High Bias aural fixations
March 16, 2003

BLACKMORE'S NIGHT
Past Times With Good Company
(Steamhammer/SPV)
Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore is, of course, a veteran of 70s arena rock as a founding member of both Deep Purple and Rainbow, so it only makes sense that his current group would wave the banner of at least one of the 70s' rock scene's traditions, namely the double-live album. Past Times With Good Company gathers material from the three prior releases by Blackmore's medieval rock ensemble and puts it in front of an appreciative Dutch audience. Whether you will be as respectful depends on your tolerance for music that celebrates ye olden days as if they were still happening. Blackmore's guitar and mandolin work is first-rate, and his compositions put traditional melodies from several centuries ago to rock beats with no self-consciousness or obvious seams. His nimble ensemble (featuring violinist Chris Devine, who steals the show when given chance) sounds comfortable with either approach. Blackmore's partner Candace Night sings in bell-clear dulcet tones of "Minstrel Hall," "Fires at Midnight" and, naturally, "Renaissance Faire," sounding completely at home with the idea of never using electricity. (Which may be why she sounds out of place on versions of Deep Purple's "Soldier of Fortune" and Rainbow's Dio-era monstrosity "16th Century Greensleeves.") Folks who avoid the Society For Creative Anachronism like the black plague will find this record equally intolerable, but if you buy a season pass to your area's renaissance festival every year without fail (and you know who you are), you'll most likely appreciate these Past Times With Good Company. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Fairport Convention, David Arkenstone, renaissance fairs

CALLA
Televise
(Arena Rock)
NYC-based Calla uses its arty trio dynamics to find beauty in the dirt on its third album Televise. This is no power trio, mind you; guitarist Aurelio Valle, bassist/keyboardist Sean Donovan and drummer/programmer Wayne B. Magruder use their skills to make music that's heavy in spirit and intent, but not in texture. Valle's judicious use of noise enhances the delicate melodies he strums without overwhelming them, while Donovan and Magruder keep the rhythm moving even when it's at a glacial pace. The volume ebbs and flows, the distortion caresses and scratches, the melodies twitch, undulate and hum. All the sounds emanating from the triad's instruments are put to the service of self-expression, not self-aggrandizement. Valle's hushed singing clues you in as much as the subtle sonics— songs like "As quick as it comes/Carrera," "Monument" and "Don't hold your breath" are meant to be intimate emotional experiences. It's difficult to balance self-conscious art and honest expression, but Calla manages it with delicacy and soul. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Luna, Acetone, Parker & Lily

DIRTY POWER
Dirty Power
(Dead Teenager)
While it might be inaccurate to call it a "scene," it's undeniable that there are a bunch of bands in the underground right now that come from punk backgrounds but are exploring the arena rock and metal that punk originally rebelled against. This probably has less to do with any "rediscovery" than it does with a generation of kids who never saw any difference between Thin Lizzy and the Damned—both fucking rock, dude, so who cares what ideological miasma they crawl from? It's like a garage rock version of Iron Maiden or Judas Priest, sort of what the 60s garage bands were to the Rolling Stones. San Francisco's Dirty Power is the latest in the ever-lengthening line of nuevo hard rockers with hip roots (a connection to gay-themed punk/pop fave Pansy Division), but that's not nearly as important as whether or not its self-titled record rocks. Well, let's see here: a nicotine-stained rasp of a voice? Check—listen to frontman Patrick Goodwin on "Dirty Power." Naked aggression? Check—note the ferociously angry "Drag You Down." A cheeky sense of humor? Check—roll your eyes at "Lady Danzig" and "Symptom of the Unitard." Riffs galore? Most definitely check—revel in the six-string sonics powering "Tastes Like Burning," "LSD" and "Penny Eyes." Perhaps Homer Simpson said it best: "Yes! This rocks! No, no, don't stop rockin'!" Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Kiss, the Backyard Babies, Puny Human

