Scroll down for reviews of releases by The Resonars, Wire, Troy Gregory and General Store. Click here for reviews of releases by The Flaming Lips, Duraluxe, the Stiff Records Tribute and The Action

The Rooks
From The Shelves Of Soundscape Studio

(Not Lame)

notlame.com

This is kind of The Rooks' version of Anthology, allowing a peek behind the scenes on a disc mostly full of unused takes and alternate versions of songs beloved by their many fans. Speaking as an admirer who shamefully does not own a lot of their catalog, I think that folks who don't have a background in The Rooks will still get a lot of pleasure out of the record, though it's the cultists and completists who will be squealing the most over this.

The disc is comprised mainly of songs recorded during the first few years of the ‘90s. Rooks leader Michael Mazzarella got his Ph.D in ‘60s pop eons ago, yet his studious nature never outstripped his pure love of the music. His best songs, of which there are many, are evocative of the Golden Age of Guitar Pop and never settle for a mere nod to influences. His tunes stand toe-to-toe with a lot of the great pop of that bygone era.

One such song is "Reasons". The version on the disc was called the "Sloop John B mix" of the track. It does not have full production, as you can hear a few spots where additional instruments could be added, but it has a guitar part that is reminiscent of The Beach Boys version of the folk song. This may be a better song, the repetitive jangle guitar and simple verse melody bursting like a supernova on the ecstatic chorus, Mazzarella's voice hitting a level of joy unlimited. One of those perfect pop moments.

Though often referred to as a power pop band, The Rooks have a real affinity for acoustic folk-pop. Disc opener "Friends of Mine" shows Mazzarella doing Elliot Smith before Elliot Smith had ever thought of doing Elliot Smith, with the noticeable difference that Mazzarella sounds happy. Other songs hit the type of vibe that Milwaukee's The Lackloves are known for – a keen mix of John Lennon and The Beau Brummels ("Colors" and "In a Pinwheel Spin"). Then there's the dark and melodic "Better Start Right Now", a song that combines an extremely direct lyric with a very simple structure. The backing vocals from Mazzarella, Kristin (not just a Rook but a Grip Weed) Pinell and guest Richard X. Heyman add to the classic haunting feel of the track.

Other delights include ""It's a Crying Shame", a song somewhere in the Searchers/Byrds mold, which could be redone as an R & B track that would really get a hold on you. "Down" is a midpoint between jangle and Merseybeat. It's low-fi, mid-tempo and features Mr. Heyman on drums and his future wife, Nancy Leigh, on bass. The loveliest track on the album is "Nightwriter", with a vague Spanish guitar feel, French horn and oboe support and a double tracked Mazzarella vocal that is soothing but intent.

While often odds and sods collections fail to flow well, that is not an issue here. Why? Because the songs are just so damn good. Until there's a best of Rooks compilation, this is a fine substitute.

The Resonars
Lunar Kit

(Get Hip)

gethip.com

Take a little Nuggets I, throw in lots of Nuggets II and mix in with the vocal sound and hookiness of classic Hollies and set the temperature at proper rock levels and voila! You have a Resonars record. The band's third long player is another short and sweet bundle of wonderful, as resident Resonar auteur Matt Rendon has come up with another spectacular batch of songs. Known for his one man band approach, which the Get Hip label touts on its website, the album references three other band mates -- "brother" John on vocals and the rhythm team Michael Huxley (bass) and Keith Lopez (drums). Hey, if Matt can make great music that is retro but incredibly fresh, he's entitled to play with our minds as to whether he has a band or not. For purposes of this review, I'll play along.

The best mix of old and new comes on track five, with Matt Rendon's memorable psych lead guitar figure adding an extra dash of melody on a track already swaddled in swooning vocals, as John Rendon details the type of unrequited love that no one sang about back in the day: "She's in Love with Her". John avoids turning the lyrics into some garage rock equivalent of the Dead Milkmen by having the narrator avoid bitterness or sarcasm and just comment on how lucky the two girls are to have each other.

This disc has a better mix of poppy tunes and heavy songs than it's fab predecessor. For those who want just a taste of psych (going six miles high?), there's the excellently constructed "Under Garden", with Michael Huxley's appropriate oblong bass work, verses that build in drama, and urgent lead guitar in the background, wanting to explode. The release comes through the chorus melody rather than a guitar conflagration. The combo of rock tension and a pretty chorus is splendid.

Speaking of release, "Funny Old World" is a doom folk-rock number, with a declamatory stance and morose chording (sample lyric: "Look at the sky/we'll fall right through"). Midway through the song, Keith Lopez gets to freak out, pounding away at his kit furiously while Matt Rendon tries to catch up with him on guitar. It's a moment worthy of S.F. Sorrow-era Pretty Things, with Lopez presenting himself worthy of a Keith Moon Medal of Honor.

