Reviews
Zola Turn
Cousin Battie
Viduos Rhombus
By Charlie Messing
Who is Cousin Battie? I can’t tell. I don’t know. And I don’t know what Zola Turn means either. It’s sort of a secret club, a club of secrets, I guess.
Very interesting album from one of the must-see bands in Burlington. Kinda pop-influenced hypnotic-metal folk-rock. Jennifer Karson, the main writer and singer, has a very pretty voice that blends nicely with the aggressive guitar sound, solid bass and strong, deft drums. Punky rhythmic hammering in the faster tunes, dreamy strumming in the slower tunes. Really nice harmonies - nothing like the sound of family (Alice, Austin, also on lead guitar, and Julia Austin, also on bass), I always say. This band overflows with team spirit and camaraderie.
Songs about romance, but mostly romance gone sour. Sort of torn between pretty and tough, Jen has real angst. Alice sings two songs, which gives a nice variety, and I really like her quirky delivery, especially on the word “heard” on track 4 “Bulletproof Vest.” Slinky bass from Julia, who seems to be the hub of the rhymes. Alice plays a blend of tough 70s rock and punk guitar. Jen plays the more velvet (underground) style guitar. Rachel Bischoff is a great drummer, and the drum-sound beds to be louder.
I’d call the standout tracks 1,4,5,7,10 and 12.
I like this band: I’ve seen them more than once, and this album is a good representation of what they’re like. I hope they get wilder, and go further in all directions. Give ‘em hell!
Charlie Messing is a singer songwriter with a long, sordid history in the music biz most recently with the bands Johnny Vermont and Be That Way. He was also the editor and co-founder of the Big Fish literary magazine.
Aaron Flinn
Sungod Records
By Simon Plumpton
Aaron Flinn’s solo release Rattle (on the Sungod label) easily rates as a must hear for fans of cerebral pop/folk. Think Waterboys, Ani DiFranco, XTC, anything Bob Mould. The sixteen-plus song album, half recorded solo in Florida in December of 1995 and the other half recorded at Vermont's own Chuck Eller Studio in November 1996, flows effortlessly between the acoustic songs and the electric counterparts. Upon my first listen, several tunes immediately caught my attention, including “Take it Home,” “Painted Horses,” “Welcome to Your Salad Days” and my personal favorite “Suddenly.”
Aaron’s vocal control is quite evident in many tracks with an essence of Bob Mould apparent and even a Beatles homage on track seven. Rattle is a good example of what Mr. Flinn is capable of writing, producing, arranging and playing all of the instruments with confidence and ability. I am left with only a single desire and that is to hear more of this man, perhaps with the members of the live “Salad Days” band.
Simon Plumpton is a transplanted Brit who deftly caresses the skins for the band Chin Ho!
The Elevator Drops
People Mover
Time Bomb
By Andrew Smith
Damn it all do I love this band. Every song on this album makes me exclaim it again: “Damn it all I love this band!” That’s what I say to myself. Over and over. Really.
I love this band for all of the same reasons I love Supergrass and Blur and the Kinks and Deaf School and Splodgnessabounds and all the great complicated pop bands I’ve loved over the years. I love the Elevator Drops the same way I love The Who and XTC and the really weird Donovan stuff (“I Love My Shirt,” “Happiness Runs”) and Julian Cope when he’s in a good mood.
Damn it all do I love this band.
Andrew Smith loves the Elevator Drops album People Mover. Really. He does. If that wasn’t obvious.
