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GINA VIVINETTOAn occasional roundup of music by local artists
JOHN MCNICHOLAS, HOW TO BE ALONE, (WWW.JMCNICHOLAS.COM): Longtime Tampa Bay area music scenester John McNicholas recently released How to Be Alone, a five-song disc of tunes so catchy it's hard to believe the guy can't find folks to hang out with him. From opener Fallout (Orange County Blues), it's clear singer-guitarist McNicholas, based in St. Petersburg, writes great tunes. His is the same ol' love ennui, but McNicholas tells it craftily:
Sick of waiting and over estimating
the black dress and undue sympathy
I'm rooftop calling and falling and stalling,
These games are wearing thin on me
But love and kisses and she says she misses me
Sharp guitar lines pierce the tune's rootsy backdrop, with vocal harmonies and Chris Skogen's swirly keyboards adding nice touches. Stay comes next and proves the opener was no fluke. McNicholas' theme, like that of Old 97's frontman Rhett Miller, is that purty girls and love done him wrong. Like Miller, McNicholas can see humor in the mess, and can also convey sentiments with simple lyrics - hear the "you don't love me anymore" of Friday Morning, Half Awake, and try not to wince in empathy.
THE SMOKING JACKETS, LINES, PHONE (727 585-8203, E-MAIL SMOKINGJACKETS@YAHOO.COM): Songwriter Bob Anthony has impressed followers of the local scene for years with his solo performances and his work with the Smoking Jackets. The Largo singer-guitarist has the knack for writing bright, beautiful pop songs with hooks that whisk you off your feet. Add honey-drenched harmonies (courtesy of guest singer Natty Moss-Bond) and impeccable backing musicians and you've got a fine five-song debut, Lines. The jangly opener Chain of Hearts with its simple, terrific "I won't be a link in your chain of hearts" refrain is a heavenly slice of Buddy Holly-style pop. Move Me Once Again will dazzle fans of Squeeze - or anyone who adores sophisticated, organ-tinged, pale-skinned R&B. The title track, featuring wonky narration and "programming" courtesy of Cap'n Keith, is spacier, with Anthony's vocals gruffer and the angst of his electric guitar out to grab you, showing his sophistication can turn savage, when need be.
CARL AMUNDSON AND THE MODERN GUITAR QUINTET, KINDA COOL (BLUE LINE MUSIC, P.O. BOX 16932, CLEARWATER, FL 33763): From the cover of Kinda Cool, one can tell Carl Amundson and the Modern Guitar Quintet is one impeccably dressed crew of jazz musicians. Listen to the disc and know the five piece has chops, too. Based in Clearwater, the quartet features three guitars, bass and drums and much virtuoso playing. The beauty of Kinda Cool is its accessibility: It's not merely for jazz noodleheads. Tunes are a bright mix of Amundson's originals - the bouncy Joys of Dex, the title track and Chasing the Sandman - and well-chosen standards. Dig the band's lovely instrumental takes on Cole Porter's All of You and George Gershwin's Our Love Is Here to Stay. Nothing is out of bounds, from a sublime, easy take on Jesse Harris' contemporary gem Don't Know Why (made famous by one Norah Jones) to making hep Frederic Chopin's Prelude in E Minor, drenched in strings and soft brushes.
BARELY PINK, LAST DAY OF SUMMER (WWW.BARELYPINK.COM): Tampa favorites Barely Pink churn out another collection of seamless power pop gems on Last Day of Summer, the band's third release. First cut Girl In The Crowd is a dazzler with big hooks, singer Brian Merrill's guttural croon and bop-bop-bop backing vocals that coax you right in. If you can resist the chorus of Do What You Like, good golly, you're immune to the charms of perfect pop, not to mention the fuzzy thump of Michael Hoag's smart bass and Mark Warren's pristine, sharp guitar. Mercury Girl slows things down with Bowie-esque vocals, elegant guitar picking and a harmony hootenanny. Mood Meter Maid proves there's a sound for folks who cherish both the spaciness of T. Rex and tight hooks of Cheap Trick.
