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Autoliner
Be

(Parasol)

autoliner.net

Autoliner cannot be pigeonholed. And this is a good thing. Throughout this review, I'll sprinkle in some descriptions and comparisons, but they won't replace hearing this puppy. It's not that you've never heard the types of sound Autoliner makes - it's that you haven't heard pop-rock done quite this way. Autoliner has mined the caves of rock inspiration and found a vein that links powerpop, art rock, arena rock and '60s pop - at times the folkish variety - in the most invigorating manner.

The baroque nature of the tuneage, with the incredibly dense arrangements and devastating three-part harmony vocals, seems to scream 'Jellyfish!", and although there is a common vibe between Autoliner and the 'fish, Autoliner is less precious and definitely rocks more. It would be hard for a band not to rock with Tom Curless on drums - even on the slower tracks, he is a propulsive force, managing to incorporate a lot of fills without ever getting in the way of all the other bells and whistles.

Autoliner's inventiveness is matched by committed performances. "Misunderstood" would be a nifty track if it just stuck with its vaguely jazzy pop-rock template, but the soft-pop chorus explodes into a middle eight like The Turtles at their most angelic. I'm not sure if the band matches that cataclysmic bliss on the other tracks, but they come close. "Are You Ready" is a relatively spartanly arranged track, but the songwriting is sophisticatedly simple, linking together three gorgeous melodies, and then throwing in a dramatic middle eight and a pithy Brian Leach guitar solo. They make it sound easy - but if it were, all pop records would sound this great.

They open the album with the anthemic "Weakened", which would be the best track on most other band's albums. "Down The Line" is a puffed up jangle rock tune whose bridge is melodically akin to Fountains Of Wayne/The Davenports, but with a psychedelic folk-rock vocal thing going on, going into another surefire chorus and throwing in some thick A.O.R. guitar in the middle of the tune. Speaking of A.O.R., the pretty ballad "Lighthouse" comes close to "Dust in the Wind" territory (chords seem similar), but the song moves into Freiheit territory (anyone remember Freiheit?).

The depth and richness of this album should be held up as an example to aspiring popsters. Autoliner does not settle for less when putting together songs. Even better, they never let their inventiveness overwhelm the final product - they reach the top without ever going over-the-top, recognizing that too much inspiration can be insufferable. A terrific achievement.

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Waltz For Debbie
Gone And Out

(Hidden Agenda)

parasol.com

Release Date: June 19, 2001

Swedish dance-pop that will please fans of Saint Etienne and The Pet Shop Boys. Waltz For Debbie is a duo - impeccable blonde lead singer Annica Lundback and the music guy, Martin Permer, who composes the tunes. They have been together for a few years and this is their debut album.

The album balances dance floor breakdowns with more pensive material. It is on the latter material where Lundback really shines, as she can show off her primary strength as a vocalist - nuance and phrasing. Her voice is attractive but not very rangy, so on the high energy dance tracks, it sounds nice, but not as distinctive. If you're scouting the album, check out "Sun Song" first to hear Lundback at her best.

"Sun Song" starts with a tinkly jazz piano - one pictures Lundback decked out a la Michele Pfieffer in The Fabulous Baker Boys, but sitting in a chair and lamenting: "Why does she have to go so soon?/why does she need a moment of her own?/why does she leave the night to the moon?/don't tell me, that's her secret". The song sounds like a lounge standard, with a melody custom fit for Lundback's voice. "Fade Away", with its spare synth-pop backing track is another effective showcase for Lundback, and sports clever lyrics: "Found a cure to all the diseases/wrote a famous novel or two/if we passed on the street you'd recognize me/but I wouldn't even look at you." Oooh - chilly!
The bulk of the album is stocked with dance tracks that range from alright to quite good. The opening track is a fine introduction to the dominant side of Waltz For Debbie - "Shooting Birds" displays a mastery of Saint Etienne dance floor dynamics, as textured slow verses, awash in various synthesizer sounds, shift into fast BPM chorus. "Leave You with a Smile" ventures into Pet Shop Boys/'90s Sparks territory, with a lush modern disco backing track that doesn't let the backbeat defeat the melody.

