Medleyville

The Black Hollies/The Insomniacs
Maxwell's -- Hoboken, N.J.
Feb. 17, 2008

The Black Hollies' new album contains ditties about changing seasons, flowers and candles, stately, sprawling chateaus, and even odes to ballerinas and (gasp) perishable fruits.

Onstage, they're not afraid to boast the blazer-and-turtleneck look and, on a given night, multiple ascots. And while quite possibly an homage, their name cops that of a revered '60s hitmaking group.

It sure sounds like enough ammunition for a cynic to dismiss the band as yet another cliche and unoriginal retro-styled outfit without hearing a note. But beware -- once the group plugs in, the self-described "freakbeat" quartet proves its chops and tunes are as carefully crafted as their image.

Celebrating the release of their second indie LP, Casting Shadows, before a robust holiday-weekend crowd at a show scarcely a mile from their home base of Jersey City, the local heroes made a strong case not only for their new disc, but for themselves as a burgeoning band to watch. From the instantly seductive riffs and backbeat of the opening "Paisley Pattern Ground," The Black Hollies exuded a cool confidence befitting a more established act for the length of their impressive 50-minute set of psychedelia-tinged rock.

Who could blame them? Minus the sitar, organ and tambourine that are sprinkled throughout Casting Shadows, the band had more than enough firepower in the stripped-down setting. Frontman and songwriter Justin Angelo Morey's ethereal vocals floated atop the melodic underpinnings of his bass guitar and the understated interplay of guitarists Jon Gonnelli and Herbert Joseph Wiley V. Meanwhile, the hyperkinetic Nick Ferrante's dexterous drumming pushed the songs into new dimensions and tempos.

By set's end, they proved just as adept at airy, dreamy soundtracks to Morey's vivid imagery ("The Autumn Chateau," "Whispers Beneath the Willows") as they were on straight-ahead, garage-flavored nuggets like "If You Won't Let Go" -- which sounded like a lost Zombies composition -- and the bluesy rave-up "No Need to be Rude."

Equally '60s-centric veterans The Insomniacs preceded The Black Hollies with a well-received offering of their more straight-ahead, guitar-oriented British Invasion stylings. The New Jersey trio worked up quite a sweat while churning out energetic cuts "Maryanne Lightly" and "Anywhere in the World," as well as a new tune or two. Regrettably, just as they had charged into another gear with the infectious "Switched On," their set was over, clocking in at less than 40 minutes.

Still, that was more than enough time to show, just as the headliners did, that what's old is not necessarily new again, but sometimes it can be pretty damn good.

-- By George Henn

Posted by Medleyville at 08:54 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Checking in with Jennifer O'Connor

Last spring, Jennifer O'Connor hinted that the songs she planned to write around that time would reflect her current romantic bliss.

O'Connor did end up composing some love songs, "but there are a lot of different themes, I think, in the new stuff," the New York singer/songwriter/guitarist says.

It's a little too early in the game, she says, for her to try and describe the songs in detail.

"I'm still kind of learning about them … they are an eclectic bunch, I can say that," O'Connor adds.

One thing’s for certain: O'Connor will record most of her new album, the follow-up to 2006's Over the Mountain, Across the Valley and Back to the Stars, live in the studio.

"I think this record will have more of a band quality to it," she says. "I have a regular group of people now who I play with, and I am very excited to make this record with them."

Her plan is to record the album in March and release it this summer through Matador Records. She expects her Web site to relaunch around the time of the album's release.

-- By Chris M. Junior

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Dawn Landes turns misfortune into music

When her laptop computer and hard drive containing songs meant for her second album were stolen, Dawn Landes took a page from Ernest Hemingway's career and started over from scratch.

"I had read somewhere that Hemingway's first batch of stories was stolen from him at a train station," the singer and multi-instrumentalist says. "All sole copies, typewritten -- he never tried to re-create them."

The result of Landes going back to the drawing board is Fireproof, which will be released in the United States on March 4 via Cooking Vinyl Records. The Kentucky transplant recorded the folk-pop album in multiple locations, including an old fire station in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y.

It was while living in Brooklyn's Bushwick neighborhood circa 2004 that Landes' apartment was burglarized, resulting in the loss of her intended second album. That experience inspired Fireproof's opener, "Bodyguard," which she wrote about the theft while waiting for the police to arrive.

