, you'll help bring that parallel universe one step closer to our own. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Duncan Sheik, Michael Penn, Squeeze

SPIRIT CARAVAN
Elusive Truth
(Tolotta)
Spirit Caravan falls under the unfortunately-monikered umbrella called "stoner rock." That might give folks the wrong idea. Stoner rock is basically a contemporary spin on early 70s heavy metal, Black Sabbath division—slow, sludgy and oozing spite for the then-prevailing ethos of peace and love. Instead of calling a spade a spade, though, today's practitioners of power-chord gloom want to distance themselves from today's digitally-enhanced metal gods like Limp Bizkit and Papa Roach. They'd rather forge ties with the trippy psychedelic tradition of the late 60s that thrives in the rock underground. Thus the term "stoner rock," which unfortunately calls to mind the image of a bunch of dope-smokin' morons (to quote Paul Westerberg) playing the same chord over and over for ten minutes. And while there's a certain truth to that image, the best of the stoner rock crowd eschews heavy drug use for heavy riffs. If you want to rock out properly, it's best not to nod out while pounding out barre chords.

Spirit Caravan leader Scott "Wino" Weinrich knows this better than practically anybody. The Virginia native has kept the flame of heavy rock alive since the 80s, blithely ignoring underground trends like hardcore punk and mainstream ones like alternative rock with his legendary bands the Obsessed and Saint Vitus. All his virtues are on ample display on Caravan's excellent third album Elusive Truth. Not only has he refined his art to the point of perfection with Spirit Caravan, but he's kept the faith through the virtue of hard work rather than massive pot consumption. His mastery of the thick, smashing guitar riff is undisputed, his commanding vocals are a cut above the usual barely intelligible growls that permeate this genre, and his songs strive to say something other than "I'm free, I'm high and I want ya, baby." His hard-nosed melodies and spiritual lyrics in songs like "Find It," "Black Flower" and "Lifer City" show a deep understanding of songcraft that's rare in this milieu, and the dry, clean production brings out the power of the performances without applying a high-gloss production sheen. Plus, to put it simply, he and his bandmates know how to rock the fuck out. Nitpicking genre designations aside, the plain, obvious truth is that Spirit Caravan is one of the best hard rock combos extant. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Nebula, Black Sabbath, Clutch

KAREN TWEED & TIMO ALAKOTILA
May Monday
(Northside)
A collaboration between British accordionist Karen Tweed and Swedish pianist Timo Alakotila, May Monday underscores the similarities between Celtic folk and its Nordic counterpart. Though most of the tunes come from contemporary U.K. sources, the feel of the Nordic musicians at these sessions (Maria Kalaniemi and members of Troka and JPP are present) contributes greatly to the disc's overall atmosphere. Most of the pieces combine melodies from various songs into one seamless number. This is especially impressive with the track "English," which blends two tunes by British composer Andy Cutting with one from Swedish songwriter Jan Ekedahl—the two different strains of world music flow into each other like tributaries of the same river. Most of the melodies are pretty jaunty, betraying their origins as dance music, but lovely meditations like "The Land" also make themselves known. May Monday is the kind of album of which world musicologists dream, as it makes explicit the connection between the music of two distinct geographical regions. Fortunately, non-scholars will find it just as interesting. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Maria Kalaniemi, Ranarim, Swåp

ALEX WOODARD
Nowhere Near Here
(Alex Woodard)
Seattle's Alex Woodard reaches for the heartstrings on Nowhere Near Here, his third CD. His songwriting is a pastiche of moods and scattered phrases, and it manages to stay mostly on the positive side of that line separating emotional resonance and bad poetry. His voice is something of a question mark, though; if you're going to get by on something other than vocal chops or range, that something needs to be character. Woodard settles into a croaky alto that threatens to descend into the goofily rustic, but mostly suffices.

Those two elements of Nowhere Near Here, as significant as they ought to be, are overshadowed by the sound of this CD. Woodard assembled an alt-pop all-star band to record this, featuring members of the Posies, Sky Cries Mary, Sunny Day Real Estate and Fountains of Wayne. But the guitar playing scuttles the whole affair, be it courtesy of Woodard band regular Abel Ames or Phil Hurley (Gigolo Aunts, Tracy Bonham). For music that, thematically, should soar and swirl and paint emotions, there is almost always a guitarist noodling around with a brick-like tone straight out of "Rocky Mountain Way." Not only that, but it's mixed way forward, and it's downright annoying. Whether this is the fault of producer Martin Feveyear (who produced Mark Lanegan's I'll Take Care of You, which sounds just fine) or some picker's insistence is anyone's guess.

This CD could have worked. "Wings One Night" is beautifully produced, and only minimally marred by the square wave assault. And the finale, "Welcome to LA," is set against sparkling piano and cello. It's a relief, and a bittersweet hint of where Nowhere Near Here could have gone. Brian Briscoe [buy it]

For fans of: Mark Cohn, Dave Matthews, Kevin Deal