Various Artists
Feast of Fools
Magic Hat
By Alex Mayer
As I sit down to write this review, with a piece of pumpkin pie, I can feel the holiday season right around the corner. This compilation of songs recorded live at the Magic Hat Theater brings that corner even closer to us. Some of the songs and the bands on the disc are specifically Christmas songs, while others are simply wintertime songs. There are a variety of styles, from pop/rock to jazz, gospel and soul. The Gordon Stone Trio starts odd with a plucky version of “Carol of the Bells.” In the jazz department, Viperhouse delivers a cool version of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” and Saudade gives us “Jumpin’ (For Joy)” with a latin-jazz feel. Motel Brown does a soulful, but long version of “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting…),” while Tammy Fletcher almost brings tears to my eyes with a beautiful, acapella version of “Silent Night.” Chin Ho! Also gives us a beautiful tune to come home to for holidays called “Home.” However, I didn’t dig the bluegrass version of “Frosty the Snowman” by Construction Joe. Call me Scrooge but I never liked that song anyway. I know that Seth Yacovone is an amazing guitarist, but he didn’ quite capture my interest with his original song “Cold.” A couple of surprises: Burlington’s Taiko’s intriguing “Matsuri Daiko,” and the hidden track by Jon Fishma of Phish. I won’t give away the rest of that secret, but this Jewish kid found it pretty funny. Well, God rest ye merry Magic Hatters - nice job on this Feast of Fools.
Alex Mayer is a seventeen-year-old senior at Middlebury High School and he’s the Alec who hits the pits for us in our new column called “Alex Hits the Pits.”
Gladly
HYDRo FLEx
4 song tape
By Christopher Parizo
I love Chris Farley and David Spade. I think that they are two talented and funny guys and I think the first movie that they made together Tommy Boy was extremely funny and creative. The movie was about a wisecracking prissy (Spade) who is forced to take a numbskull fatboy (Farely) under his wing as they try to save Farely’s family business. Later, the two comedians made another movie called Black Sheep, a story about a wise cracking prissy (Spade) who is forced to take a numbskull fatboy (Farley) under his wing as they try to save Fdarely’s family business. The second movie was an exact mimic of the first, and although funny and hilarious, it was an attempt to re-create the success of the first. Why do I bring this up? Because I feel Gladly is a great example of this phenomenon, a good band made up of talented players, but way too familiar at times. As David Spade would put it (extremely annoying voice). I liked them better the first time I heard them…when they were called Snowplow.
The songs themselves are not bad, I feel a recording with better sound quality would do the band more justice. During the opening song “Turn + Cough,” there is a point where the vocals are completely drowned out by the distortion of the guitar and during the title track “Hydroflex” the catchiest part of the song is the second vocal line sung under the chorus…so far under I didn’t even hear it until I turned up the volume on my stereo. I understand this is a basement recording, but I have heard better quality. Although they sound like a lot of those other regional bands Gladly is one of those groups that I expect to hear a lot about over the next couple of years but only if they separate themselves from the pack. I must admit that I had the melody to “Be Like That” stuck in my head for a while.
Christopher Parizo was abducted by aliens last February and was replaced by a close to perfect clone. Blame this review on the clone.
Guppyboy
Jeffersonville
Sudden Shame Records
By Kevin Murrihy
Guppyboy’s Jeffersonville - my introduction to the band - showcases the band’s flavor of slow-moving Vermont folk. Not that this is a folk CD. Folk may be too vague a description of this release. Jeffersonville incorporates a classic rock flavor, in the tradition of the Animals, with the post-Sonic Youth adventures of Thurston Moore. Get it? Hmm…
If you don’t, listen to the opening track “Washington Square” and maybe you’ll understand. The light vocals and even lighter guitar work - and well, at that. I’d have to say that this track is my favorite; the layering of music on such a slow song is remarkable. Did I hear someone on recorder? Listen closely and you’ll hear Construction Joe’s Nelson Caldwell on cello.
Once I pulled myself away from the repeat button, I discovered the rest of the disc kind of jumping in mood. Happy, sad, sad, happy, sad… repeat. The overall melancholy mood of the disc is to the bands credit, however, some tracks are downright depressing. If you’re thinking about ending it all, steer clear from “The A.M.,” “Ball in the Sky” and “Urb’s Lament.” Not that sad songs are bad: in fact, the lonely “Twisted,” eight songs in, is one of my favorites songs on the whole album.
The more lively tunes balance this disc. The bluegrass “Trouble,” with boot pounding banjo-picking contributed by David Kamm, is fun and by far the liveliest number on Jeffersonville. Other notably ‘up’ songs include “Avalon Ballroom,” “Wendy” and the - I have to say it, somewhat annoying “Holiday.”
A great disc for a rainy day, Jeffersonville is highly recommended. I wish there were more liner-notes so I could tell you more about the disc, but there aren’t, so I can’t.
