Music Review - The Choir - Chase the Kangaroo

Somewhere I read that when it came time for The Choir to record their fourth album, and for Adam Again to record their second (Ten Songs By Adam Again) that they went to the record executives with a deal*. Instead of paying some studio ten grand each in studio time, why not give these two bands the twenty grand and they’d build their own studio. After all, Derri had official engineering experience, and probably the same for Gene. Amazingly the studio went for it. What a bargain! Gene went on to start The Green Room and upped the ante on the quality of Christian music while Derri and company hunkered down for six months to self-produce their first masterpiece, Chase the Kangaroo.

Even before you hear a note the album cover tells you that something is different. Christians are “supposed” to be clear and have exact, understandable answers based on thoroughly systematized theology. Instead we get a dark, blurry photo full of indistinct shapes, a perfect representation of the music within. Speaking of, let’s dig in, shall we?

The opening track, “Consider”, was written last because the record company wanted something radio friendly. I can’t imagine this song being played on an of the all-vanilla-praise stations in my town… how far have we fallen? This song has a deep, spongey bass tone, thick sheets of shimmering guitars and an intense, eager drum beat. Even though this was a tip of the hat to “the man” the song is packed with energy, a wonderful blend of shoegazer and melodic rock. In “Children of Time” each piece of the band (drum, bass, guitar and vocals) fit together like a puzzle, stringing together unsettling lines like “The cosmonauts were first in space / To look for God and find no trace” before ending with a brief, wild sax solo. “Clouds” opens with ominous low synth strings and an inventively panned repeated drum part that forms a hypnotic spell before Derri sings “The blood remains as red / That colors our spirits white.” This here is a classic Choir song, an experience and a journey as much as a song, following the darkness of the tone with the unlikely dark lyrics of “Clouds are round about you / Shadows veil your eyes.” Remember, kids, we’re supposed to be the light in a dark world and have all the answers. Umm… yeah. Around the three minute mark the song melts into a froth of reverb, leaving only shadows of the original signals in a glorious artistic display of studio experimentation. Before leaving this song I’d like to comment on the bass line. It’s simple but perfect, like a constant heartbeat holding together the complex interchange of instruments and reverb.

Written in response to a miscarriage, “Sad Face”** is packed with gorgeous chiming guitars, stuttering low guitars and a lovely round drum pattern in the verse that sounds like its being played on a dark and cloudless night on the thin hope that some ray of relief will shine through. There are lots of misty instrumental passages where Derri bounces cascades of guitars off each other to create a most intoxicating listen and then around the five minute mark the song transitions to a passage containing light strings over a reverse vocal section of “Clouds” and someone it works. The guitars on “Cain” sound urgent***, almost dangerous while lyrics like “Love raised a white flag” add complexity to the mix, although the abundance of piano makes me think this song would have fit in well on Diamonds and Rain.

Side two starts with The Choir getting even more experimental with “The Rifleman” where a sparse guitar part plays while whoever walked into the studio speaks lines concerning an old television show, often overlapping, before drums and a fretless bass make their appearance. The chorus is sung, forming a foundation and amazingly the song comes together splendidly before fading into the chorus of “Render Love” from Diamonds and Rain. There’s so much to love about “Look Out (For Your Own)”. There’s the drum part in the verse that switches around the beat, the unusual instrumental mid-section with echoing saxamaphone, and the crazily inventive bass part which is minimalist and so unlike anything I’d heard before. A final capper is Gene Eugene singing background vocals in the chorus… it’s always great to hear his golden voice. RIP, Gene. “So Far Away” is a stark love song about missing those you love while being on the road with artful glimpses of domestic life such as “I saw your note about the pilot light / Didn’t I fix that thing before?” and “I won’t be there to dry your eyes / So please don’t cry /When I’m so far away.” “Everybody in the Band” is a nice little ditty but it’s not fleshed out and never was meant to be. It’s kind of like a demo you get for no extra charge. The album closes with the title track, a song inspired by the fact that Steve had to get a construction job**** in order to make ends meet. Starting with a chuffing beat and eerie backward-like vocals, the song is classic Choir in that it takes mundane events and explodes them into a spiritual analogy, in this case digging deep for truth. Two thirds of the way through they open up the throttle and the song really takes off. And keeps going upward, building in intensity through the chorus and closing with a final melodic instrumental exploration.

In Chase the Kangaroo it seems like that the band knew that were at a turning point in their career where the odds were that they would likely to be sent home packing. So instead they doubled down and gave it everything they had, and then some, and as a result recorded a pivotal album that has inspired bands such as Switchfoot, Sixpence None the Richer and Jars of Clay to make their own musically and spiritually rich music. Their first of several classic albums!