The song "Private Little Hell" was inspired by car troubles Landes encountered while on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

"My transmission blew up one rainy night, in the middle of nowhere, it seemed," she recalls. "I spent two days in a motel trying to decide what to do with the car, then just left it there, with all my stuff in the back. I wrote 'Private Little Hell' in the motel room."

To achieve the crackling, vinyl record-type noise that begins "Picture Show," Landes used what she calls her "favorite instrument in the world." That would be the Optigan, a keyboard instrument introduced in the early 1970s by a division of Mattel.

"It got a bad rep back in the day because it was unreliable, but that's the beauty of it -- unpredictable and fun," she says.

Landes, who is touring with Will Hoge, expects to be busy once she's off the road at the recording studio she started with two friends in Brooklyn.

"I'm really excited to get in there and start working on all kinds of projects," she says. "There's so much to be done and so many talented people out there who need to be making records."

-- By Chris M. Junior

Dawn Landes on tour (schedule subject to change):

* Feb. 11: Southgate House -- Cincinnati

* Feb. 12: The Basement -- Columbus, Ohio

* Feb. 14: Magic Stick -- Detroit

* Feb. 15: Beachland Ballroom -- Cleveland

* Feb. 16: Tralf Music Hall -- Buffalo, N.Y.

* Feb. 17: World Cafe Live -- Philadelphia

* Feb. 19: Toad's Place -- New Haven, Conn.

* Feb. 20: Paradise -- Boston

* Feb. 21: Bowery Ballroom -- New York

* Feb. 22: Nightclub 9:30 -- Washington, D.C.

* Feb. 23: Satellite Ballroom -- Charlottesville, N.C.

* Feb. 24: Soapbox -- Wilmington, N.C.

* Feb. 26: Headliners -- Columbia, S.C.

* Feb. 27: GA Theatre -- Athens, Ga.

* Feb. 28: Bluecats -- Knoxville, Tenn.

* Feb. 29: Headliners Music Hall -- Louisville, Ky.

* March 1: Cannery Ballroom -- Nashville, Tenn.

Posted by Medleyville at 06:45 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Misery continues to be the band's specialty

Nada Surf's fifth album kicks off with "See These Bones," a mini-epic that finds singer/guitarist Matthew Caws resigned to mortality ("You'll be dust") as morose verses build to a sweeping chorus (not to mention a killer pun: "Look alive! See these bones").

The track serves a quick reminder that few acts mine misery better than the New York trio, and an instant indicator of where the band is headed for the duration of Lucky (Barsuk Records), perhaps the moodiest and broodiest release yet by Caws, bassist Daniel Lorca and drummer Ira Elliot.

As for whether it also rates among the band's best, that depends on the listener's threshold for doom and gloom.

There is bleak sentiment everywhere, even where one might least expect it. On the propulsive "Beautiful Beat," Caws' angelic refrain can't mask the disquietude seeping from gut-wrenching lines such as "Sometimes all I want is another drink or another pill." Over the enchanting, laid-back tempo of "Are You Lightning?", Caws is at his most wounded as he asks, "The sweet things, when do they come?" It's a question that need not be posed as his slightly hushed voice and exasperated tone make it clear he fears the answer is not anytime soon.

While lyrically catatonic, Nada Surf does seem to take great pains to vary its musical approach, and the biggest departure for them on this disc is "The Fox," a nearly six-minute complexity that calls to mind Peter Gabriel's prog-rock flirtations. This is a song not centered on longing or loathing, but the just as unsettling topic of government deception. "We're in a different war with ourselves," Caws sings. "So many things that can't be true."

Elsewhere, "Ice on the Wing" is a taut rocker with stream-of-consciousness lyrics that don't add up to much, unless you're aware the song is inspired by Caws' fighter-pilot grandfather. And Caws' guitar is in full Big Star-esque chime for "Whose Authority," which, while vaguely defiant, sounds oh-so uplifting in the context of this disc.

Such moments are few on Lucky. For all of Nada Surf's precision and adventurousness, this is music geared toward those who like to get down by getting down.

-- By George Henn

Posted by Medleyville at 02:59 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)