High Bias aural fixations
September 22, 2002

CARRIE AKRE
Invitation
(My Way)
Seattle songstress Carrie Akre is best known for her work with Northwest alternative rock bands Hammerbox and Goodness. But that's going to change with the release of her second solo album Invitation. Somewhere between the major label madness of her bands and the fan-financed, self-released sanity of her current career, Akre discovered groove. Songs like "House at the End of the World," "Out There Tonight" and "Play" sound as if they were written from the rhythm up, with funky grooves roiling beneath forceful guitar/keyboard melodies and sharp pop hooks. Akre's sultry singing suits this sea change well; she's obviously been listening to her R&B divas. The silky, horn-accented funk of "Mystery," the anthemic balladry of "Hope" and the psychedelic folky soul of the title track are nigh-irresistible, the kind of mainstream pop music the mainstream isn't interested in anymore. Straight singer/songwriter tracks like "Only Me" and "Wishing You Well" work just as well as the more hip-shaking tracks. Then there's the a cappella/hanclap gospel shout "Catch My Back," possibly the record's highlight. Akre's voice has grown into a thing of great beauty, able to handle any style she explores. Invitation is a finger beckoning you to hear an artist in full flower. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Laura Nyro, Angie Stone, Patty Griffin

HERMANO
…only a suggestion
(Tee Pee)
Before he formed the stoner rock one-shot supergroup Orquesta del Desierto, bassist/songwriter Steve Dandy Brown put together another one-time-only gathering of contemporary heavy rockers and dubbed it Hermano. Featuring former Afghan Whigs drummer Steve Earle, Supafuzz guitarist Dave Angstrom and, most importantly, Unida/Kyuss vocalist supreme John Garcia, Hermano recorded a short album that's laid dormant for a few years now, seeking a home. Tee Pee Records finally opened its doors, and the long-anticipated …only a suggestion has finally been unleashed on the world. It was worth the wait; this is some of the best acid-blazed power rock since Kyuss closed up shop. The guitars roar, the rhythms groove, the lyrics intrigue and, let's face it, it's always good to hear Garcia's desert-fried howl. "Manager's Special," "Senor Moreno's Plan" and "Landetta (Motherload)" stomp the landscape as thoroughly as anything by the parent bands, making one wish this union was a bit more permanent. (Especially since Unida seems to be in hibernation.) With only eight songs, the record seems to skimp a bit, considering the long time between gestation and release, but if that's all there is, that's all there is. Better to be grateful for the quality of the pounding than complain about the length of its duration. This is rock to put hair on your chest. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Unida, Atomic Bitchwax, Fu Manchu

LAURA MINOR
Salesman's Girl
(HighTone)
Though she originally moved to Gainesville, FL, to be a poet, instead writer Laura Minor fell in with guitarist Jared Flamm and became a musician instead. Her debut Salesman's Girl is as solid a country rock record as you could hope to hear. It's got all the necessary elements: a luscious mix of acoustic and electric guitars, foamy Hammond organ, rhythms that negotiate the middle ground between C&W and rock & roll, strong vocals, smart, emotional songs. It almost seems like it was created by a committee of folks from the No Depression camp and the Lost Highway label. Fortunately, the record is greater than the unimaginative sum of its parts. Minor's soulful voice is perfect for a melodramatic line like "Tell the world that I died for love" and the band wears this style as comfortably as an old sweater. Think of songs like "Poor Sinner," "Loneliness" and the title track as homey, rather than formulaic. Laura Minor makes comfort food for the soul. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Kim Richey, Shelby Lynne, Tift Merritt

KERRY POLITZER TRIO
Watercolor
(Polisonic)
Watercolor, the second record from pianist Kerry Politzer, eschews the Brazilian flavors of her first album Yearning for a more straightforward jazz affair. Over a lightly swinging rhythm section, the New England Conservatory-trained composer puts her mellifluous fingers and ear for memorable melody to the service of eleven surefooted originals and a cover of the Gershwins' "Foggy Day." She's as comfortable skipping delicately over the peppy tempos of "Woodpecker" and "Sparks" as she is caressing the keys for ballads like "Whim" and "Waltz For Charlie." The Trio really takes off during "Silent Morning," as bassist Dan Fabricatore and drummer Scott McLemore swing hard, pushing Politzer's fingerings toward overdrive. Interestingly, the band never stretches songs out past their natural lengths, keeping the cuts short and sweet (not to mention fitting a goodly number of them on one disk). Getting the tunes stuck in your head is apparently more important to the Trio than basking in its own improvisational techniques. Politzer's lyri22h melodies make Watercolor an irresistibly pleasant way to spend your quality jazz time. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Eliane Elias, Vince Guaraldi, Dave Brubeck

