High Bias aural fixations
May 19, 2002

BRANT BJORK & THE OPERATORS
Brant Bjork & the Operators
(Duna/The Music Cartel)
As drummer/composer for Fu Manchu and the mighty Kyuss, Brant Bjork has been one of the stoner/desert rock scene's unsung heroes for nearly a decade. This is his second album under his own name, and it's a doozy. Interestingly, there's nothing here that's particularly heavy or metallic, so folks expecting Kyuss Manchu may be disappointing. Instead Bjork puts his multi-instrumental capacities and surprisingly warm, soulful voice to the service of easy melodies that glorify simple pleasures with groove and heart. "Cheap Wine," "Hinda65" (also available in an Airish instrumental version) and "My Ghettoblaster" raise a toasted thumbs-up to good liquor and better rock & roll, while "Joey's Radio" and "Smarty Pants" give a thumbs down to bad music and worse girls. The instrumental "Cocoa Butter" finds Dean Martin sharing a bong with a Playboy Playmate, while the equally wordless "Electric Lalli Land" engages Fatso Jetson guitarist Mario Lalli to make Yes get funky after drop-kicking Jon Anderson to Venus. Bjork joins the elfin singer there for the cosmic come-on "Captain Lovestar," perhaps the record's quintessential track. Bjork fairly jettisons any baggage that comes from his previous bands, trading in Sabbath/Purple hard rock for a seriously sexy psychedelic groove. Desert bachelor pad music? Well, he is your rock & roll commander. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Masters of Reality, Money Mark, Shuggie Otis

THE GLASSPACK
Powderkeg
(Small Stone)
When you think the music of Louisville, Kentucky, you think of either two things: homegrown traditional bluegrass or arty indie rock. The Glasspack, however, fits in neither of those categories on its sophomore album Powderkeg. This band is interested in neither acoustic good will or atonal navelgazing; no, this band wants to fucking rock. With a stack of Marshalls, a cocktail of amphetamines and whiskey and a really bad attitude, the quintet breathes fire all over the landscape with rude anthems like "Mrs. Satan," "Jim Bean and Good Green" and "Shut Up & Ride," scorching earth and eardrums where it finds them. The rhythm section barrels along like an out-of-control bus, the guitarists stomp and smash anything in their path and the keyboardist fills up any space left over. The band's only weak link is the vocals; frontman Dirty Dave prefers incoherent snarling over singing, and the distortion added to his pipes makes his delivery a gauzy smear when it should be a precision strike. Still, the vox are easy to ignore in favor of the dizzy rush of the music and Powderkeg is a satisfying slug to the gut. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Alabama Thunderpussy, the Stooges, Halfway to Gone

THE GLORIA RECORD
Start Here
(Arena Rock Recording Co.)
Positive...pretentious...paaaalease! The members of The Gloria Record are so full of themselves you'd think they were tasked with reversing global warming or bringing world peace. Formed out of the ashes of the emo-core cult favorite Mineral in Austin, Texas, The Gloria Record manages to take everything fun, light-hearted and cathartic about rock & roll and chain it to the floor with sappy and pensive vocals on Start Here. It doesn't matter that they seem to be competent and agile musicians, and forget about the cool riffs, pleasant-enough progressions and solid song construction. No one under 50 playing rock 'n' roll should be allowed to create songs this serious and full of heart bleeding. Come on guys—dare to slack a little! No one will hate you for smiling while you play.

If Start Here is any indication, The Gloria Record has been done before. It was called Sunny Day Real Estate. And before that we called it Afghan Whigs. And lots of people will call it U2. The band should at least consider revising its press kit if it insists on playing music this emotionally pathetic. "Start Here is the work of a tight band of friends; all of whom share a comprehensive knowledge of musicianship, the business and how to comparatively position themselves as one of the most well rounded rock bands of the new year." Remind me, what are they selling again? Benjamin A. Johnston [buy it]

For fans of: U2, Sunny Day Real Estate, melodrama in general

BEN KWELLER
Sha Sha
(ATO)
Sha Sha, Ben Kweller's solo debut, consists of eleven smartly screwy pop songs. 20-year-old Kweller is already something of a music veteran, having performed until '99 with the late Dallas-area rockers Radish. Almost all the elements of killer pop are here, save for Kweller's voice: he's a good singer, but not a stellar one. All that amounts to is that he has to do a superb job of supporting his vanilla pipes with dandelion harmonies, sing-song choruses, and melodies upon melodies. And he does.

"Wasted & Ready" rocks a bit, as Kweller sings, "Sex reminds her of eating spaghetti/I am wasted, but I'm ready." "Family Tree" lopes along almost like the Beatles' "I'm Only Sleeping," and if the authorities ever hear these harmonies they'll be outlawed as a controlled substance. "In Other Words" is fleshed out with piano, steel guitar and banjo, and it works; it's more Philly than filly.

