CD Review: The Disciplines - Virgins Of Menace

Note: This review originally appeared in the Illinois Entertainer.

Virgins Of Menace blows away any doubts left over from this international outfit’s promising but uneven 2008 debut, Smoking Kills. Comprised of lead vocalist-guitarist Ken Stringfellow of The Posies and members of the Norwegian band Briskeby, The Disciplines have forged their own identity behind a dozen hard-hitting tracks. It’s a bitter and angry effort that often achieves the intensity of vintage punk rock.

As Stringfellow slaps the listener around with a mix of sarcasm, putdowns and politically-charged imagery, guitarist Bjorn Bergene, bassist Baard Helgeland, and drummer Ralla crank out the high speed arrangements. “You only destroy what you hold in your hand,” Stringfellow warns on the garage rock of “The War’s Not Over!!!” and on the catchy “Take Off That Halo,” he asks, “You think they’re gonna solve it? What if they don’t want to?” “Complicated Times” evokes vintage Buzzcocks, while “Everything Forever (Pig Wars) has more of a hard rock stomp. Even the more nuanced “Emily” finds a lover weighing the pros and cons of a relationship, and wondering, “Is the glass even half drinkable?”

CD Review: The Posies - Blood/Candy

Note: This review originally appeared in the Illinois Entertainer.

Power pop fans have been anticipating a new CD from The Posies since the band began actively touring again last year, and Blood/Candy isn’t likely to disappoint them. Founding members Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow are at the top of their game here, and they’ve also expanded their repertoire. It’s a safe assumption that Auer and Stringfellow didn’t approach this project with any preconceived notions of what a Posies CD should sound like.

There are songs on Blood Candy, like “So Caroline,” and “Notion 99,” that fit the classic Posies mold, and they even hark back to their Dear 23 days with the Hollies-influenced “Cleopatra Street.” But “Licenses To Hide” and “For The Ashes” sport more adventurous arrangements, and the orchestrated “Accidental Architecture” could have sprung from a Broadway musical. The Posies also toss in the acoustic “Holiday Hours” and the gorgeous but oddly named “Enewetak,” which evokes Pet Sounds era Beach Boys.

Short But Sweet - Candy Frosting From The Posies In Chicago

Photo by Christine Taylor from The Posies’ website.

The only disappointing aspect of The Posies’ live performance at The Bottom Lounge in Chicago last Saturday night was that the band was only onstage for about 40 minutes. Sandwiched between sets by opening act Aqueduct and headliner Brendan Benson, The Posies concentrated on songs from the recently released Blood/Candy, along with a few classic cuts from Frosting On The Beater.

Founding members vocalist-guitarist Jon Auer and vocalist-guitarist Ken Stringfellow proved once again on Blood Candy that they’re an impressive songwriting team, and along with their fellow band members, were able to recreate the adventurous power pop arrangements from that CD in a live setting. After the oddly named but highly melodic “Enewetak” ended with some gorgeous Beach Boys style harmonies from Auer, Stringfellow, and bassist Matt Harris, Auer thoughtfully rubbed his chin as if amazed that they had actually been able to pull that off. While introducing one of the new tunes, Stringfellow described Blood/Candy as the best album The Posies have ever recorded.

For the fun “Licenses To Hide,” the band brought out local singer Lauren Kurtz (who had fans in attendance) to help on harmony vocals. “Cleopatra Street” showcased the band in a lighter, Hollies-like vein, but most of the other new tunes, like “So Caroline,” “She Coming Down Again!” and “Notion 99” were delivered with a flurry of energy. The Posies tapped into Frosting On The Beater, which they had performed in its entirety at the 2009 Randolph Street Fest, for the hard-hitting tracks “Solar Sister” and “Flavor Of The Month.” They closed with the single from that CD, “Dream All Day.” There was no encore, possibly because Auer and Stringfellow would be coming back within a half hour to perform as part of Brendan Benson’s band.

Single Paragraph Potpourri

Here’s a new feature that will serve as sort of step-sibling to That Was A Long Time Ago, Dearie, with randomly chosen paragraphs from reviews I’ve done in the near or distant past. All of this copy originally appeared in the Illinois Entertainer.

The Pretenders - Last Of The Independents

When the infectious energy of “Night In My Veins” first hit the airwaves, it marked the return of one most unique voices in modern rock. As lead singer of The Pretenders, Chrissie Hynde has always possessed the ability to alternate between punk aggression and motherly concern. She juggles both expertly again on Last Of The Independents, the band’s first release in four years.

The Godfathers - More Songs About Love & Hate

The band’s third U.S. album continues to pump out the venom, though like Birth, School, Work, Death, there are plenty of melodies to go around as well. The Godfathers have realized they can’t build a career on slogans alone, and have developed into accomplished songwriters. “Those Days Are Over,” “This Is Your Life,” and “I’m Lost And Then I’m Found” are prime examples of The Godfathers’ ability to provide muscular music for their messages.

The Posies - Frosting On The Beater

The second full-length album from The Posies finds the Seattle band forsaking its amazing ability to mimic The Beatles and The Hollies in order to establish a stronger identity of its own. Credit singers and guitarists Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow with having the courage to move on. “Dream All Day,” the first track on Frosting On The Beater, establishes the new direction by adding a harder edge to the band’s usual melodic approach.

The Chills - Submarine Bells

It’s not every band that records songs with titles like, “Effloresce And Deliquesce” or “Part Past Part Fiction,” but lead vocalist Martin Phillipps keeps things from getting too eggheaded by supporting his intellectual lyrics with hummable melodies. Like Squeeze and XTC, The Chills are masters of clever wordplay.