THE HAUNTED
One Kill Wonder
(Earache)
The Haunted is one of the many spinoffs of seminal Swedish metal crew At the Gates, and continues in that landmark outfit's groundbreaking vein on its third album One Kill Wonder. Led by the Björler brothers, the Haunted rips through its melodic death metal with atypical vitriol. Tunes like "Shadow World" and "Everlasting" brandish old-school metal riffs like clubs, pounding into submission anything that gets too close. Drummer Per Moller Jensen bangs the cans in a much more direct and uncomplicated way than most of his death metal peers, who seem to try to hit every piece of the kit at least 100 times per song; Jensen simply keeps the groove moving. The combination of guitarists Anders Björler and Patrik Jenson and particularly feral vocalist Marco Aro is damn near lethal; not even a dense, high velocity rant like "Urban Predator" can withstand their assault. "Demon Eyes" boasts dynamic shifts into moodier, more melancholy territory—this is as close to sedate as music this aggressive ever gets. At just over 38 minutes, the records gets in, gets the job done and gets out with no fuss. In just a few years the Haunted has gained a reputation for quality that matches that of its well-regarded predecessor; with records as good as One Kill Wonder in its deadly arsenal, it's easy to hear why. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: At the Gates, In Flames, Opeth

HARRY MANX & KEVIN BREIT
Jubilee
(Northern Blues)
Canadian bluesman Harry Manx teams with unknown Canadian guitarist Kevin Breit on Jubilee, a good-natured collaboration that sounds like it was a hoot to record. That's not to say it's a sloppy studio party that somehow made its way to the racks; there's a very high level of sheer craft at work here. Manx's warm voice and lyrical slide guitar are in excellent form, and Breit is a stunner, obviously loaded with technique but more interested in serving the song at hand than his ego. The duo employs an even mixture of tunes, covers and originals, vocals and instrumentals. Breit is particularly good at the latter, as befits a non-singing musician, with his "When Abbot Met Costello" and "Curly Ray and His Brother" being fine examples of melody and flash. Breit even almost manages to redeem a wordless take on the Doobie Brothers' "Takin' It To the Streets" with his fancy picking. (Note: we said almost.) Manx also contributes one of his patented blues ragas, "Raga Gujari-Todi." In addition he adds some sterling new vocal songs to the lineup, notably "Weary and You Run" and "Unmoved By Love." The duo shines on covers of Danny O'Keefe's "Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues" and Sleep John Estes' "Diving Duck Blues," and somehow manages to breathe life back into the classic rock warhorse that is "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)," probably by performing it at a relaxed tempo on banjo and jazzy blues guitar. Manx and Breit sound like they're enjoying this collaboration immensely, and that friendly vibe translates to the listener. Jubilee doesn't have the intensity of Manx's solo records, but a serious artistic statement isn't the point. Manx and Breit set out to have a good time, and anyone who hears Jubilee will smile along with them. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Ry Cooder, Alvin Youngblood Hart, the Notting Hillbillies

PAS/CAL
The Handbag Memoirs e.p.
(Le Grande Magistery)
Cotton candy, free balloons, hair on the floor of a barber shop—Pas/Cal is just as light. Named after leader Pascal Casimer, the Dearborn, Michigan band is a grape of the twee/60s pop variety. Just listen to Casimer wryly whispering the convalescent opening strains of "I'd Bet My Life That You'd Bet Your Life" and you'll swear that he's at least Belle & Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch's half-cousin. He even says in the opening line: "Was it '74/Was it summer or fall/Was it corduroy, linen, or wool?" Now does that sound like the opening of B&S's "The State That I Am In?" or what? If anything, you should be able to deduce, just in case the word "twee" didn't give it away, that Pas/Cal reaps a quaint, dainty, whiteness that may leave fans of the official De-troit sound a little clammy.

Also abounding (for blanket comparisons sake) are the crazy rhythms of Dan Bejar's impishly crass Destroyer, as evidenced by the clever wording of the chorus in the same song mentioned above: "Oh Tony you were no/Tragedy/You're just a well worn story I can hear on any given night/On any TV, oh yeah." Another comparison can be made to the Lilys (for their dedication to sounding like a 60s band) and also partially to the psychedelic children's circus program music of Of Montreal, albeit a much more level, Prozaked version. But for all of Pas/Cal's coyness, preciousness, and pure unadulterated indie-ness, their songs are pretty damn sound.