* Per Tim Chandler, while some of the money for the album may have gone into Derri’s studio this whole story has no basis in reality. I have no clue where it originally came from although I wouldn’t put it past my brain to have made it up.

** An embarrassing aside… I recall being at home with in college and singing this song to a female friend (nothing more) over the phone. A cappella. It makes me cringe on many levels just thinking about it.

*** As well they should as the song deals with the hurt of personal betrayal.

**** Which to me seems a bit comical in itself because Steve’s build is not big ‘n’ burley.

Hard Root Beer Review - McGillicuddy Liquor

Upon cracking the cap of Dr. McGillicuddy's Root Beer Liqueur my first thought was "It's Barq's!" which isn't necessarily a bad thing as I've always viewed Barq's as having the most complex flavor of all the big-bottler root beers. Granted there isn't much nuance but at least there's a little.

As for taste, well, it's no Blackmaker but it's also not syrupy sweet. It also lacks any of the weird after-tastes that beer root beers seem to have, which makes sense in that you're just adding flavoring to a neutral spirit. The flavor itself was good but lacked much in the way of depth, kind of like a root beer barrel candy but a good root beer barrel candy, perhaps something made in small batches and sold with pride at farmers markets. But now I'm just making things up.

This stuff is 21% octane and about $12 a bottle so it won't break the ol' bank. It's good enough to drink by itself (with some ice, of course) although apparently most people mix it with something else to make fancy mixed drinks with itty bitty umbrellas.

Music Review - Soen - Tellurian

I decided that for 2015 I should get back into the game and write more CD reviews, shooting for one a month and hoping that this would lead to the discovery of some great new music. The first album I reviewed was this one and it didn't cost me a dime 'cause I just listened to the full album on YouTube a few times. My how the times have changed.

The debut album by Soen sounded more like Tool than Tool sounded like Tool on their last few albums. Since Tool’s music doesn’t wind my gears, neither did Soen’s debut album. Their second album, Tellurian, is a different story. Sure, the Tool influence is there but it’s mixed with mid-90s Opeth. I’m a finicky lad so to my ears Opeth’s first few albums were too raw and their albums after Ghost Reveries seemed to be lacking oomph so I’m left with a small handful to enjoy. Imagine my surprise when I found out that the drummer for the Opeth albums that I like (and not the drummer for the albums I didn’t like) is Martin Lopez, also the drummer for Soen. I never would have imagined that a drummer could exert so much influence over the style and sound of a band but perhaps I’m just ignernt.

What does such a Tool/Opeth love-child sound like? At times it’s light and airy and others it gets downright heavy, progressive but never overly complicated (like some King Crimson), often melancholy and atmospheric but not downright dark. And vocalist Joel Eklöf, to his credit, never goes Cookie Monster on us, even though there are times when I feel that a little vocal gravel would have been appropriate. So while at times the music will burst into a frenzy of distortion and tumbling rhythms, the vocalist remains as tranquil and smooth as his cue-ball head. Some songs, like “The Words,” hypnotize you with soothing melodies, only occasionally bringing in the distortion as a kind of background noise, while other songs like the angular “Ennui” kick off with a bang and only let up long enough to make sure the next punch lands in the right spot. None of the songs are going to rip your head off, though there are quite a few times when your pulse should quicken. Rather, the music is almost artful and, dare I say, delicate, but in a masculine kind of way (he says scratching himself in a manly manner). Going back to Opeth, the album is mostly sedate like Damnation, never coming even close to the frenzy found in parts of Blackwater Park, and yet there are times when the songs pulse with the energy that only distorted guitars can provide.

Now about that cover. Look at that, will ya? It’s an anthropomorphic rhino eating little humans. Unsual, yet artfully presented. Tellurian is a bit like that: a little bit artsy, a little bit monstrous, and a little bit human.

Hard Root Beer Review - Sprecher

Next up is Sprecher's Hard Root Beer, an "adult" version of their regular root beer.

The first word that came to my mind upon the first taste is "weird." It's not quite a root beer flavor but it's not quite NOT a root beer flavor. It's definitely not a beer flavor. There's lots of foam when you pour it into a glass but there's no carbonation in the actual drink, which makes for a disconcerting mouthfeel where the flavor makes you believe you should have some tingle but there's no tingle. Unlike Father's this one isn't overly sweet, which is a mark in its favor. But it isn't overly good either. A quick check of the label shows that they pretty much just took malt liquor and added their normal flavoring (with natural and artificial flavors, which can mean just about anything except it's made with 100% roots and berries).

