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Parrj
**
The &Sinjmers
AARON PARRETT
The Sinners / seif-released
Aaron Parretl describes hirnseif as a banjo
p'ayer who happens to play guitar on the side He HHm _ T _
plays live about 100 nights a year — sometimes A'.- Mm
announced, sometimes not Maybe.you've seen MBlI if, * t-
n in one of tus many guises playing guitar in
ners .There are even some other bands, many of F Br
which don't even have names yet With The Sn- 4
ner^, his first release, there is finally a document of ’ ™ pit
one of Athens’s best performers and best-kept se- • Mar «
crets The stories surrounding Parrett are,intrigu- T - 1 _( r ;K|M»,ir n -
ing/from his homemade mandolins to the rumor * *• t »• C> I/xj R5.
(which is true) that the inside of his banjo ts signed --
by the late great Bill Monroe, but it is the songs on this disc — all of which Parrett wrote — that
are the strongest indication of something special here Listen to "Cinco de Mayo." the first
track it puts Liz-Phair s recent song of the same nafne to shame
These are stories of broken and not so broken friendships across the country, and you
get the sense pretty quickly that Parrett has visited all of the places he sings about: check out
the wrecked narrative of "Charit^ Diilon" or the strange mixture of the celebratory and the
ominous in How High is the Water.Mama 7 ’
Above ail.- "Texas" is the standout piece or. this collection The melody of the chorus'
seems to res'de within the words — Every time I take a drink,The less of God’s light I
can see I can t read these lines new without humming the tune if ther^vere any jus
tice. this would be a hit single Note his control as lyricist But.don’t you come to Texas
•ook.ng for my stcne/l don't want out that cold brown watfer washing over my bones."
Parrett knows his American music, and he presents it without affectation. I can’t
resist saying that I’d love to see this guy's record collection This is a set that puts him in
tri§ company of the under-appreciated, sometimes all-but-forgotten songwriters and play-
ei% he often mentions and covers when he performs: Gram Parsons. Jerry Jeff Walker.
Norman Blake. Tony Rice — the list goes on. full of names few of us would recognize
Luckily. Parrett’is around, probably playing at a nearby bar Here s hoping he keeps
it up*
" - . Keith 0 Neill
SIDDA
The Crossing / Beoazzied
Siddal is made up of only
two people — Richard
Brinkley and Elaine Winters
Winters tackles all the vo
cals in a Harriet Wheeler
(The Sundays) meets Jill
Alikas (The Waterlillies) sort
of way — very powerful and
yet light, witn an almost
classically trained feel With
all the overdubbed vocals
and iayered melodies.
Siddal definitely has a slight
Cocteau Twins or
Rosewater Elizabeth feel.
Characterized by fairly
long songs (the average
length is over six minutes)
that are distinctly slow and
mellow. The Crossing is a
very rich, very layered and
very lush album. Production
is very important here, and
Siddal has done a very good
job with the quality of their
sound.
The only downside to the
album is the track or two
where Siddai attempts to get
more beat oriented and
speed things up just a tad
(which isn't much, relative to
the rest of the album). While
the lyrics are often tricky to
decipher because of the
many layers ana Winters' sur
real vocals, to some degree
they aren't necessary. The
music conveys much of the
message and mood — light
ness. darkness, transforma
tion. introspection, sadness,
love and journey — well
enough on its own. (Be
dazzled Records. PO Box
39195, Washington, DC.
20016, music@bedazzled
.com).
Jeff Montgomery
FORTUNE &
MALTESE AND THE
PHABULOUS
PALLBEARERS
Konquer Kampus / Hillsdale
Record Company
Konquer Kampus, For
tune & Maltese and the
Phabulous Pallbearers
(F&M&PP)'s latest release,
marks a change in their mu
sical focus. Although the or
gan, great vocal harmonies
and dancy kick are still there,
the band seems more influ
enced by the surf sounds of
Southein California than
those of the '60s Btuish Inva
sion. On tracks such as "Tally
Ho" and “Girls Ruin Every
thing," F&M&PP employ the
trademark vocal harmony of
early Beach Boys tunes,
whereas the sizzling surf-
tinged guitar of “If Push
Comes to Shove" and “Truth
Serum" belies this shift. A few
songs do break out from the
mold. "High Horse," probably
my favorite track, is a gritty,
blues-influenced number
reminiscent of "(I Got My)
Mojo." On the ether hand.
