Kicks just keep getting harder to find

If I went through my collection and figured how many artists I was introduced to by Jack Rabid's reviews in his brilliant 'zine The Big Takeover, I have no doubt it would be a number in the triple figures. There's so much punk, post-punk, shoegazer and other sounds that the eloquent and tasteful scribe has turned me onto over the years.

Of course, I don't agree with him on everything. And there's one artist in particular who I have now thrown in the towel on (i.e., not going to spend more than a few bucks on). That artist? Paul Revere and the Raiders.

I can think of no greater champion for these Pacific Northwestern rockers than Mr. Rabid (though I'm thinking that someone else, like Gary Pig Gold, has probably waxed eloquent about these guys). I think Jack has them almost up with the upper echelon of '60s rock -- what I like to call the second tier.

The first tier has mostly obvious selections -- The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks, The Sonics, The Beach Boys, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Bee Gees, Sly and the Family Stone, The Byrds (and I'm sure I'm forgetting a few).

The second tier is pretty amazing too. Or should I say my second tier. It would include The Hollies, The Move, The Easybeats, The Equals, The Yardbirds (who many would kick up to the first), The Small Faces, The Pretty Things, The Zombies, and others.

I wouldn't put Paul Revere and the Raiders in the second tier. Now I'm not saying that they suck. Far from it. They had a some great singles and a lot of good ones. But, for the most part, based on the albums I own by them, that's about it.

And what do I own by Paul Revere and the Raiders? The Spirit of '67, Something Happening, Goin' To Memphis, Alias Pink Puzz and Just Like Us!. I picked up Just Like Us! today and wish I hadn't paid $9 for it. While the album includes the awesome "Just Like Me", which is still great garage rock snarl, the LP is undermined by Terry Melcher's timid production.

The bulk of the record is covers of contemporary favorites such as "(I Can't Get No) Satifaction" and "I'll Be Doggone". With a great vocalist like Mark Lindsay and a hot band, things should be cooking, right? Wrong. The studio was a straitjacket for this talented band, and the playing is tepid. And I think this problem comes through on the other studio sets that I own. While the band's own songwriting improved, the band rarely played to its strengths.

Of all of the studio albums I own, I suppose Goin' Back to Memphis is my favorite, as the mix of R & B covers and originals blends better than on the other albums. Still, it's spotty.

Now, I'm not saying these discs are worthless. They all have cuts I enjoy. But not enough to put these guys up there amongst the best the '60s had to offer.

Yet, I do think that Paul Revere and the Raiders were a great rock 'n' roll band. And that was before they became national stars.

This is reflected on the other disc I own by the band, Mojo Workout. This is a two-CD compilation on Sundazed that captures the band before it was polished into a hit machine. Before that happened, Paul Revere and the Raiders were a frat house party band, playing full throttle rock 'n' roll, fitting somewhere between the grooving Wailers and the psycho Sonics.

The first disc of the set was recorded in 1964. It's the Raiders doing a live set. Columbia Records didn't know what to do with the band, so the label decided to capture the guys doing what they did best. The only bad thing about this disc is that this performance wasn't filmed to show the boys in their costumes going wild. The band takes on everything from "Louie Louie" (they had a regional hit with it before The Kingsmen) to "Don't Be Cruel" to "Do You Love Me" and more. This disc simply smokes.

The second disc isn't quite up to that level. It mixes in early singles, outtakes and more live recordings. And the band is still fairly untamed. This collection shows what this band could do.

So don't take this as a hit piece on Paul Revere and the Raiders. I'm just trying to put them in (my) perspective.

Zoos Of Berlin -- Zoos Of Berlin

Zoos Of Berlin -- Zoos Of Berlin (self-released)

This three song teaser from this Detroit quintet shows that the Zoos not only share a band member with Pas/Cal, they share a sensibility. This is fey pop with a flourish.

Indeed, the classically inspired keyboard part that ornaments “Below the Old House” sounds like it could have been used on a Yes record. Instead, it serves as an instrumental hook on an unfolding song that uses dynamics well and has a real sense of drama.

Another weighty keyboard line from Will Yates gets “Speak Well of Manderlay”, with the band building up to a crescendo, with hard beating drums and vigorously strummed guitars contrasting with the floating melody. Where Pas/Cal evinces a strong Kinks vibe, the Zoos sound to me like a band that is a bit more in step with some of the ‘70s art-poppers like 10CC, Sparks and Genesis. I suppose part of it is the grandeur that suffuses all three of these tunes. Which is not to be mistaken for pomp or prog, heaven forbid.

