Scroll down for reviews of The Waxwings, Tim Easton, Marah, Lil' Cap'n Travis and Various Artists: Mayor of the Sunset Strip Soundtrack

The Waxwings
Let's Make Our Descent

(Rainbow Quartz)

www.thewaxwings.com

There are two types of people who have heard of the Waxwings. First is the underground network of pop music fans that were introduced to the Detroit band's hook-laden tunes back in 2000 with their debut album "Low To the Ground" and fell in love with that Rickenbacker guitar sound and rich harmonies. The second group are the Internet-trolling music fans who, a few years back, gleefully shared a bombastic letter directed to the band from their label's president in essence slamming them for not being, in his opinion, as cool as Mick Jagger or Jack White.

Needless to say this new album, the band's third, is on a new label (Rainbow Quartz) and is designed to increase their name recognition among those who prefer a solid tune to a sordid soap opera. There are certainly plenty of reasons for such a conversion crammed this album's ten tracks as well as evidence of the band's growth. The sound of The Waxwings now isn't quite as bright and chimey as it used to be. Rather the songs now seem to be a bit more reliant on the riff or the groove rather than the hook. More Faces than The Raspberries. Don't get me wrong. You'll still be itching to sing along as the songs pop through your brain the rest of the day. But this time out the bass thunders and rumbles a bit more, the vocals sit deeper in the mix, the drumming rolls through the tune rather than just keeping the time, and the guitars dance and jab as they find just the right opening to deliver their blow.

Fellow popster Brendan Benson engineered and mixed the disc, which might make the new sound a bit more surprising. But he and the band seemed to work hard at making the musical transition evolve over the course of the record. The leadoff track, "Steady As Starlight" uses a ringing acoustic guitar and wouldn't sound out of place on any other Waxwings album. But with each track the guitars, for example, get muddier. "Expected Of You," which starts off light as a feather, builds up to feature some down-and-dirty slide guitar playing that sounds more Delta than Detroit. "On For Tomorrow" starts off with a little guitar fill that almost sounds like Cream's "Strange Brew."

New sounds, such as a saxophone, show up on the raving "Sky's A Mirror" and "On For Tomorrow." The album closer, "Every Light You See" is an up and down, in and out journey where the riff is interrupted by occasional quiet moments and breakdowns before it leaps right back in. And while I'm hesitant to single out any one member of the band, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the drumming on this album. Even though I'm not enough of a musician to fully explain the approach, I would have to liken it to the difference between a strongman stoically holding a large weight over his head, and a plate spinner keeping a dozen discs going at once. With both, nothing falls. However, the latter is far more frantic (and entertaining) to watch. I think Keith Moon might understand the analogy.

I don't want to make this sound like the record is supposed to be some sort of tough-guy posturing in the wake of past label fall outs, or response to the White Stripes' popularity. With each listen, the "new" Waxwings sound (which I'm going to call pop-with-muscle) sounds more and more a natural progression. It is the sound of a confident band stretching their (pardon the pun) wings and proving that there is more than one way to deliver a hit.

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Tim Easton
Special 20

(New West Records)

www.timeaston.com

Tim Easton is a performer that, thanks to geographic proximity, I've been able to see a number of times in a number of settings: solo, with a band, with a washboard player, at a wedding reception, in a room with a tree growing through a roof, etc. Enjoying his craft in all of these settings over the years, I watched with interest as he released two good records on New West and enjoyed a fair level of national exposure.

While I did enjoy the first two records New West put out, the studio (and the presence of guest players and session legends) added a bit of gloss that I didn't think always served the songs. That's why I perked up considerably when I heard that New West was re-releasing Easton's first solo record, Special 20. This is the more rough-around-the-edges, playing-on-the-street-corner Easton that attracted New West in the first place. It's also where I think Easton is strongest.

The album kicks off with the rambling, rumbling "Just Like Home" that shows off Easton's fretwork and begins with the unforgettable line "I dreamt I was a bottle of bourbon, trapped in a burning down house." From there the disc tumbles through vivid stories of drunkenness, relationships, and heartbreak. Song titles such as "Torture Comes To Mind," "All the Pretty Girls Leave Town" (which I'm pretty sure is about the summer months in a college town), and "Troublesome Kind" give the listener a pretty good idea what he is in for. You'll have to spin the disc for yourself to see just how deftly Easton delivers these short stories you can tap your toe to.

