Over the past few months, I’ve had more records I want to write about than time to write about them. In the spirit of columns like “Green Circles” in Trouser Press, here are some mini-reviews that I hope are helpful.

Varnaline - Songs In A Northern Key (E-Squared/Artemis): Mixed by Steve Earle and Ray Kennedy, Anders Parker has crafted a really nice disc that nestles in a plateau between the peaks of the most recent work from Wilco, Grandaddy and The Flaming Lips. That is, some country-folk stylings with pop and alt-pop trimmings. While probably not the equal of those artists, Varnaline ain’t too far behind either.
Artemisrecords.com; varnaline.com

Chestnut Station - In Your Living Room (Drag City): A bunch of Chicago indie-rock stalwarts, including Eleventh Dream Day’s Rick Rizzo, get together to play a bunch of old rock and R & B tunes in front of an audience. Engineer Steve Albini gives you the right ‘you are there’ feel to the proceedings and the band amiably rocks through tunes from Don Covay, The Rascals, The Kinks and even some prime Kasenetz-Katz bubblegum. Dragcity.com

Chewy Marble - Bowl Of Surreal (Furry Sidekick): Great follow up to this trio’s debut. The Marble specializes in light pop-rock numbers that bear traces of softer ‘60s rock and cool ‘70s AM stuff, with great arrangements and clever lyrics. The rock tunes have just enough tensile strength to avoid cutesiness or preciousness. Meanwhile, composer Brian Kassan crafts exquisite songs like the Bacharachy “Dribble In Blue” and the pop-symphonic “Scribble Variations”. Props to Derrick Anderson for his creative bass playing - the disco bassline on “Inside Our Head” is a kick. Chewymarble.com

Anton Barbeau - The Golden Boot (125): More oddball musings from Barbeau, this is his second set of outtakes, alternate mixes, etc. Barbeau is a craftsman who dabbles in a variety of styles and can generally be counted on for hooky fun. His nasal vocals and sometimes utterly impenetrable lyrics may be obstacles for some. But if you can get over that, this is a disc that combines the snarkiness of They Might Be Giants with the more ‘normal’ (?) pop-rock leanings of Robyn Hitchcock and The Loud Family’s Scott Miller. 125records.com; antonbarbeau.com

TSOL - Disappear (Nitro): Three of the four original members of the legendary SoCal punk band are back, and showing the kids the way it should be done. This is searing, angry old school punk, played with venomous intent. Lead singer Jack Grishman sounds as good as ever and the tunes are there - my favorite is “Anticop”. Nitrorecords.com

Mark Watson Band - coulda…woulda…shoulda (Big Blast): Chicago pop artist who evokes Tommy Keene, Matthew Sweet and Del Amitri. Watson has a terrific, slightly husky voice and is an equally talented lead guitarist - no malnourishment here. The songwriting hasn’t caught up to the execution yet - it’s generally good, and on the few numbers where he throws in some old R & B elements into the power pop mix, Watson’s full potential becomes apparent, especially on “Can You Feel It?”, which sounds like a toughened up lost Rascals tune (or how bitchin’ the Style Council could have been). Bigblastrecords.com; markwatsonband.com

Nixon’s Head -- Take It! (Groove Disques): A pleasant throwback. This sounds like one of those early-‘80s records I used to play on college radio. Specifically, it sounds like a new wave band heavily informed by cool ‘60s garage and folk rock, augmented by cool organ parts. A couple numbers even have a feel like The Cheepskates, especially the terrific “A Date With Judy”. A few tunes could be pruned off this, but this is a nice slice of a kinder, gentler era.

Whiskeytown -- Pneumonia (Lost Highway): Actually recorded in 1999, this album mixes songs that sound like lost classics from The Band with some solid country-pop and a couple tunes that are more straightforward pop. Ryan Adams and crew handle the variety of material with confidence, as this slice of roots rock has great songs, outstanding lyrics and appropriate production. Adams may become a big star, so pick this up now so you can tell your friends ‘I told you so’. Losthighwayrecords.com

Nikka Costa - Everybody Got Their Something (Cheeba Sound/Virgin): Another neo-‘70s style R & B singer, but unlike a lot of the breed, she has little interest in long form instrumental grooves. Costa remembers that the best ‘70s R & B was made for the AM radio, and trills some greasy (and concise) melodic funk-pop tunes with a voice reminiscent of Chaka Khan and early Natalie Cole (remember Cole’s sassy “Sophisticated Lady” - that would be a great tune for Costa to cover). The heavily compressed production only adds to the retro good times. Virginrecords.com; nikkacosta.com

The White Stripes - White Blood Cells (Sympathy For The Record Industry): Third LP from heavily hyped Detroit duo. Despite reports, this is not garage rock. Sometimes it sounds like Pixies doing Led Zeppelin covers, which gives you two types of mania at the same time. The guitar-drum combo more than fills the space and rocks ferociously. While not as great as their fans would lead you to believe, this is zippy blues-based power rock that is neither blues nor metal, and is pretty cool. Sympathyrecords.com

Dumptruck -- Travel To The Sea (Devil In The Woods): The third album since Seth Tiven revived Dumptruck and the best since 1986’s *Positively Dumptruck*. Tiven has finally got his ability to write haunting melodies fully intact and marries them to the rootsier sound of more recent records. As always, the guitar work is fabulous, as the band still sometimes evokes a more psychedelic version of Television. Includes a bonus live disc from 1986 and 1988. Devilinthewoods.com; dumptruck-music.com

Rufus Wainwright - Poses (Dreamworks): You think any album that could start with a tune like “Cigarettes and Chocolate” was a dead bang winner. For all of Wainwright’s vocal and lyrical talent, he’s merely a proficient musical composer, and often his music is merely a foundation for various quips and one-liners. And he sounds a lot more like his dad (not a bad thing) than some want to admit. Could really use a collaborator to hone his songs into more satisfying creations, instead of the real cool piano bar pieces that he currently pens. Dreamworks.com

David Byrne - Look Into The Eyeball (Luaka Bop/Virgin): Byrne’s best solo LP has no pretensions other than to entertain. By not having any overreaching concepts and just writing tunes in the numerous styles he’s mastered over the years, this is a disc with range and depth. And it’s quite fun to hear him flit about from Brazilian beats to Little Creatures-type pop to witty Cole Porteresque excursions. Great stuff. Virginrecords.com

Velvet Crush -- A Single Odessey (Action Musik): If you’re a Velvet Crush fan, but not a completist, this singles comp is for you. Or if you have always wanted to check out the Crush, pick this up - it essays their successful stabs at straight guitar powerpop, Byrdsy twang and melancholy Big Star territory. And they never wasted a B-side.
Parasol.com

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