THE PROM
Under the Same Stars
(Barsuk)
The piano is making a comeback in a big way in popular music, from the soulful meanderings of Alicia Keys to the pop-culture skewerings of Ben Folds. Indie rock has been feeling the pull of 88 keys for some time now (that's the arena from which Folds sprang, after all), and the Prom is the latest band to wheel out the Steinway in its pursuit of melodic self-expression with Under the Same Stars. The trio augments its anguished pop music with touches of organ, strings, horns and flute, but it centers the arrangements around the interplay of drums, bass and piano. Frontperson James Mendenhall sounds like his words are being gently torn from his aching throat; this is one man who understands the act of turning heartbreak into art. Mendenhall has a classicist's ear for melody, and the band sounds less like a bunch of punks trying to evolve than a pack of veteran pop musicians working with a low budget. Lovely, affecting tunes like "A Note on the Kitchen Table," the upbeat "The City Gets Lonely" and "Brighter Than the Moon" hit the sweet spots with just the right balance of sugar and tart, inviting you to the table but forgetting to put cream in your coffee. It's a bracing, refreshing change to all the ho-hum guitar bands that overpopulate the underground. Go to the Prom; you might have a good time. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Ben Folds, Built to Spill, Ben Kweller

RAGING SLAB
(pronounced eat-shit)
(Tee Pee)
It's hard to believe, but Pennsylvania's Raging Slab has been cranking out the Big Rawk for almost two decades now. Unfortunately for the hard-luck quartet's commercial fortunes, it's been the wrong two decades; had this band been around in the 70s, it would have been much bigger. Or maybe not—the Slab has always been more about updating the classic arena rock sound than revisiting it. Leader Greg Strzempka writes big-ass rock tunes, sure, but his hooks aren't always the most obvious in the tackle box, and his blend of Southern rock boogie and British blues-based hard rock would find a bigger audience if not for his occasional propensity for punk, country and thrash metal sounds. On the band's latest album, the Skynyrd-parodying (pronounced eat-shit), complete with a carefully homaged cover, Strzempka and his faithful bandmates create the most organic Slab music yet. It's got plenty of sledgehammer guitar riffs, but they're married to dinosaur stomp tempos or placed with vocal melodies that seem to use the licks as stepping stones. The group finally recombines its leader's many influences into a truly distinctive whole. Listen to the way Strzempka sings against the melody on the grinding "Boogalooser," or the manner in which he lets the vocals seemingly grow out of the dirge-like "Dry Your Eyes"—these aren't lighter-waving anthems to inspire instant singalongs. And that's not even mentioning slide guitarist Elyse Steinman's acid-harsh vocal on the appropriately titled "Hell Yawns Before Me." Unlike most neo-classic rock combos, the Slab actually challenges its audience, requiring multiple listens for its tunes to sink in. Of course, for some folks, that's a fault, rather than a virtue; for them the band lays down more friendly cuts like "Ruby" (dedicated to Miss Ruby Starr) and "Never Never Know." But you can't appreciate one side of the Slab without the other; it just wouldn't be the same. (pronounced eat-shit) may not be the easiest Raging Slab record to appreciate, but it's probably the band's most representative opus in its long career. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: the Four Horsemen, Foghat, Molly Hatchet

SIXTEEN HORSEPOWER
Folklore
(Jetset)
Sixteen Horsepower fans can breathe a sigh of relief with the release of Folklore; the band's recent hiatus was obviously not permanent. The Denver trio's sixth record is a bit of a departure from its last few for the simple reason that it's a lot, well, calmer. On previous platters songwriter David Eugene Edwards sounded like he had a hellhound on his trail, and his paeans to the Pentacostal Christianity to which he subscribes had an air of desperation. His musicians followed suit emotionally, playing as if their lives depended on it. Now, however, the band sounds incredibly relaxed. The tempos are mostly slow, the melodies less frenetic; Edwards even tones down his patented Gothic wail into more of a simmering croon. Edwards' tunes still concern themselves with love and death, God and the devil, sin and salvation. His "Beyond the Pale," "Blessed Persistence" and "Hutterite Mile" look for comfort in the afterlife, while "Flutter" finds solace in a more earthly love. Darker themes run through the covers, from the crime-doesn't-pay message of the traditional "Outlaw Song" and the gruesome imagery of the Tuvan hymn "Horse Head Fiddle" to the hellfire-and-brimstone fingershaking of "Sinnerman" and the lonesome moan of Hank Williams' "Alone and Forsaken." Nearly all of these songs are performed so quietly you could play them in church, which may have been the idea. The lowering of the volume knob doesn't diminish 16hp's power one iota—if anything it makes Edwards' faith-burning soul more luminous and the band's intense performances more effective. Like every other kind, this Folklore will live forever. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Mark Lanegan, Ralph Stanley

Copyright © 2002 High Bias