Kevin Murrihy is a student at St.Michael's College and the host of “Burlington and Beyond,” a weekly three hour local music show on WWPV (88.7 fm) every Friday night from 9 to 12.
Chin Ho!
Low Flying Planes
Good Citizen
By Andrew Smith
I approached reviewing this CD with some trepidation since I know the singer is kind of an egomaniac. I thought if I din’t give his disc a good review he’d make a lot of trouble for me and then my band would never get any good gigs because he is the almighty God that he is and I am nothing, less than a peon, barely a groveling sack of useless flesh. And plus since I know that he’s the editor of this magazine I figured that he’d boycott me or something and never let me write for his esteemed publication ever again. Or maybe something even worse than that.
Luckily, I loved Low Flying Planes. Every member of the band is brilliant, and I especially like the singer, Andrew Smith. But then, what would I know?
Andrew Smith is the editor of this magazine and the singer for the band Chin Ho! Read this slowly: (and say it aloud if you have to): t h i s i s a j o k e.
Kristin Hersh
Strange Angels
Ryko Disc
By CP Warren
An acoustic album is a tough thing to pull off. Often, musical simplicity can slip into the mundane. I hoped that Kristin Hersh, a seasoned veteran of the music biz, would rise above the blandness of stripped down instruments and introspective lyrics. And, in a way, she does. Hersh does get suckered into soft vocals at the expense of instrument sound but lacks the pitiful, starving, doe-eyed habits of singer songstresses like Fiona Apple and Alanis Morrissette.
Strange Angels sounds like it was recorded with a sleeping child in the studio: everybody’s trying really hard not to wake up the kid. Percussion is sparse and electricity a luxury. Hersh hardly shows even a peek at the tooth-rattling wail she displayed with Throwing Muses.Well, I thought, she’s had three kids. Things change.
“Some Catch Flies'' displays Hersh’s taste for obscure and clever rhymes: “And when he drools, it’s like he’s spitting jewels.” This tune’s crescendos, mood changes, and sharp silences make it one of the best on the album. “Aching For You”’s string section sounds beautiful but gets muddled under tinny acoustic guitar. More faith should’ve been put into Hersh’s vocals, the guitar removed, and drums interested. On “heaven,” Hersh finally starts to rock out. But her efforts are squashed by the key of her vocals. The song is simply sung too high to showcase her talents. Next up is “Gaseco Tree,” a sweet song involving a feeling of anticipation. Hersh’s guitar is well-suited here as is her oft-misplaced vocal cracking ala the Cranberries, Her voice is at once whispering and ten bellowing “I’m better off inside, strip and you lose your hide.” If only drums had accompanied this track, Hersh would’ve had a winner.
What comes through in this album is Hersh’s unmistakable voice: instantly recognizable and alluring. However, while her former bandmate, Tanya Donelly has experimented and ripped big sounds with Belly, Hersh seems to have been left out in the rain. Strange Angels is not a risky album, nor does it flirt with anything unfamiliar. The album sounds like one long ponderous song: ideal for dark Sunday afternoons, but not much else. Since her days with the Muses, Hersh has gone in a completely different direction. Where she’s going, I’m not really sure. But, I hope she has the sense to pick up a good drummer on the way.
CP Warren is a dark horse candidate for Miss Vermont 1999.
Kate Barclay
The Maternity Sessions
By Patricia Braine
Kate Barclay’s The Maternity Sessions is a cassette featuring four rich, sensual tunes worthy of your listening time and the space in your tape collection. Whether or not you’ve experienced pregnancy and child-birth.
The poetic images in this lyrical and musical experience illustrate the human condition and the feelings of an everyday heart. The sound of Barclay’s 12-string guitar hold up well as a true compliment to her powerful, bird-like voice floating freely between the lilting high, flying soprano notes and the growling, rolling, sexy, alto bell tones. Deep philosophical concepts burst through her simple phrases and direct lyrics in “All I Want,” “Drink Me,” “Can Do,” and “It’s.”
Remarkably accessible, The Maternity Sessions is also a perfect example of all the original, talent birthed and grown in our very own green hills of Vermont.