YVES MORENCY WITH TROPIGROOVE, TROPICAL FLAVOR (WWW.TROPIGROOVE.COM): Yves Morency of St. Petersburg's Tropigroove was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. After moving to the United States, he became a doctor. However, Dr. Morency can't deny his passion to play saxophone, and he does so beautifully on Tropical Flavor, a 12-song disc of original smooth island music. Morency's musical partner, Joel Giradin, is a guitarist and keyboardist who lives in Tampa. The duo's compositions are buoyant and breezy, calling to mind the salty seashore of the Caribbean on numbers such as Viva La Vida, with its ribbony sax, and the Calypso-happy Summer Breeze. The sounds are more sinister on A Taste of Voodoo Jazz, propelled by clanging beats and tangy guitar. Morency, still a practicing physician, writes in the liner notes that Tropical Flavor should have been recorded 25 years ago "but my medical career got in the way." Folks may forgive the good doctor his distractions, and celebrate the island life with Tropical Flavor.
CRIPPLED MASTERS, THE WRECK OF THE CRIPPLED MASTERS (WWW.CRIPPLEDMASTERS.COM): Crippled Masters takes the old-school approach to rock 'n' roll. The St. Pete-based garage rock trio takes its name from a 1980s kung fu movie and plays simple tunes about girls, rowdy times, and, er, monkeys. (Check out the cover of The Wreck of the Crippled Masters and understand the band has a thing for monkeys.) Helper Monkey blasts open with new drummer Chris Cosgrove pounding the skins before Pete Delong's fuzzy guitar and Roger Peterson's pummeling bass join in to create a feisty number about a handicapped man, his peanut butter-eating wife and their helper monkey. The self-deprecating Somehow I Turned Out Wrong recalls the beer-drenched punk rock of the early 1980s. The delightful twists in Faded Neon, with shimmering guitar and frenzied drums, is a throwback to the 1960s. The spooky Supper's Ready toys with a calm-before-the storm vibe that's menacing. The Masters understand the economy of rock. Who was it - Joey Ramone? - who suggested punk rock was "three chords and a grudge"? Crippled Masters wisely thanks "the chords C, E and F#" in the liner notes.
SHOTGUN WEDDING, UNDER THE INFLUENCE E-MAIL SHOTGUNWEDDING2002@HOTMAIL.COM): Moody and noirish, with poetic lyrics and the occasional cello to boot, it's no wonder Pinellas County's Shotgun Wedding gets compared to the darker rock acts, guys like Nick Cave and Tom Waits. Under the Influence, the rootsy trio's second disc, offers eight more spare, cinematic tunes beginning with opener Abused, which combines drummer Jesse Martin's clappity clap percussion with singer James McFarland's (purposeful) whine-through-a-transistor radio delivery. Just when the woe wears you down, along comes the barroom rave-up, Shined, the chronicle of a boozy night on the town: the narrator - picture an oily, fast-talking hipster - is out with his "baby" who's wearing "some new perfume." Our man is feeling all right, despite being down to "a couple of cigarettes and dollar fifty." The tune bounces along like the train our man's going to catch at sunrise. Naturally, the comparisons to Waits will never cease, not with McFarland's narrative writing style; his lyrics could be Sam Shepard monologues, for goodness' sake. (Add to that a penchant for singing onstage through a bullhorn.) Similarities to Waits aside, Shotgun Wedding has its own thing going on. When bassist Johnny McCarthy switches to cello, drenching Jax with those woozy four strings, and Martin bangs in on smashed snare, it's a singular sound, indeed.
LICORICE SCHTICK CLARINET TRIO, SCHTICK WITH IT! (WWW.LICORICESCHTICK.COM): Clarinet lovers should be hip to Licorice Schtick, a Pinellas County clarinet trio that specializes in unique arrangements of jazz standards and originals. The trio's brilliant Schtick With It! is as much arty as Artie (Shaw, that is.) These guys - Pete Temko, John Creveling and Larry Kleinfeld - play with tenderness, whimsy and subtlety where it counts. Things kick off with a jaunty Sweet Georgia Brown, which devolves into slap-sticky doo-wop. Duke Ellington's Mood Indigo is reworked entirely, deconstructed, and patted with pomp and precision, tapped out with just three clarinets. Would you believe it sounds divine? As do compositions by Birdman Charlie Parker and piano wild guy Thelonious Monk. Originals, too, like Kleinfeld's winning Shelbs are top-notch.
- If you would like your local act's CD considered for In Our Own Back Yard, send it to Gina Vivinetto, pop music critic, In Our Own Back Yard, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731.