And so another one bites the dust. I won't be purchasing any more Sprecher's Hard Root Beer, although I'm curious now to try their regular root beer to see if it's as bizarre tasting as their hard version, or if it's actually good. I figure it must be or else how would it have lasted this long on the grocery shelves?

Hard Root Beer Review - Blackmaker

There I was, in my local Belmonts Beverage, looking to pick up a bottle of something my wife needed for a recipe: Grand Marnier.

On cell phone: "Hey, this stuff is like thirty bucks for a bottle. How much do you need for the recipe? Two tablespoons? How 'bout we use some triplesec instead?"

On the way out I saw a display of these nice rounded bottles filled with a black liquid. Blackmaker Rootbeer Liqueur, or so it claimed to be. Seventy proof, ten bucks for a 750 ML bottle and its made with real spices. I'm a sucker for trying out new liquids (hence my tendency to pick up cans of unknown origin at Big Lots), plus I didn't want to leave without buying something and have the employees think I was shoplifting, so I took a bottle home. After paying for it, of course.

WHAMMO! While most of the stuff sold as "root beer" is meant for mixing so as to cover up a flavor born in a laboratory, this stuff is the real deal! Ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, sweet birch, anise and wintergreen all combine to make a drink of depth and complexity such that all you need is a little ice and water ('cause it's bloomin' seventy proof!) to enjoy. It has no carbonation 'cause it doesn't need any. It's so good I would drink the stuff sans alcohol.

Blackmaker is the real deal. It's the root beer beverage by which all others will be judged, although unfortunately it is no longer available at Belmonts. From what folklore I can gather, Belmonts picked up a bunch of cases of this stuff as it was being discontinued at the distillery and sold it for ten bucks instead of it's usual $25 or $30. 'Tis a shame but I was able to snag another bottle before it disappeared from this world forever.

Music Review - The Choir - Diamonds and Rain

Choir – Diamonds and Rain – 1986 I picked up on The Choir with Wide-Eyed Wonder so I didn’t get to hear the band as they developed their sound. This meant that by the time I heard Diamonds and Rain I had also heard Chase the Kangaroo and other classics, putting this 1986 album at a disadvantage. It doesn’t help that the album contains two songs that are among the worst that the band has released. Maybe that’s why for decades I felt that the entire album was unlistenable, blaming the cause for this at the feet of producer Charlie Peacock.

I was wrong. Aside from the two songs, and the bass being way too low in the mix, the album has some very fine examples of songcraft. The album opener, “Fear Only You”, is a fantastic and energetic worship song, made before it became obligatory that worship songs be bland, repetitive and mindless*. Another solid praise song is “All That Is You”, especially if you like slinky bass lines, ringing clean guitars, saxamaphone and cool breakdown sections in addition to your honest and reflective lyrics. “Render Love” is a poetic song full of open space and the kind of inventive yet simple bass lines that makes we want to pull my Carvin 5-string out of its case and plug into my amp. This song was also referenced in Chase the Kangaroo, which I always find enjoyable and amusing.

Speaking of the Kangaroo, “Black Cloud” would fit right in there with its edgy guitars, dark, murky sound and potentially fretless bass sliding all over the place (a classic Chandler sound honed from his days of playing slide trombone). And lots of echo and reverb. Whereas in 1986 a Christian song with the title of “Black Cloud” would have an obligatory final verse where the listener is cheerfully reminded that Jesus will take away all of your black clouds this song takes the Psalm 88 approach and gives no such reassurances. Such is life. Also outside of the (1986) norm is “Listen to Her Eyes,” an excellent and mature love song that makes no attempt to force the lyrics into also being about God. By not trying to stretch an analogy the band is able to write a beautiful song of “If your love is more than words / Listen to her eyes / Read her tears like pages / Hold her when she cries.” “Love Falls Down” is the final strong song on the album with creative instrumentation, a catchy melody, and an energetic bridge that quickens the pulse.

Perhaps the reason Diamonds and Rain retained such a low opinion in my brain are the quartet of mediocre or worse songs. “I Painted Mercy” is the best of the lot, followed by “When The Morning Comes”, a song which seems to want to be a big, dramatic closer but just doesn’t come together. From there we come to “Kingston Road”, a Peacock song with an irritatingly cheap sounding synth clarinet and a trite, sing-songly melody that makes one glad it’s 1986 and your CD player has a skip button. But don’t push it too many times or else you’ll land on “Triangle.” It’s a song about addiction that probably should have been recorded by Petra or Degarmo and Key.