The caveat about Waltz For Debbie's dance material, is that while it justifiably merits comparison to Saint Etienne, Pet Shop Boys and Sparks, they haven't quite matched any of those bands in the melody-and-hooks department. Still, they are close and clearly have the ability to meet that standard in time. If the bonus track "I'll Be King" is indication, that time could be very soon. A bed of harsh, but muted, guitars and plodding drums and a downcast Lundback vocal in the verse breakdown into a gentle chorus that is the best hook on the disc, and Permer blends drumbeat into the final chorus to great effect. More, please.

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Electric Light Orchestra
Zoom

(Epic)

elomusic.com

Release date: June 12, 2001

It is rumored that Walt Disney had himself cryogenically frozen, in the hope that when science progressed sufficiently, ol' cartoonboy would be revived. I think Jeff Lynne has done something similar. I'd like to know his secret. After a lengthy absence from the recording world (last heard producing the criminally overlooked Julianne Raye record), Lynne looks like he hasn't aged a day. More importantly, his songs are still packed with melody and the trademark E.L.O. sound is intact.

Granted, other than Richard Tandy, no other E.L.O.ers are present (do Lynne and drummer Bev Bevan speak anymore?), but Lynne somehow manages to carry on with guys named Ringo Starr and George Harrison pitching in on some tracks. Zoom shows that Lynne/E.L.O. remains a vital creative force. Yet one wishes that Lynne would show a bit more of the ambition that made records like Eldorado and New World Record classics.

Still, an album of good songs from a master craftsman isn't a terrible deal. Moreover, it is always welcome to hear a rock record that actually has roots in rock and roll. Whether it's the twangy guitar line in "State of Mind" or the flat out bluesy bounce of "Easy Money", it's nice to know that for all of Lynne's technological preoccupations, he still retains those old-fashioned virtues. "Easy Money" is a swell tune, with Ringo Starr's loping drum beat and a nifty melodic bridge and Lynne, who plays most everything else on the track, telling himself to "Take it, Jeff" and ripping into a great guitar solo. (Lynne may not be a guitar hero, but he is an accomplished player).

Fans of E.L.O. standards like "Strange Magic" and "Telephone Line" will eat up pretty numbers like "Moment in Paradise" (with Lynne showing that he can still hit the high notes) and "Stranger on a Quiet Street" with it's R & B-style electric piano intro and probably the best chorus on the album. Lynne assembles it in three stages, with the title phrase kicking in at the peak.

"Ordinary Dream" probably comes the closest to the best of the more orchestral moments of E.L.O. days. Perhaps not coincidentally, it is the most Beatlesque track. As with prior albums, a discriminating listener can hear where Lynne's melodic sense picks up from the Fab Four's -- oft-vilified as an imitator, dissenters must be reminded that Lynne is a contemporary of The Beatles, from his days in The Idle Race and The Move, and his work usually builds on that, as opposed to slavish imitation.

The second half of the disc seems to have the lesser tracks, but nothing is less than listenable. I wouldn't call this a return to form, because the latter day E.L.O. LPs were solid and underrated. But one hopes that now Lynne has regained his appetite for writing and performing, that he gets hungrier and puts out a great album.

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Moods For Moderns
Loud & Clear

(Doghouse)

doughouse.com

Moods For Moderns took their name because: 1) they are Elvis Costello fans and/or 2) the name Sloan has already been taken. Yep, this U.S. trio has a sound that is very reminiscent of everyone's favorite Nova Scotians. To their credit, MfM nearly meets Sloan's high songwriting standards and brings enough of their own ideas and energy to the table that once you get past the sonic resemblance, you just have to shake your head and tap your toes and let the music carry the day.