Barclay is another example of an immensely talented Vermonter who knows how to produce 180%. This Vermonter just happens to be a brave, relatively young mother of two, healthy children; as well as a satisfied wife whose husband strongly supports her as a hard working song writer.
Barclay is well-traveled; well-educated; a queen of her vocals; and the owner of her own independent record label Solstice.
Additionally, she’s a finely tuned guitarist adept with combining soulful, folk-like, female blues styles with wide appeal. She’s clearly defining her unique and special self; while revealing the rewards of years invested in self-taught strumming, plucking and strokes.
Live, or on tape, Barclay’s sound is fresh, real and delicately crisp while filled with musical power and strength.
The Maternity Sessions tells me Kate Barclay is a woman smart enough to keep certain stuff ‘n things in balance, while being honest about it when she’s not.
I like that.
Patricia Braine has written many articles for Good Citizen over the years, and her feature article about bassist Stacy Starkweather also appears in this issue.
Southern Culture on the Skids
Plastic Seat Sweat
DCG
By Charlie Messing
Andrew tells me I should hear their other albums. This is the first I’ve ever heard of their stuff. I should say that even the Cramps, one of my favorite bands, have made albums that impressed me the same way this one does. Which is - Not.
I’m a real fan of the classic 50’s-60’s rock-and-roll that this band is based on. Not so much rockabilly, it's more like the primitive dance numbers such as “Short Shorts” by the Royal Teens or “Peanut Butter” by the Olympics. Usually it was a one-hit genre, which is to say these kinds of artists rarely had more than one great hit. It was sort of a bluesy, country take on boogie-woogie, based on the way pianos used to rock, though this band here is just a guitar trio, which I think is the main problem - this music is not so well-suited to trios.
Here, without virtuosity, you get minimal ideas but lots of energy and enthusiasm. But there’s only so much you can do with a sparky drummer and a basic bass and half-decent (if glib) 50’s-style guitar. No real singers either. It’s all party-time stuff, and probably a lot better live, because a show is like a party and making a professional album like this is not.
It’s sort of extrovert rock. I felt like I got the whole thing in the first 10 or 20 seconds of each song. SOrta went under my head. But if you dig it, fine. My favorite was the last song, a traditional tune called “Carve that Possum.” Tasty.
Charlie Messing knows all about those cash registers at Price Chopper. They’re keeping track of his purchases for evidence that can be used against him later on. They’ll need it.
Muscadine
The Ballad of Hope Nicholls
Sire Records
By Lee B. Dow
Hey, Hope Nicholls was the lead singer of Charlotte, North Carolina’s Fetchin’ Bones. They almost made it big back in the 80’s sometime and I think they did a record about monster trucks or something.
Anyway, before Fetchin’ Bones, Hope Nicholls lived in Burlington and if my memory serves me correctly (or at all) I think that she was the lead singer for local band Roman Shades. I think she left town and they replaced her or something, and then she went on and almost became famous. I saw her on 120 Minutes once back when Dave Kendall was the host and everybody used to pick on his fake (or really bad) accent. Anyway, that was a long time ago.
Muscadine play a dreary, cloud-covered guitar pop that reminded me of Madelines except that you can hear the vocals. And the vocals aren’t by Hope Nicholls. She’s not in the band, they kist named the album after her.
Lee B. Dow is a guy who writes reviews sometimes for Good Citizen
Non Compos Mentis
Smile When You Hate
Wonderdrug Records
By Chris Parizo
Uhm…okay.
Non Compos Mentis scares the shit out of me. The four “rock and roll ninjas” (as my roommate refers to them) make their debut with Smile When You Hate (Wonderdrug Records 1997), a loud nauseating record that will make your dog run out of the room leaving a trail of urine behind and make your grandmother hallucinate visions of the devil raging in her refrigerator…and this is a good thing.
The record is loud, extremely loud. Technically, the sound is an explosion of strumph. “Chester’s” guitar sound is one of the best that I have heard from any local band, thanks to producer Glen Robinson. Bassist “Horace” and drummer “Willis” are as tight as two heterosexual straight men can be. Maybe they aren’t heterosexual…they might be gay and that would be okay… but they are tight and that is my point… and vocalist “Butch” kind of screams a lot…but that is okay too!!! I think that one of the most impressive aspects of this album is the way the vocal tracks overlap each other, creating a never ending vocal loop.