The Resonars harken back to Cavern Club days on "Little Spoiled Baby", a simple blues rant. This sounds like the song that inspired The Thamesmen to pen "Gimme Some Money". There's also plenty of pop. "Way Way Way Way Out" is a great bit of jangle, with John Rendon's creamy vocals laying on top of the guitar magic. Proto power pop is the order of the day on "Flood Lamp Eyes". This song has the sound I think The Las were hoping to achieve on their sole LP release. This song deserves multiple cover treatment. Meanwhile, "Slice of Today" is the now sounds of 1964 turned into the now sounds of today.

This album is well worth the three year wait. The Resonars have clearly defined their own space on the garage rock continuum, and any lover of hard edged ‘60s pop should try this out.

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Wire
Read & Burn

(Pink Flag)

pinkflag.com

The first effort from the third gathering of Wire brings back the guitars, and the characteristic smarts. This six-song record shows the band reaching back to the past without merely recreating it, and coming up with a record that could only be Wire. All indications are the band plans to forge on, which is good, since this record is a welcome return that delivers a lot, but promises so much more.

The jagged minimalism of their early efforts is back, but they have not abandoned the pulsing sensuality (granted, an odd sensuality) that characterized their work from The Ideal Copy forward. These songs are generally more premised on rhythms, with less emphasis on melody. Although there is a lot of consolidation going on, the album that showed off Wire's talent at crafting incredible melodies, 154, is probably the least represented in the stylistic stew.

The band's vim and energy is spectacular, particularly on "Comet", which definitely describes the tempo. But for it's length (a hair over three minutes), and the inevitable polish that comes with experience, this song is very reminiscent of the music the band cranked out during the Pink Flag-era, with a very basic guitar riff and Newman singing against the music with a restrained vocal chanting lyrical mantras. This is pretty punky – The Weirdos' "Cyclops Helicopter" is a good reference point for the punk historians out there.

It's followed by "Germ Ship", which has a somewhat similar guitar riff (the guitars are very trebly throughout), but a slower tempo, and breaks down into fuzz guitar blasts and percussive synthesizers. The song itself is basic, with layers of instruments and steady drumming, and it just sounds fucking cool.

These are the two songs that are truly great. The others are just plain good. "I Don't Understand" has electronic drums and a vague industrial guitar sound. Newman is in full declamatory mode. Disc closer "The Agfers of Kodack" actually sounds a fair amount like The Fall, with narrative vocals and heaps of distortion. The song has a sing-song middle eight that provides a respite from the constant buzzing. "1st Fast" gallops along on Robert Gotobed's steady drumbeat, slowing down for Newman to croon about "indecision...indecision.. .indecision". Disc opener "In the Art of Stopping" may be the slightest of the six tracks, working one rhythm/melody combo for over three minutes, with just a juxtaposition here and there for effect.

This disc shows that Wire still has a lot to offer. Though everything on this disc can be connected to their past, the disc still sounds fresh. This is because the ideas that Wire has worked with from the beginning are substantial enough to withstand the rigors of time. Others have copped them and copied them, but no one has mastered these principles like the originals.

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Troy Gregory
Sybil

(Fall of Rome)

fallofrome.com

Detroit rocker with a varied musical past apparently drew inspiration from the notorious book about a woman with multiple personalities (and who can forget the classic Sally Field TV-movie adaptation?). Gregory joins forces with the hot garage rock producer of the moment, Jim Diamond, and 13 different area aggregations for a collection of tunes that touches on garage, psychedelia, blues, vintage N.Y.C. punk and other styles. That Gregory makes this hold together to end up with a cohesive and engaging album and not just a scattershot sorta-comp is to his credit.

If you're an Outrageous Cherry fan, it is probably worth having this disc just to hear what the band sounds like when not drenched in 30 sheets of reverb. On "Regrets...I've Had a Few", the Cherry plays a loosey-goosey blues riff (maybe a bit Stonesy), while the reverb (slight) goes to Gregory's voice, with OC providing some swell backing vocals. It seems that Gregory's biggest regret is that he is "blacking out" but he notes that "it's good for me". Must be a Detroit thing. Matthew Smith provides some patented fuzzy guitar, just to make his presence known.

Smith's other band, The Volebeats, provides the backing on the sinister folk of "Left My Mind Alone". The tune is deceptively simple, as the catchy verse does a melodic U-turn to get to the even catchier chorus. I'd love to hear this in a more rocking version – it is one hell of a tune.
In fact, superficially, it seems this album could rock more. I say superficially, because there have been countless bands who think that going balls out automatically equals rocking. Sometimes, however, it is more important to groove, or to swing. Gregory clearly knows this. On "Electrik Fool", Gregory and The Glow In The Dark Monsters take a two chord riff and throw in an off-kilter R & B groove and a loony organ solo to make a song that is energetic and relaxed.