Music From The Other Austin

As the dust settles in Austin, Texas after another successful South By Southwest, word comes of the resurgence of another Austin. Writer Rob Manker notes in his smalltalk column in today’s Chicago Tribune that actor Mike Myers has started filming another Austin Powers movie.

I wish I could say I was excited, but as much as I enjoyed the first installment of this series, the two sequels seemed to steadily go downhill. Maybe I just never forgave Myers for the crass way he disposed of the Vanessa Kensington character. But I’ve often suspected that I’m on the wrong planet for humor. I prefer small, unexpected surprises to massive gross outs. Austin Powers cheerfully downing a mug of what he calls “nutty” coffee that’s really diarrhea: Not Funny. Dr. Evil taking a break in the climatic chase scene to feed his cat and sing the Meow Mix song: Funny.

A new Austin Powers movie most likely means a new soundtrack CD and that can be good news. The soundtrack for The Spy Who Shagged Me - More Music From The Motion Picture gave us the reformation of The Bangles via “Get The Girl” (the film’s director, Jay Roach is married to Susanna Hoffs) as well as 1960s classics like The Zombies’ “Time Of The Season,” Steppenwolf’s “Magic Carpet Ride,” and The Monkees’ “I’m A Believer.” Toss in more modern artists like Lords Of Acid, Madonna, and They Might Be Giants; soulful crooner Marvin Gaye; and funk master George Clinton, and you’ve got an eclectic celebration of music. An earlier The Spy Who Shagged Me soundtrack gave us The Who, R.E.M., Lenny Kravitz, Green Day, The Flaming Lips, and a duet between Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello.

The first Austin Powers soundtrack, like the first movie, was superior to its successors. Beginning with English eccentric Edwyn Collins’s spritely “The Magic Piper (Of Love),” it offered a 17-song buffet that included the original psychedelia of The Strawberry Alarm Clock’s “Incense and Peppermints,” the neo-1960s sound of “Call Me” by The Mike Flowers Pops, a bouncy instrumental track called “Soul Bossa Nova” by Quincy Jones and His Orchestra, and the trip hop music of Space on “Female Of The Species.”

“I Touch Myself” by The Divinyls echoed Austin’s rampant horniness, The Wondermints performed their original tune, “Austin Powers,” and Sergio Mendes and Brazil ‘66 gave us the irresistible Latin rhythms of “Mas Que Nada.” The cover versions were equally fascinating. The Lightning Seeds made “You Showed Me” even more sensual than the original by The Turtles, Susanna Hoffs seduced us with her remake of Dusty Springfield’s “The Look Of Love,” and The Posies backed Burt Bacharach on a new version of Jackie DeShannon’s “What The World Needs Now Is Love.”

The first Austin Powers soundtrack also gave us Ming Tea, a band created specifically for the film, that consisted of lead vocalist/Austin Powers Mike Myers, backed by Hoffs, Matthew Sweet, Stuart Johnson, and Christopher Ward. (The band currently has its own fan page on Facebook.) Ming Tea’s song, “BBC” was a blast, and it was fun seeing the musicians popping up at various times in the flick.

Hopefully, Mike Myers will be able to recapture the goofy yet knowing spy spoof fun of the original Austin Powers, and give us a soundtrack that’s an adventure in itself.

Under The Influence

On previous posts, I’ve addressed the issue of whether the soon-to-be-inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Hollies were more than just a hit singles band by describing some of the better tracks on their albums. Another reason The Hollies are worthy of this honor is the amount of influence they’ve had on artists who have followed after them. To this day, it’s common for rock critics to compare the effervescent melodies or three-part harmonies of a new act to those of The Hollies. In 1995, several current artists came together to honor The Hollies on the compilation Sing Hollies In Reverse. Here are just a few of the highlights from that CD.

When The Posies first came out of Seattle in the 1987, several critics noted that they sounded like the Hollies. One even declared, “The Posies don’t just sound like The Hollies, they are The Hollies.” Amazingly, Posies founders Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow weren’t even familiar with the British Invasion band at the time they recorded their first album. Luckily, that didn’t keep them from participating on Sing Hollies In Reverse. Their rendition of “King Midas In Reverse” was pretty faithful to the original arrangement, but with a bigger sound and lots more guitar feedback. Which is basically my definition of power pop; a more muscular version of 1960s sensibilities. Back to 2010 for a moment; The Posies will release Every Kind Of Light, their first CD in 10 years, this Spring.

Tommy Keene has been a critically acclaimed power pop artist for several years, and like The Posies, he took a heavier though otherwise faithful approach on his rendition of one of The Hollies’ hit singles. Among other innovations, he replaced the steel drum part of “Carrie Anne” with a guitar solo.

The Loud Family, the band vocalist-guitarist Scott Miller formed after Game Theory, combined guitars and synthesizers on their psychedelic version of “Look Through Any Window.” The song starts out slowly and about midway through, shifts to a much faster tempo. Miller once described his own voice as a miserable whine, but devoted fans of Game Theory and The Loud Family know better.

Mitch Easter is well known as a producer, but he also fronted a highly enjoyable band called Let’s Active in the early 1980s. I saw them open for R.E.M. at the Park West in Chicago, and was immediately hooked. The amazing thing about Easter’s high energy vision of “Pay You Back With Interest” is that he played all the instruments himself.