The last track, “On Large Amusement”, is haunting and atmospheric, showing off a totally different side of the band. The downcast guitars still have that grandeur I mentioned earlier. Although this is a pithy number is has a real emotional weight to it, just by the sweep of the guitar and piano chords.

From a musical standpoint, this rates highly. I can only see the band sharpening its approach, and the songwriting is ambitious but accessible. Where I'd like to see the band pick it up a bit is in the lyric department. The lyrics don't quite connect at times, either coming off as too obscure or lacking in the memorable phrase department. To put it another way, the words are okay, but the music is very good, so I'd like to see the words move up to equal the tuneage. Because that would be quite something.

Katjonband -- Katjonband

Katjonband -- Katjonband (Carrot Top)

Jon Langford is a Chicago treasure. Ever since he relocated The Mekons here, he’s reliably cranked out song after song of politically aware folk-rock, which then gets transformed into whatever style he and his mates are working in at the time. It might be the rock or country of The Mekons, the twangy garage of the Waco Brothers, the western swing of The Pine Valley Cosmonauts, or perhaps something different on a Langford solo project.

The Katjonband was foreshadowed at the Touch & Go Records 25th Anniversary Festival at the Hideout in Chicago. There, Langford did a short set with Kat Bornefeld, the spectacular drummer for The Ex. And, pun totally intended, she’s the ‘X’ factor here, as her creative percussion takes Langford’s music into some new areas.

The album is bookended by songs that show how Kat’s drumming brings a fresh snap to Langford songs that tread upon familiar territory. Or rather, familiar but necessary territory, as Langford looks out for the little guy and calls out tyranny where he sees it.

The album opener, “Do You?”, is insinuating as hell, with Bornefeld pounding out the polyrhythm, with Langford jabbing at his guitar in sympathy. The two chew on buzzwords and cliches in a call-and-response duet, showing that cynicism can be funky and full of frivolity.

It takes a while for closer “Red Flag” to hit full force. The song starts off with a Gang Of Four-esque guitar squall and then builds the atmosphere, as Bornefeld’s soft drumming gets faster and faster and Langford keeps pace on the guitar. The song then settles into ranting vocals and smash-and-crash drumming with a seething militaristic fury underneath. The song simmers and boils over in appealing fashion.

And the appeal is more than musical. The delightful “Conquered” is a melodic duet with Langford playing the imperialist lover and Bornefeld the occupied nation. The lyrics are quite clever. But they don’t push the colonialism disguised as a dysfunctional romantic relationship card too hard, helped by Bornefeld’s appealing vocals. She has a stately quality to her voice and a real warmth, and she and Langford have true chemistry.

“Crackheads Beware” has a real poppy appeal. The song has a subtle ‘70s R & B bounce to it, aided by Bornefeld’s crisp drumming and a terrific guitar hook, aided by the easy to sing to tag line: “howling along/with the popular song.” This is pretty fun, and if you’re not careful, you might learn something.

While the bread and butter of this disc are the drums/guitar work outs where these two really cook (another example of this is “Machine Gun & the Ugly Doll”), but the duo also finds some time for jazzy twanging (“Moonscape Dave”), a dramatic rendering of a traditional folk song (“Albion”), and a nice mid-tempo country love (or not-in-love) song (“Hey You Don’t Love Me”).

This disc is so good, that I hope that it isn’t a one shot. But can Kat and Jon carve out the time from their busy schedules?

The Smart One vs. The Cute One

A couple of issues ago, Rolling Stone published its list of the 100 best rock vocalists of all time. Like most such lists, there were plenty of arguable choices. The list was selected by a panel of "experts", including a lot of big names in the rock world.

I could quibble with plenty of the choices, but, for the most part, they hit on a lot of great singers, missed on some (as if 100 is a large enough list), and had a few objectionable selections. But I don't want to go into all that.

There is only one bone that I wish to pick. Both John Lennon and Paul McCartney made the list. But I heartily disagree with the panelists on the rankings. John Lennon came in at number five and Paul McCartney at number eleven.

Lennon v. McCartney is smart versus cute, style versus substance, "Imagine" versus "Silly Love Songs". And I think it clouds some people's judgment on the talents of these two giants.

McCartney has been so pigeonholed as a lightweight, causing people to disregard his awesome talent. Yes, Macca has penned some dire lyrics, but he also wrote "Yesterday", "Penny Lane" and "Hey Jude" (which he wrote, ultimately, because Mr. Lennon wasn't exactly father-of-the-year to Julian), just to name three fairly smart rock songs.

And let's not forget that McCartney is arguably the best bass player in rock history. I'm not saying he is the best, but if you made a Top 5, after John Entwistle and Paulie, you would get a wide range of nominees.

