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WILCO
Of Jay. 7 •
'_£pc reprise
»s :r-at Jeff T.vfcecy
;> Farrar probably
5: • Fee- Gone such -moredio’e occu'-'i-::-
T--.ee oy to ,.p the ante T l '-a album's scene-?
3a-: .-.all c organs, guiiafs and oach.-.aroi
. oca ; that strengfy recall Big Star’s Hrooa
. * c -’ ' J - : - v, ~ r& •.‘•’•CC 'T.VC .Oy dre i* t-!y h£-S
beyond Ire coo song aesthetic Sc'-g tec
tccc’me entrancea vviih tr,e whole rc-cord-n-
As -as been trumpetedadnavsham ac:
. the t.gbirope your second time arcuna v.ith
sce-i. 'oc.-v-/:: n~$$ or jus: a simp ■_ tacK cf -
Ous Wooing in this format, obvosjs: ,• the-::
n: r e lamCa: n gh & fereopme-ness s ere-.
-Wcno Got in Store:’ “Someday Soon , p„-
( Quits %nd (Gutta Sight) Version n ‘.V- ,
<Was i) In Vpur Dreamfe") — this <s rovefa::
auburn j - deen treasures (the odd catch ir
the Slight ; out-of-tune guitars, the sc-.?-doc
odd use of instruments like the ciavr-et. Fa-f
t- s. W, co Png the dark hofse in the rz:.
teased an .overlive,beautiful, dark, s arson :
-pc'ten; lesson in m.ak -o rr.us c
re .vas no One there to baisgce out Jeff ,s pop
r-r. out:y quality that made Anodyne r ' oven
: re-y both felt open-eraed Lca.e c to t.'
uhcerstocS Deg r s with a churning, d sccr-
ns that melts into an atmosphere piano ?.r.d
*te t- s Sengmcre than any other that pc yes
cea- y tne band *S attempt -g to move far
be damr-es. :$ obvious that Wucc rave
rt C r CC£S c
e ng There, it is a double album To go cut or,
”■ - wealth of songs <19. to be exact) could
■g S' -is but very tticy here is extemperpne*
- as more room to stretch outsome of the
f * no- Lcne-iy *,. Far Far Away. "What's-The'
to mese guys embrace the Beach Boys
3 You Wanna Live') or the Faces ( Monday."
oc -- us e t i! leave it to you to discover this,
:o,s .'oce when he's bearing down vocally
that creeps into almost every song the
rgan and — I think — a meilotrer.). but knew
yydead fJ.c Depression' wars, have re-
; cccasicnaky briYan; atvm tnal proves that
'■ ng in love with muse
Jason Slatton
the mark, but he makes up for
it when he is on track. Like
hanging out on the front porch,
the fresh air and company are
great, but every now and then
you're bound to get a splinter.
Neil Swanson
DUANE JARVIS
D.J. 's Front Porch / Medium
Cool Records
Singer— jwriter Duane
Jarvis is an oid-style country
crooner. Somewhat in the spirit
of Dwight Yoakam. he is rooted
in honky tonk, but he gives it a
different twist. Jarvis borrows
pop and blues conventions,
winding up more akin to the
Gear Daddies or Freedy
Johnston.
On his album D.J.'s Front
Porch. Jarvis tackles an over
done metaphor, but he delivers
with a crisp set of tracks swing
ing between folk and hard-
edged electric blues. To his
credit, he plays it very straight,
avoiding punk-country cliches
and capturing a politely, hon
est feel. While the album
sounds too polished for porch
music (thanks to Jarvis and
Replacements' producer Peter
Jesperson), Jarvis could eas
ily drop the accoutrements,
grab an acoustic guitar and
wail away.
Jarvis has a pleasant way
of delivering a lyric. His si iarp
voice occasionally bends the
pitch around the words, toying
gently with a guitar-driven
melody or bouncy piano. While
most of the album features
strong backing musicians,
Jarvis finds a truer aim with
slower, softer tracks like “Three
Weeks from Christmas" and “I
Can Hardly Wait."
Occasionally, Jarvis misses
|
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TRUSTY
The Fourth Wise Man/
Dischord Records
The Fourth Wise Man,
Trusty's second full-length re
lease on Dischord, adds a
poppier sound to the DC label's
stable by melding shifting tem
pos to California pop-punk vo
cal harmonies.
The Fourth Wise Man has
an almost schizophrenic na
ture. The songwriting split is
extremely apparent. Introduc
tory vocal novelties mark
Bobby Matthews' songs. “The
Other Shoe" begins with an off-
key, a cappella voice that soon
disappears into the heart of the
song. Likewise, “Candy” starts
with faraway, spacey vocals
that sink into the heavy guita r
texture that characterizes
much of the rest of the track.
The guitar interludes allude to
these vocals through their
back-masking quality. James
Brady's compositions have a
more straight-ahead punk-pop
structure to them. However, he
is not loath to add seemingly
incongruous elements into
them. For example, a cheesy
metal guitar duel punctuates
"Shawn Tucker." On “JB1." a
simple harmonica part adorns
the song. Although Brady's and
Matthews' songs are distinc
tive, they do share some com
mon features. They are long,
monotonous and boring. The
tempo changes and disparate
styles just don't fit well together.
Perhaps if the songs had been
shorter and more tightly
crafted, I wouldn't have lost in-
tarest so quickly. At best. Trusty
is generic.
When they query “What
you gonna take me for, a loser,"
(“Unsnowplow") I just have to
say that the fourth wise man
probably ought to know al
ready. (Dischord Records,
3819 Beecher St.. NW, Wash
ington, DC 20007)
Sheila McAlister
BIG’N
Discipline Through Sound/
Gasoline Boost/Skin Graft
Records
BIG'N returns with an aptly-
titled album that is staunch on
discipiine and massive in
sound. Recorded by Inibla
Nevets — you figure that one
out and I'll give you a big kiss
— BIG'N unleashes that “Chi
cago' sound so many of us have
come to love, if you are not famil
iar, discipiine is very important to
this sound structure. Taut rhythms
are necessary lest the framework
collapse and the s^ngs tend to
get rather messy and incoherent.
No such oroblems exist here.
Throbbing, heavily com
pressed bass work is the true driv
ing force behind this powerful
and evoca.ive album. The off-
kilter guitar work is just edgy
and crunchy enough to rub you;
exposed nerves the wrong way
and get your attention The
drums are jackhammer solid
and the vocalist sings with a
pained delivery that makes me
think he enjoys gargling glass.
I like that.
BIG'N is one of the better
bands I've heard with this type of
physical, rather tangible sound.
The power quotient is high, and it
never gets tedious. This is an
excellent release anc one you
should look out for. (Skin Graft,
P.O. Box 59, London, England
N22 1AR/ P.O. Box 257546.
Chicago, IL 60625)
John Mincemoyer
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