If you were to take three full grown rottweilers and put them inside a blender, sit it to puree and turn it on, you get the same sound that the record. Some others are “Beauty Queen”, “Stalker” and “Last Words.”
Orp!!! Glarbohumph!!! Chaka Kahn!!! Trologorg!!! Ttelwih ffej. Arrrrrjklow!!! (oops, sorry.)
To sum up, Smile When You Hate is a good album. For those of you who don't have an ear for hardcore might want to step back from this album and check out the new Elton John. I have to admit that I kind of hoped that the vocals would do something else besides scream and tell, but what are ya gonna do. However, if you are jonesing for something heavy, this is your ticket. Buy it and play it loud…piss off your parents.
Chris Parizo is a big goon. But you didn’t hear that from us
Various Artists
Big Heavy World’s Pop Pie
Big Heavy World
By Charlie Messing
1.Stupid Club “Candy Music” 2. James Kolchalka Superstar “President Kochalka” 3. Zola Turn “Racecar Driver” 4. Gladly “Hydroflex” 5. Lindy pear “The Tradeoff in Vermont” 6. D.Jarvis Band “Decide” 7. Chin Ho “The Last Time” 8. The Happiest Guys in the World “The World is Big” 9. Cranial perch “Green Apple Girl” 10, Philistines Jr. “Analog Vs. Digital” 11. Aaron Flinn’s Salad Days “Where I’m At” 12. nrrd. “Rule the World” 13. The Zambonis “Bob Marley and the Hartford Whalers” 14. Chad “Jerry's Gne” 15. Joshe Henry “Elephant”
What is Pop? Well it’s short for popular, just like fan is short for fanatic. It sort of indicates that you can hum the tune, for instance, in which case not all of this sparky collection fits the word. But pop can also mean easily accessible and, as the backcover states, “joyfully absurd,” and in those senses it all does fit. This disk is a good sampler of about half the types of music you can hear around this town. And, for some reason, three tracks from a Connecticut band? I could name bands not included which I think belong here, but of course I didn’t put it together, did I? Dam right. And the guy who did, Jim Lockridge, deserves a lot of credit for putting all this on disk. Attaboy
It starts with Stupid Club, and the song is perfect. Great pop, about pop.
James Kolchalka Superstar, with his determinedly squarky vocals, sings “I’m the president of I” and moves on to rave about loving his wife. Hood. (Yes, James, I invented a word, just for you. Had to.) Zola Turn does one of their faster numbers, with nice harmonies and a good groove. Gladly has some nice distorted discordant guitar. Lindy Pear, sounding really pro, lots of energy, sings a song about living in VT.
Dave Jarvis reminds me of the vocal-dense and jazzy sound of the Association, from the 60’s. Nice last note! Chin Ho! - best vocal on the whole disk - lots of personality. Neatly recorded, this track. My favorite vocals are track 1,7, 11.
The Happiest Guys in the World - “The world is big, but so are we.” Kinda repetitive mid-tempo groove, with a funny ending. Cranial perch - “Green apple girl in a jelly-bean world” with endearingly crashy drums. Philistines Jr. - really funny song, about writing and recording a song. Aaron Flinn’s Salad Days - first truly pretty tune on fisk. Acoustic-based, good singer. Sorta Messianic gospel folk. nrrd. - a but sludgy. They sure got strange stage-named for this type of folk-rock Zambonis - the hockey band. Ska groove into ballad groove. They’re definitely into sports. Chad - souped-up country about the plight of dead heads. “Jerry’s gone, now watcha gonna do.” Really nice shops. Joshe Henry - nice noisy intro, funny words, but he purposely makes his singing annoying, I think. It is funny, but still annoying.
There you go - a whole lot of pie. I would vote for tracks 1,2,3,5,7,10,11, and 15..Yes, I know 15 is the guy I said was annoying. I’m funny that way.
Charlie Messing is the same guy who wrote the reviews for Zola Turn and Southern Culture on the Skids. Didn’t you recognize his name by now?