This is best evidenced by the first track on this EP, "The Bronze Beached Boys Of Summer (Come On Let's Go)." No, it doesn't sound anything like the Beach Boys, but it's swell nonetheless. With a recipe lifted straight from the Monkees' "Forget that Girl," Pas/Cal adds a dash of the melody from the Stone Roses' "Bye Bye Bad Man," and a smidge of that Elephant 6 cutie-pie spirit. A Morrissey-cum-Murdoch fey-boy interlude ("Or we can sing strange romantic airs/Like those that flow through Aolian harps/That caught Shelley's ear") is followed immediately by an ending section ad-retro-nauseum of extended "ba ba ba ba's." Darn good, but there's something fishy about grown men referring to themselves as boys, or singing about boys in general. It's—I don't know, how do you say it in the wake of the Smiths and Britpop—pretentious?

Ultimately, Pas/Cal is deliciously decadent and hard to deny no matter how fiercely it marches towards Edinburgh with hobo-sacks full of major seventh guitar chords. What can I say while listening to "Holiday Sweater"? The horn arrangements, chord changes and vocal work are just plain smart. Pictured across the cover of their digi-pak being served a beggars' banquet of tea and French bread by a bare-breasted lass, I cannot help but being struck though by how demurely hombre #4 holds his china cup. Twee as a wine-stained bee, yet I think I'd like to hear their LP. Jonathan Donaldson [buy it]

For fans of: Belle & Sebastian, Destroyer, Of Montreal

SONNY VINCENT
The Good*The Bad*The Ugly
(Dynolux/Acetate)
Sonny Vincent was the leader of the Testors, alleged to be New York's first punk rock band. He also sporadically led a combo featuring defrocked Replacements guitarist Bob Stinson. Neither of these groups recorded much, but Vincent's long tenure in the rock & roll trenches means he has the respect and friendship of dozens of punk rock survivors and revivalists and a black book full of phone numbers. The Good*The Bad*The Ugly is more than a powerhouse punk rock & roll record; it's a tribute to those six-stringers who make it happen, many of whom appear here. "Trans-Love," a nod to the MC5 with a chorus of "Rock on, Brother Wayne," features the Damned's Brian James adding a surprisingly bluesy solo. Brother Wayne himself, AKA Wayne Kramer, tears up the fretboard on "Skag," joined by Kramer disciple Dave James of the Superbees. Two generations of punk rock strings smashers enliven "That Sound," as the Damned's Captain Sensible, the BellRays' Tony Fate and the Offspring's Dexter Holland put their axes through their paces. "Scratchin' On the 8 Ball," a rocking lament for the late Johnny Thunders, features Thunders' fellow Heartbreakers alum Walter Lure, not to mention Weirdos axeman Cliff Roman and Lazy Cowgirls frontman Pat Todd. Kim Shattuck from the Muffs and Javier Escovedo from the Zeros and the True Believers garnish the countryish "Flower." Black Flag's Greg Ginn and Bob "Derwood" Andrews from Generation X attack "Yesterday's News," while Big Apple icons Richard Lloyd (Television, Matthew Sweet, solo) and Robert Quine (the Voidoids, sessions too numerous to count) add their magic to a pair of tunes each. The Streetwalkin' Cheetahs' flamboyant frontman Frank Meyer adds one of the albums' most volcanic lead breaks on "Crazy Ride," while a noisemongering quartet of Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Jim O'Rourke (Sonic Youth, Gastr Del Sol), Ivan Julian (Voidoids, etc.) and Don Fleming (Velvet Monkeys, Gumball) demolish the closer "South Beach." Vincent himself proves more than capable of his own fretboard pyro on the thematic opener "My Guitar." Just to add icing to the cake, the rhythm section consists of Captain Sensible on the bass (an instrument he hasn't played since the Damned's early days) and the Stooges' Scott "Rock Action" Asheton on the cans. Amazingly, given the nature of the record, The Good*The Bad*The Ugly is more than the sum of its parts. Vincent's tunes may be little more than bar-band rockers, but they're solidly constructed and passionately performed, and the high-profile guests never wrest the spotlight from the ringleader for any longer than it takes them to smash and slash. Vincent's voice is no great shakes, but he makes up in enthusiasm what he lack in finesse. The Good*The Bad*The Ugly works as both pulse-pounding rock & roll record and tribute to the power of the guitar. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: the Streetwalkin' Cheetahs, Johnny Thunders, the Turbo AC's

Copyright © 2003 High Bias