One thing that MfM brings to the table is a bratty attitude on par with punk-pop outfits like Ultimate Fakebook: "Never were my intentions to bore you/that just comes from being bored." ("Two Tracks Left"). The other is finding nifty little touches to avoid a monochromatic guitar rock sound. On "Slacker Ways", drummer Dave Shettler plays a Moog part so dated (think Starbuck or John Miles' '70s hit "Slowdown") that it is automatically hip. Moreover, it perfectly compliments the melody in the chorus.

Shettler comes through again on "Only a Saturday Night", the one track that really acknowledges a debt to E.C. and the Attractions. Shetler's Farfisa is Steve Nieve-like and just like the Costello glory days, gives a nice mid-tempo pop song an extra shot of electricity.

The band really excels at building a hook - on some songs, a catchy refrain is not enough. The opener "Lust for Luster" [a variation on Costello's "you lack lust/you're so lackluster?] kicks in with Nate Beale's circular guitar riff which mutates into a chunky rhythm, in syncopation with Shettler's drumming, while bassist Ben Force navigates a melodic line between the two. This pseudo-glam beat is sooo Sloan and instantly winning. The verse then ascends into a bed of harmony vocals, another circular guitar riff, dropping into the shuffle of the verse, re-ascending, breaking down to a whisper before heading to a middle eight that ties the lyrical theme together. Every single element of this song stands on its own as catchy and fun to listen to - it's like surfing your car radio and hitting a skein of great songs.

Not every song maintains that quality, but there is not a bum track in the bunch. As an added bonus, the last track ("Long Distant Dedication") is cast in low-fi production and sounds like an homage to psych-popsters Outrageous Cherry. It is almost as if the band is winking at the listener, showing that they can bend pop-rock in any shape they feel like it. I'm hooked and dying to find out where they go next.

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The Fleshtones
Solid Gold Sound

(Blood Red)

fleshtones.co.uk

The latest from The Fleshtones begins with Peter Zaremba shouting about "singing my new song/one that you've never heard before", bringing to mind the adage about old dogs and new tricks. The Fleshtones are an anomaly - perhaps the only continuous, long running garage rock band, having clocked in over 20 years of tours and albums. No garage band has put out as many fine albums as the 'tones, let alone as many albums.

But the fine ones are coming with less frequency, and this new effort does nothing to reverse the trend. The album verges on dull, a word rarely associated with the Fleshtones. And the album's failings come at three levels: a batch of paint-by-numbers garage and R & B songs, average performances, and the primary villain, the band's flat self-production.

The latter two items are of particular concern. Especially regarding Zaremba's voice, which has gotten too ragged for it's own good, though this would bode well for any Mighty Mighty Bosstones covers. As for the production, it adequately records the instruments as such, but it is completely lacking in punch. Since the 'tones are one of the all-time great rock bands, this is just unacceptable. Even with C grade songs, it is surprising that the band would find these recordings acceptable in this form. The most telling sign is on the attempted shaker "Test the Flesh" - when ace drummer Bill Millhizer's drums get going, they sound wet rather than pounding.

In fact, this reviewer did authentic field research to confirm his hypothesis that the production was the main culprit. The research was conducted at a Fleshtones concert. Numbers like the aforementioned "Test the Flesh", "Ten Dollars More" and "Dreaming About Work" rocked with customary Fleshtones aplomb. The recommendation would seem to be, just let the boys cut loose live in the studio with a great engineer, but when noted recording scientist Steve Albini experimented with this approach on 1995's Laboratory Of Sound, it resulted in an average disc. So maybe the way to go is true live recordings.

A strong producer would probably have prevented the recording of time wasters like "Good Good Crack" (disco hi-jinx with oddball vocals) and "Line Check" (mundane instrumental). Further listens reveal that the ingredients of a decent album are present, but the good natured farting around is not supplemented by enough classic Fleshtones superrock.

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