Gregory scores plenty more hits. "We Work the Lines in Your Hand" is slightly quirky/slightly polished, a la Captain Beefheart's work with producer Ted Templeman (Clear Spot), as the tempo lurches and the slick horn bridges sound so cool. The Sights are one of the poppiest garage bands around, and Gregory's "Leave the Ghost at Home" is perfectly suited for their talents, a real head shaker of a tune. Gregory and Diamond team up on "Down 2 the Last Santa Claus", which creates a Jesus and Mary Chain atmosphere. And Gregory and They Come In Threes conjure up memories of Richard Hell and Television on "Rat Squad".

Throughout the record, Gregory maintains his cool and takes the whole affair seriously enough to know that he needn't take it too seriously. The sloppy nature of the record is not an affectation, nor is it overwhelming. I can't claim this is a great record, but it has that undefinable ‘it' that makes it easy to hit the repeat button before the disc hits the right track. Maybe it's because the songs are on par with the attitude.

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The General Store
"Local Honey"

(Not Lame)

notlame.com

A mellow joy of a disc. Tam Johnstone, the son of Davey of the classic edition of Elton John's band, writes tunes that are as steeped in the ‘70s as his Dad. His songwriting style often mixes a country-rock approach with a pop sense that rivals classic hitwriters like Graham Gouldman.

The opening cut, "Letdown", immediately announces that this album is going to be something special. With pedal steel, guitars and banjo, the song has the earmarks of Harvest-era Neil Young. But the combo of Johnstone's appealing vocals and the rising melodies are much more 10CC. This makes for some potent pop, that comes close to following in the path of Cosmic Rough Riders, but carves out its own soulful mature poppy niche.

Then there's the stupendous "Long Way", which slots itself somewhere between the tender balladry of the early Eagles and the hearttugging pleas of Pernice Brothers. The rhythm guitars reverberate on the gigantic chorus – and I mean gigantic in both construction and length – it seems the building chorus is a lost art, but this chorus is a complex melodic construction, with an incredible arrangement – from the lead guitar figure that counters the melody to the backing vocals that come in at just the precisely perfect point. This song takes you for a lovely melancholy ride.

As does the fine rock-country mix on "Think I'd Best Forget You (one last time)", with a wispy pedal steel in the background and a melody that twists together The Lilac Time and Michael Nesmith. If only Johnstone had a country cry in his voice. Instead, he spontaneously breaks out into an upbeat middle eight comprised of a procession of "do did do dos". It captures the message of the song – he's sad his girl is marrying someone else, but happy to be carrying on.

Not everything smacks of Flying Burritos and Brinsley Schwarz. "Airport Breakfast" sounds like a ‘66 Beatles track performed by the ‘68 Beatles. That is, the song is basically punchy pop, played with a ramshackle charm that typified the days when the Fabs sported too much facial hair. The bottleneck guitar part even has a George Harrison thing going on.

Likewise, "Coming Down" is simply unabashed Brits taking American influences and turning them into lovely pop. This is a fairly spare track that illustrates Johnstone's terrific production. While this isn't mid-fi, it's not 48-track studio wizadry. This is just a guy who knows what he's doing. Johnstone has an instinct for when to let the instruments have their space and when to pile things on for effect. Every song is underpinned by his acoustic guitar, and it is at key moments when suddenly there will be some electric guitars, sitar sounds, loads of backing vocals and whatnot. As a result, he never sells a hook short.

There is only misstep along this wonderful journey. While the cover of The Thompson Twins' "Hold Me Now", recast into a folk-pop mode, is an improvement – partly due to the arrangement, and moreso because Johnstone is so much more pleasant to listen to than the flat, monotone Tom Bailey on the original. (I'll leave it to the synth-pop historians to make the call on who was more morose – Bailey or The Human League's Phil Oakey). Still, this song has a pretty thin foundation, certainly not enough to sustain over five minutes of disc time. Moreover, the song sounds all the weaker, surrounded by vastly superior Johnstone compositions.
These are compositions that sound so terrific, you'll be racking your brain trying to figure out if the songs have appeared somewhere before. Don't rack too much, as you'll miss the floating bliss of "Stay" and "Pretty Eyes", a love ballad so touching, that it may actually turn one of those mix CDs made to remove the ‘un' from ‘unrequited love' into an automatic score rather than a nice gesture. It's that good, folks.

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