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Marah
20,000 Streets Under the Sky

(Yep Roc)

www.marah.com

Through all the years I heard of Marah without actually hearing Marah (well, there was that disappointing cover of The Replacements' "Can't Hardly Wait" that I downloaded somewhere) I thought they were supposed to be some alt-country act. Then I finally hear a full-fledged album of theirs and it seems they are filled with more Philly soul than any down-South twang. And, I gotta say, I was pleasantly surprised.

The disc is filled with sassy touches like the playground-chant of "shimmy shimmy coco pop" on "Freedom Park," under-the-streetlight do-wop harmonizing on "Pizzeria" (though the lyrical odes to garlic powder didn't work for me) and some foot-stomping banjo and harmonica on "Pigeon Heart." "Going Through the Motions" probably would have received high marks from American Bandstand dancers a few decades back. And most of the rest is from-the-heart rock that makes me understand why Bruce Springsteen is counted among the Marah faithful.

My biggest complaint is that there are parts of the album that just don't sound finished - as though they accidentally sent in their demo tape. I think there could be a good song in "Sure Thing" but it seems sparse. I had a similar reaction to "Tame the Tiger" (especially compared to the full sound of some other songs). And the slower pace of "Soda" and "Body" can't quite seem to hold up the weigh of the songs. Still, though, I endorse this disc. It appears that the band can be a bit chameleon-ish from album to album, but I would enjoy hearing more of this incarnation.

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Li'l Cap'n Travis
In All Their Splendor

(Glurp)

www.glurp.com

I've listened to a lot of music over my 30 some years and, I admit, there are times when I hit a stretch of "new" discs that just don't do it for me. The songs aren't all that good and, even if I do like them, they sound too much like something else. It's times like those where I tempted to head into my cocoon and swear to just listen to The Kinks, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Replacements, Dylan, etc. from here on out. Then something falls into my hands like the new Li'l Cap'n Travis album.

I was familiar with the band's reputation thanks to raves from their fellow Austinites Grand Champeen (whose Michael Crow record this disc) but hadn't heard a note. Boy, was I missing something. With four songwriters contributing tunes, the album can take a wandering path as it sways through its 15 tracks. And while vocalists, tempos, and grooves may vary, they all come from the same musical palate, with the heavy (and welcome) presence of pedal steel guitar work tying many songs together.

Perhaps the most accessible sounds on the album come from the honky-tonk of tracks like "Bar Full of Fans," an excellent ode to the cocktail waitress everyone wants to know, or "3.2 Beer of Love." "With Caroline" sounds like it should be the theme song for closing time at any number of roadside taverns. Other songs (or, more accurately, musical interludes), such as "Teenage Mustache," "Crawling Polaris," or "Gone Fishing" would fit nicely into a David Lynch soundtrack for a story sent in a southern dustbowl rather than a mountain logging town. "Let Her Dance," with its delicate verses and crashing crescendo, will pull at the heartstrings. "Throw Off the Reins" seems to pick up where Credence Clearwater Revival's "Effigy" left off. And, near the end, "Broken Headlight" provides more than five minutes of bass-heavy delight.

Thanks, Li'l Cap'n Travis for reminding me why I should still look forward to that next package that shows up in my mailbox, or my next trip to the record store.

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Various Artists
Mayor of the Sunset Strip Soundtrack

(Shout Factory)

The challenge of a documentary soundtrack is to find the right songs to capture a particular subject. That challenge takes on a different twist when that subject is an taste-making disc jockey. And such is the case with the Mayor Of Sunset Strip, the film and soundtrack study of KROQ DJ Rodney Bingenheimer. I haven't had the pleasure of seeing the film yet, but reports and reviews say it shows how Rodney's fame came from his ability to pick the next big thing and to then remain in close proximity to said big things through their career, basking in the glow that he helped create.

The soundtrack is scattershot in terms of styles, time periods and quality. Brian Wilson pays homage with "Rodney on the ROQ." Local flavor comes from X, ("Los Angeles"), Hole ("Malibu"), and Leon Russell ("Welcome To Hollywood"). Meanwhile, I suppose the presence of David Bowie, T. Rex, Starsailor, Blur, and The Smiths is to show that L.A. was rock's Ellis Island and Rodney was its Statue of Liberty. There's also Alice Cooper, The Ramones, The Byrds, Dramarama, and, of course, Jennifer Love Hewitt (????????) You've heard most of this before, but if you ever want to create your own little West Coast scene, this disc can get you started.

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