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Kurt
Sampsel
Reviews:
July,
2003
Scroll
down for Montage
The
Alarm Clocks
Yeah!
(Norton
2000)
As
a garage rock aficionado, an Ohio resident, and a person who’s
interested in regional rock scenes, it seems inevitable that
I’ve always personally been interested in Ohio’s
'60s scene and the various garage bands who made Ohio their
stomping ground. I suppose that’s at least partly why
I picked up this CD from Norton. Although certainly not as
significant to the Cleveland 60s scene as, say, the Choir
or the Baskerville Hounds, the Alarm Clocks actually seem
enduring, in a way, due to their very insignificance. Hailing
from the Cleveland suburb Parma, the group really seemed to
exemplify the qualities and characteristics of the archetypal
suburban garage punk group. Indeed, the cover photo for Yeah!
actually shows the Alarm Clocks playing in a bon a fide garage,
much to the amusement of the neighborhood kids. The CD is
quite obviously built around the two songs which composed
the group’s sole single release, which is probably its
strength as well as its weakness. The two songs, “Yeah”
and “No Reason to Complain”, have been featured
on many garage compilations in the past, and quite rightfully
so. Both are truly fine examples of what mid-60s garage punk
is all about, and are chocked full of attitude, raunch, energy,
and enthusiasm.
The
remainder of the CD, however, is composed of unreleased studio
sessions and demo recordings, none of which are particularly
inspirational. Apart from an original instrumental, “Tree
Stump Theme”, this unreleased material consists of a
rather predictable batch of cover versions, including such
requisites as “Louie Louie”, “Money”,
“Route 66”, and “Wipe Out”. The set is
so quintessentially mid-60s garage band that it almost reduces
the group to a cliché, and although the band’s
rawness is certainly there for all to enjoy, it’s still
probably nothing most garage fans haven’t heard before.
The packaging for Yeah! is very nice, complete with
some really cool photos and memorabilia, even including an
anonymous letter written to drummer Bill Schwark saying that
the group’s music was “lousy” and warning him
to “wise up”(!). All in all, although Yeah!
isn’t a bad CD, it seems pretty unnecessary, especially
considering the widespread availability of the classics “Yeah”
and “No Reason to Complain” on various compilations.
The band’s story is interesting, and those two aforementioned
tracks from their single are certainly prime, but the remainder
of the CD seems fairly dispensable. Yeah! is probably
a release which will be most enjoyed by true completists.
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Montage
(Self-Titled)
(Laurie
1969/Sundazed 2001)
http://members.aol.com/bocad/leftbank.htm
For
years, fans of the famed “baroque pop” group the
Left Banke have known of Montage, the mysterious group with
which Left Banke mastermind Michael Brown collaborated following
the breakup of the Banke. The Montage mystery was kept so
well simply because few people had ever actually heard the
ultra-rare album they released on Laurie Records in 1969.
Recently however, the good people at Sundazed put their collective
heads together and released this CD, which has finally introduced
Montage to a wider audience, and also has given Left Banke
fans everywhere exactly what they had been hoping for for
years: more baroque pop in the Left Banke mold. Still, although
similarities and comparisons to the Left Banke are unavoidable
when discussing Montage, the Montage album should probably
not be thought of as simply “The Left Banke Three”.
Montage
was a talented group of musicians in its own right, and although
their sound is quite similar to that of the Banke, Montage
were not simply Left Banke impressionists. Montage’s
music is so very evocative of the Left Banke because Brown
produced the group, made the vocal arrangements, and co-wrote
nine of the ten songs on the album, including “Desiree”
and “Men are Building Sand”, both of which had been
previously recorded by the Left Banke. The songs contained
on the Montage album are, by and large, lovely, bouncy pop
numbers full of melody and atmosphere. Some of the best tunes
on the album are the charming opener “I Shall Call Her
Mary” (which was released as their debut single), the
lively “The Song is Love”, and the curious “Wake
Up Jimmy (Something is Happening Outside)”. Ironically
however, perhaps the most exquisite song on the album, “My
Love”, was the only one which Michael Brown didn’t
cowrite, having been written instead by colleague Tom Feher.
Stylistically, the Montage album would not seem to represent
a linear progression from the Left Banke’s work; rather,
it seems as though it would fit more comfortably somewhere
between the Banke’s two albums-between the more pop-oriented
Walk Away Renee/Pretty Ballerina and the more ambitious
but varied The Left Banke Too.
The Montage album is very good, and although it is certainly
reminiscent of the Left Banke’s music, it remains distinctive
enough as to maintain its own identity. The much-awaited Sundazed
reissue CD adds to the original album tracks four previously
unreleased tracks of some value, and, as always for Sundazed,
the liners are attractive and informative. Fans of the Left
Banke-and of melodic, well-produced pop in general-will likely
find this album quite enjoyable.
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