When Kweller isn't casting his melodic charms, his errors fall on the side of flavorless subtlety, such as on "Make It Up." But as soon as you're not paying attention, he comes roaring out the gate with roaring, schizophrenic pop rock like "Harriet's Got a Song." And closer "Falling" oozes melody, nodding and smiling along to piano and strings. "I don't feel like I'm falling," sings Kweller, though his listeners certainly will. It's love at first listen. Brian Briscoe [buy it]

For fans of: Brendan Benson, Ben Folds, Jellyfish

JEZ LOWE & THE BAD PENNIES
Honesty Box
(Tantobie)
British singer/songwriter Jez Lowe has been operating under the radar of folk fans for nearly two decades. His gentle, Celtic-laced sound and probing narratives seem like a natural on public radio folk programs, but somehow his music has escaped notice by the pubcast tastemakers. At first blush he may seem like any other tradition-minded folkie, but he doesn't keep his head in the sand. On his umpteenth album Honesty Box, the circular melody of "Maddison" may sound hundreds of years old, but the tale of classic cars, infidelity and lines like "Like something Obi-Wan Kenobi might have used to get the girls" could only have come from modern times. The sweetly crooned tune "Mother's Day" could pass as an ode to that holiday, with its call-and-response verse between mothers and sons, but the sons include a soldier off to war, John Lennon and Jesus, whose last line is "Oh why did Father leave us?" "The Big Fear" uses a detective noir tone to criticize the repulsive practice of badger-baiting. Lowe's an expert at drawing flies with honey then letting them taste the arsenic. But he's not trying to be shocking or cruel; quite the contrary, as he possesses a lot of compassion for his characters. But he's enough of a realist to leaven his tales with black and gray amidst the primary colors. It's a good thing, too, since his melodies are occasionally too precious for words. But coupled with his moody worldview and painter's eye for detail, his songs hit just the write balance between the bitter and the sweet. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Ralph McTell, the Waterboys' Room to Roam, James Taylor

JEFF TROTT
Dig Up the Astroturf
(Black Apple/DTS Entertainment)
Guitarist/songwriter Jeff Trott has long been one of those unseen but important figures in the musical background. He spent several years lending his six-string skills to bands like World Party and Wire Train before hooking up with Sheryl Crow, not only as a guitar player but also a co-writer of hits like "If It Makes You Happy." He puts all his experience to work for his debut solo album Dig Up the Astroturf. It's too easy to say that this record sounds like a mixture of his former employers. While the easy melodicism of Crow, poetic lyrics of Wire Train and lush arrangements of World Party have obviously all made their impact on Trott, he mixes his own ideas in as well. His songs are thoughtful meditations on the way people relate, given a widescreen but subtle sound that seems to draw equally from the music of every decade that's come before it. The result, on shimmering cuts like "Dalai Lama," "No Substitute" and "Nevermind Me" is cosmic pop cinema that flaunts compassion and melodicism like flags planted on new territory. The record's opening tune "Walk a Cloud" puts everything together into one sterling piece of soulful psych/pop; it's probably the quintessential Trott track. With an album this strong, Jeff Trott doesn't have to stand in anybody's shadow any longer. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: World Party, the Verve, the Church

TUATARA
Cinemathique
(Fast Horse)
Don't call Tuatara a supergroup. Though the Seattle band is made up of current and past members of famous and semi-famous alternative rock bands (R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, Luna's Justin Harwood, Screaming Trees' Barrett Martin, the Young Fresh Fellows/Minus 5's Scott McCaughey, Brave Combo's Joe Cripps, Critters Buggin's Skerik, among others) this isn't a melee of egos and clash of competing styles. Under the general leadership of Martin, Harwood and Buck, the free-floating ensemble specializes in instrumental mood music on its third album Cinemathique. Using an arsenal of instruments (nearly everyone involved has more than one ax at his or her disposal), the group gets dusty on "Tumbleweeds," shakes its groove thang on "Pimpin' For the Muse" and heads down a back alley, gun in hand, on "A Thin Gray Pickpocket." There's appropriately titled noir rock in "Action Thriller" and Mancinized groove jazz in "In the Passing Lane." The penultimate track "Walking in a Dead Man's Shoes" melds all the various styles the band plays into one ingenious, memorable number. The group evokes a wide variety of moods and atmospheres, creating soundtracks to films that exist only in its members' heads. Due to the musicians' instrumental and compositional skill, listening to Cinemathique will let your imagination create its own images. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Friends of Dean Martinez, 70s film soundtracks, Vinnie Santino

Copyright © 2002 High Bias