Finally, McCartney is an incredible singer. He can sing rock, he can sing with soul, he can sing the mooniest pop song (and has often), he can croon, and he does so effortlessly. Or should I say, he can be at peak intensity on a classic like "Maybe I'm Amazed" and if you watch him, there are no histrionics. He can just hit the right level every time.

Now John Lennon was a great rock 'n' roll singer. His hoarse, blow out version of Chuck Berry's "Rock And Roll Music" is just Exhibit A, as Lennon was an intense presence on rockers and ballads. And as The Beatles went from rock and pop to more experimental stuff, Lennon was a definitive vocalist.

But saying all that, Paul McCartney is a better singer than John Lennon. Or most rock singers ever -- very few could do as much as McCartney. I realize this should be something left to the ear of the beholder, but I'd really have to hear a compelling explanation as to why someone would think Lennon was better. Like, for example, "I'm Yoko Ono." I could understand that.

But what do I know? If I was in charge of the list, Robin Zander of Cheap Trick would be in the top 10, and Brian Connolly of Sweet and Russell Mael of Sparks wouldn't be too far behind.

Hawksley Workman -- Between The Beautifuls and Los Manlicious (2008)

Hawksley Workman -- Between The Beautifuls and Los Manlicious (Universal Canada/Isadora)

It’s hard to keep up with the various twists and turns in Hawksley Workman’s career, especially because his records aren’t released here in the States. Here’s a singer-songwriter who can pen some pretty mainstream material, who is also capable of over-the-top rock of great cleverness.

On his second album, (Last Night We Were) The Delicious Wolves, Workman emphasized the rock persona a bit more and was rewarded with success both in his home country and certain parts of Europe. But his attempt to consolidate the success with another rock album, Lover/Fighter, fell a bit short, as the rock was a lot more conventional.

He then got back to his singer-songwriter on the delicate Treeful Of Starling. And now, in 2008, Workman has released two albums. Between The Beautifuls came out earlier this year, and it’s the most accessible full length that he’s put out yet.

The album is blessed with basic songcraft. Workman's vocals are a wonder. He has such an effortless range and a certain quirkiness that makes him so distinctive. While he's capable of slyness and cleverness, on Beautifuls, he is achingly sincere, without becoming cloying.

This is evident on the lovely "All the Trees Are Hers". The song is grounded in a simple piano part, augmented by gentle guitars, a pedal steel and some synthesized strings. The melody always seems to be reaching, even moreso on the passionate middle eight. The song is steeped in nature imagery, a motif that is found often on the album.

Such imagery is also used, to a lesser degree, on "September Lilly". Spanish guitar mixes with more weepy pedal steel, on a song that sounds something like a standard. This is a song of pure devotion, with Workman vacillating between doubt, wondering if he's "beautiful enough/for you to kiss me true," while also noting that "I see your dark side/I see the reasons." What mainly comes through is he wants her, oddly noting that "you're fragrant and lovely/like an ending."

The romantic streak gets even wider on "Oh You Delicate Heart". The song is tender with spare instrumentation and Workman's voice at the front of the mix. It's very intimate and a great showcase for his expressive vocals. Again, as with "September Lilly", the melody is so classic that it sounds like this song came from an earlier era.

But don't think that Workman has become a simp. Not many other balladeers would center a song around the line "Don't fuck around anymore," as Hawksley does on "Pomengrate Daffodil". He isn't joking, his voice straining early on. The song then accelerates into a gallop for a good while, a peppy piece of piano pop, before heading into a dramatic bravado ending, with Workman pulling out all of the stops.

Yeah, Beautifuls is a heck of an album. An it shares three cuts with Los Manlicious, a further indication that the latter album was somewhat thrown together. One of those songs, "Piano Blink", is a soulful ditty with Workman showing off his falsetto, while "The City Is a Drag" is a plaintive plea for a simpler life. This is chock full of smart observations such as "it's bright and shiny and improved/with no room left for me to move." Good stuff (and I already told you about the third, "Oh You Delicate Heart").

These three songs provide some contrast to the more energetic material on Manlicious. The album bursts out of the gate with the sexy, guitar fueled "When You Gonna Flower?". This song has a gigantic fuzzy guitar riff and a rumbling rhythm, and Workman moves from insinuating vocals to pure passionate shouting. Meanwhile, little keyboard and guitar bits are brought in for variation on the almighty riff. A great start.

That is one of two tunes that Workman co-wrote with John Southworth. The other one is a delightful slice of '80s styled pop called "Kissing Girls (You Shouldn't Kiss)". It sounds like Private Eyes era Hall & Oates, with an automatic chorus and fluid bass lines.