“Study Break" is a somewhat
annoying novelty instrumen
tal featuring a violin and what
sounds like a glockenspiel.
As a whole, the album
evokes the “idyllic" campus
life ot the '60s. Songs such as
"Pizza Party," "Cuttin' Class"
or “(Let's Go to) the Science
Fair" successfully create a
light-hearted look at college.
Through the sounds of clink
ing glasses, yelling and gen
eral hubbub, "Tappa Kegga
U.S.A." simulates the essen
tial rockin’ frat party. The
retro-collegiate feel of the al
bum is further enhanced by
the wickedly funny liner notes
and seemingly authentic
cover. The boys, they brag,
“have maintained a parent
pleasing 3.8 grade point av
erage. It might be even
higher if it weren't for Nat's D+
in Music Appreciation 121."
To top it all off, the very last
track is a PSA exhorting the
listener to be cool and stay
in school! Hey. if F&M&PP
This
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were at my school, I might
never leave. (Hillsdale
Record Company. P.O. Box
641592, San Francisco, CA
94164)
Sheila McAlister
FULFLEJ
Wack-Ass Tuba Riff /
Scratchie/Mercury
Ironically, as the Smash
ing Pumpkins are reportedly
moving away from “big rock"
pretension in favor of a more
subtle direction, Fulflej
(signed to Pumpkins' D'Arcy
& James lha’s own Scratchie
Records) seems to be pick
ing up the reigns on its own.
Last year's Microwave EP saw
the Richmond, Va.. trio leav
ing behind its dub/hip hop
roots for a more straight-
ahead (though still skewed in
all the right ways) approach
along the lines of what indie
rockers Karate might do with
songs written by the Pump
kins. What Fulflej brings to tne
formula is a welcome playful
ness, a desire to turn modern
alternative pop inside out
(while still retaining muen of
what's good about that
genre), and the general feel
ing that they've transported
you to some alternative uni
verse where everything looks
and sounds just a little bit
wrong. More power to 'en.
From the jazzy hyper-lounge
of “Pretty Light Destruction"
to the surefire radio hit “Work
in This Universe" to the mere
ambitious “Trust Flushed With
Colors" and “Silver," Wack-
Ass Tuba Riff is a solid, if not
exactly stellar debut. The bad
news is that songs 1-11 are
basically interchangeable.
Only the untitled 12th track
(Fulflej's only foray into rap/
hip hop on the record) is
much of a departure from the
“Work in This Universe" for
mula. The good news is that
the formula works, so
nevermind the bad news.
(Scratchie Records, 1914 N.
Milwaukee Ave, Chicago. IL
60647)
Marc Pilvinsky
THE WEDDING
PRESENT
Saturnalia / Cooking Vinyl
America
During their 11-year ca
reer, The Wedding Present
have alternated between two
main kinds of albums, featur
ing either mind-blowing ultra
fast strumming guitar squall
(as on 1989's Bizarro) or more
brooding, almost ponderous
droning (as on the stunning
Seamonsters in 1991). And
no band has been more pro
lific, especially in the '90s.
They outdid themselves in
1992, when they released
one two-sided single per
month, eventually to be com
piled on their albums Hit Pa
rade 1 and Hit Parade 2.
Through it all. David
Gedge has kept up his mid
range gruff snarling vocals,
delivering lyrics that speak of
disappointment, world-weari
ness and loss. Yet the overall
sound is energetic and
Dright. especially since the
band's 1994 major label (Is-
and) triumph Watusi, to
which the brand new
Saturnalia compares very fa
vorably. The now gem was
produced by Cenzo
Townshend and recorded last
summer in England. The
starkly understated booklet
cover yields few clues about
the musical personnel, and
not identifying the female vo
calist who harmonizes with
Godge on several tracks
seems especially rude.
Those quibbles aside,
however, let it be said that
Saturnalia is a completely
captivating piece of work. It
maintains that bright sparkle
of Waiusi, yet surpasses even
rthen
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