Again, I will admit that Diamonds and Rain is immensely better than I previously gave it credit for, containing far more solid songs packed with character and poetic insight than most other Christian bands of that day. Plus the band decided that since they were pushing thirty they should probably drop the “Youth” from their name, a wise move in pre-internet days although now it’s kind of like naming your band “3” and wondering why people can’t find you on their favorite search engine. And yes, I realize that I’m all about ‘dat bass here but hey, I’m a bassman. So allow me to point out that Steve Hindalong plays on the entire album and comes up with some very creative and catchy drum parts and Derri Daugherty continues to come into his own by combining his love of fuzzy shoe-gazer guitar with true melodies and U2 (most Christian guitarists did) to come up with his own sound.

* 99.5% of ‘em, anyway.

Music Review - Steve Taylor & The Perfect Foil - Goliath

It's almost a year since I wrote this review and I'm still jamming to this one. This is one amazing album. At first blush it seems like simple heavy roots rock but there's so much beneath the surface. Which is to say that it's simple enough for the average radio listener and complex enough for the die-hard headphone-wearing audiophile. A pefect ten... maybe an 11.

Way back in 1987 Steve Taylor wrote and directed a video for nearly every song on his I Predict 1990 album. It was obvious that filmmaking was in his blood so it was no surprise in 1993 when he announced that he would no longer be making albums but would instead focus on videos for other bands and making a feature film. That film ended up being Blue Like Jazz and it came out in 2012. That’s a big project. So what to do after completing a massive long-term goal? Why not grab some music veteran pals and make an album? And why not tap into your enthusiastic fan base via Kickstarter and exceed your goal three times over? But first you have to stop by the DMV (Department of Music Veterans) and renew your license to rock (search “Steve Taylor DMV” on YouTube for one of the most clever and humorous videos I’ve seen in a long time.)

Could any album be worth a wait of over two decades? Probably not. Chinese Democracy certainly wasn’t. Fortunately I am relieved and pleased to announce that this new album, Goliath, is crazy good from start to finish, easily one of the best I’ve heard this year. The first few listens, though, left me lukewarm. The songs seemed overly simple and none of Taylor’s usually satirical lyrics caught my ear. But then it happened. The song was “Moonshot”, which starts airy and modest, just vocals and clean guitar, when all of a sudden a big furry bass dive bombs in and turns the entire song into a funky retro swagger (think Spoon). It was then that I started to realize how incredibly well recorded everything was, albeit somewhat dry which only lends to its aggressiveness, and I started to hear all kinds of nuances supporting but never distracting from what I first thought were simple songs. For instance, the guitar which opens “In Layers” is sublimely ratty with the (likely vintage, not modeled) amplifier on the verge of falling apart. This killer song sports its own heavy, dirty groove, helped along by judicious use of horns, redefining the term “blistering.” I was firmly in the grip of the Tom Petty-esque “Double Negative” when I realized who I was dealing with. Guitarist Jimmy Abegg has “played the big rooms” since before I learned how to type and drummer Peter Furler is known in some circles as “OHMYGOSH-ITSPETERFURLER!”, drummer, lead singer, songwriter and founder of Christian music’s Newsboys. And then there’s John Mark Painter. Don’t be fooled because this man is “just” playing the bass. This is the guy behind the orchestrations of early Ben Folds Five albums. Oh yeah, he’s also a multi-instrumentalist (those horns don’t play themselves), composer and studio guru, to name just a few of his accomplishments. How can an album sound simultaneously trashy and crystal clear? Only Mr. Painter knows…

Aside from the three mentioned above, it’s difficult to pick out favorites on this album. The album rips to life with “Only A Ride”, each song hitting hard in their self-described “rock, but in an indie-alternative kind of way”, slipping in shards of humor and often marinating in a funky groove reminiscent of 70s-era Rolling Stones, not letting up until track ten, the contemplative “A Life Preserved”. But look at me, prattling on and on about the music and leaving the crafty lyrics in the cold. Well how about “The saints came marching in this morning / And they marched right out the door / Wholly offended / No pun intended.” This is from “Comedian”, a song which hipsters might say has much in common with The National but to me it sounds like a perfect Steve Taylor closing song, opening quietly with piano, a touch of cello and timpani, and blazing to life halfway through with a wall of distorted guitars and hissing cymbals.

It’s a shame that Goliath came out in November because it’s raucous, raw songs are perfect for blasting from a car with the windows rolled down. Fortunately it’s good enough that I’m certain this high-energy album will still be on my MP3 player in spring.