Another somewhat retro-ish track is "Lonely People". It starts off with an a capella chorus before the mid-tempo beat gets going. But for Workman's vocal acrobatics, this is a very mainstream sounding track (think The Cars circa Heartbeat City without the Ric Ocasek lyrics). Then the harmony vocals kick in on the chorus, followed by crunchy guitars and it doesn't matter, because the song works so well.

The album ends with "Fatty Wants To Dance", which, true to its title, has a good beat to move to and poppin' funk bass. It's kind of a dumb song, but it's also fun, and by this point, Workman has earned the right to get stupid.

All in all, it's pretty impressive that Workman can put out one stellar album, and follow it up with a pretty good effort in the same year. Workman has always been prolific, even selling discs of unreleased material at shows. These two albums show that he should make sure that all of his recordings are widely available, even if no one in the U.S. is smart enough to put his stuff out here.

The Clash -- Live At Shea Stadium (2008)

The Clash -- Live At Shea Stadium (Epic/Legacy)

So we finally have a legitimate release of a full Clash live show. It’s too bad it’s not one of the best Clash live shows.

This recording is taken from the 1982 gig where our heroes opened for The Who. This was the Combat Rock era, when the band was at the peak of its popularity. But the band was splintering, for both musical and personal reasons.

One thing that is immediately striking is the composition of the set list: Early single/first album: 2 songs; Give ‘Em Enough Rope: 2; London Calling: 5; later single: 1; Sandinista: 2; Combat Rock: 2. This gives you an idea of where the band’s collective head was at around this time.

As shows go, this certainly wasn’t a bad one, but I’m sure most big Clash fans have heard a prior bootleg that has a lot more going for it. I think that Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune makes a good point that Terry Chimes (a/k/a Tory Crimes) taking over for Topper Headon lead to a drop off in the drumming. Chimes is alright, but, for the most part, he was not very forceful.

This would explain why most of the better performances during the gig were songs like "The Guns of Brixton" and the blended pair "The Magnificent Seven" and "Armagideon Time". Here, the rhythms were funkier and Chimes seems to take to them more. Yes, this does seem odd, since Chimes cut his teeth on the earlier powerhouse rocking material from 1977.

That being said, "Spanish Bombs" isn’t exactly a burner, and it’s the worst performance on the album. It sounds like it’s in the wrong key and the band can’t get a handle on how to tackle it (more forceful? more chipper?). Yet this is followed by a pretty good take on "Clampdown".

The other disappointment on the album is "London Calling". Granted, this song is so perfect on album, that recreating its magnitude on stage was never easy. Still, the band sounds tentative.

I don’t think this is due to lack of commitment or engagement. It’s hard to imagine Joe Strummer ever being less than intense, and Mick Jones is spirited in his vocal turns. I think it’s more a by-product of playing in such an unwieldy venue. You can hear the cheers in the background, but this had to be a crowd that mixed in fans with some geezers looking at their watches and wondering when the guys with broad accents and combat duds would get off the stage for The Who.

This is fairly entertaining, but I hope that someday, some better full gigs come out legitimately. Until then, I’ve got a 1979 show from the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago to enjoy.

The Parties -- Can't Come Down (2008)

The Parties -- Can’t Come Down (Rainbow Quartz)

This California quartet has its sound down. This is Jangle Pop 101 with a minor in harmony vocals. The first name that comes to mind when hearing The Parties is The Byrds. This is followed by great harmony groups such as The Hollies and The Searchers. While I don’t think the harmonies here rise to that standard, they are pretty good.

The band has enough personality, reflected both in the playing and the compositions, to make this a fine listen. This is demonstrated on “Breaking Hearts”, which brings the jangle to a fevered pitch. In a manner similar to The Last, The Parties play this dramatic tune with a great deal of intensity (especially in the lead vocal), which makes the hooks hit that much harder.

Speaking of hitting hard, “Radio” is a spirited number with a strong guitar riff propelling the proceedings. This song actually has two strong hooks, one in the bridge to the chorus, and then the chorus itself, which relies on riding a rhythm guitar and call-and-response vocals. This song also illustrates the superb production on the record. Chris Dunn and the band should take a bow, as they guys take stereo separation seriously, in a way that allows every instrument to get its due.

The second half of the record is stronger than the more-than-fine first, on the strength of songs like “Waterfall” (which comes close to the great lost Hollies song bliss of the like minded band The Resonars), the pretty folk rocking “Gotta Get Out”, and the Grip Weed-ish (Grip Weedy?) “Damned By the Sunshine”.

Again, let me reiterate how well recorded this is. Of course, if the songs weren’t so good, that wouldn’t matter much, I suppose.