ADAM PAYNE
Sorry Please Try Again
1 Independent release
AShens-bascd singer-guitarist
Adam Payne’s welt-crafted debut album
closes its eyes and carefully reaches far
deeper into the fragile, emotional comer
of Hie human soul than any smirking
demo tape currently popping out of the
yup-hippie Miens scene. This highly
personal collection o! acoustic pop is a
clean and focused effort. Paynei per
fectly enunciated soprano flirts with a
slight British accent from time to time,
but mostly sounds elegantly Southern.
Most of the 12 songs on the album
began as stripped-down, bittersweet,
love songs comprised of only five or
six chords on acoustic guitars. They
settled nicely into tuft arrangements
thanks lo com ritotions horn memters
of local acts Creekwater Sound, The
Fountains, King Daddy Zeb and
Drmeslore. Their additional instru
mental accompaniment never gels in
the way of Payne's lyrical lamentations,
winding vocal melodies or ‘good guy
having a bad day" notions.
“Lillie Heart’' hums along with a
simple likable groove. Underneath a
beautiful melody. "See Saw" wonders
“what we could have been’ I hen gradu
ally gains momentum wild an addi
tional bass line. The Cal S!evens*ish
’Time" admits the reluctance and con
fusion of “playing covers that represeni
the notions ol others."
Payne's high-pitched voice and
lev/-key, straightforward playing style
may remind some listeners of drowsier,
early-era Neil Young or even the slow
chic songs off Fleetwood Mac’s
Rumors. Others may recognize Payne’s
impressive ability to squeeze emotion
out ol simple, honest, spare-sounding
songs from the back of the head and
from the bottom ot the heart. (1395
Longwood Dr., Marietta, GA 30008)
Ballard lesemann
CAFETERIA
Knee Deep
Sackbumer
All-co unlry, insurgent country, No
Depression... whatever. Athens band
Cafeteria rocks. So what if main-song
writer Taylor Joiner has a draw! and
there's a bit ot a shuttle to the beat. And
then there's I he matter ol steel guitar
and banjo... but look at what this
album is ail abotil: concise songs about
love, loss and maybe a lew beets.
Alt right, so it slilf sounds like
country. But I’il be damned il Knee
Deep doesn't rock my soul
Accompanied by fine local musicians
like Adam Musick. Kevin and Matt
Lane, William Tonks, and many others.
Joiner sings from the heart. No matter
how simple the lyric, by God he means
il.
Check out "Stones,* wilh a great
beer-soaked sing-a-long chorus; and
’Righl," in which hungover frustration
flows like Pabst Blue Ribbon from the
pilcher at any given Cafeteria show.
From one song to Ihe next the album
ends loo soon, but I never hesitated to
start it right back up. Being knee deep
in sorrow has never lei! so liberating.
(P.O. Box 1212, Winder, GA 30680)
Fritz Gibson
LAST DAY DOWN
Boulders In The Rock Patch
lrntep«ndem release^
Credit must be given when it is
due: the guys in Last Day Down can
ptay their inslruments. Unfortunately,
their music isnt breaking any new
ground. The lyrics are banal and the
arrangements are preadable. But in ihe
world of Soulhem rock and contempo
rary blues, blistering guilar solos go a
long way.
Boulders In The Rock Patch defi
nitely has plenty of (hose, not lo men
tion an amazing rhythm section. "Got
Time?" shows that while they do have a
keen sense of time, the rifling comes
straight from Ihe book Hendrix wrote
with “Lillie Wing," a book that has been
used on many Black Crowes numbers
and Pearl Jam's “Yellow Ledbetter,"
raising Ihe question “Got Originality?"
Perhaps an untrained ear tails to pick
up any subtlety in phrasing, but why
search for subtlety when it’s already
been done several times over.
While I he pretty ballad “No Net"
offers a brief change of pace, il lacks
any real lyrical subs! a nee—which
vocalist Ferrill Gibbs seems lo be
striving for—and quickly leads back lo
[he style Ihe album began with on a
song ironically tilled "New Style. 11
Fans of this style ol music with
hills desire for change will enjoy what
Last Day Down offers to the world of
music: technically proficient musician-
ship and a slrong loyally !o those
before il. II you’ve been waiting to find
something to raise your interest in the
genre, wait for something more com
pelling. (125 Michele Dr,. Athens, GA
30601)
Fritz Gibson
UTTLERED ROCKET
IPs In The Sound
y Monolyth
So what if I tike pop? Isn’t lhat my
right? Jus! like it’s Orenda Fink's and
Maria Taylors right to have a female-
fronted band without being branded as
Veruca Sail clones. They're talented
songwriters with amazing vocals and
very respectable instrumental capabili
ties. Couldn't someone compare them
lo someone respectable like Tanya
Donnelly for a change? Ill avoid com
paring them to anyone, though, and
instead say that there are great pop and
rock songs on this album.
In ’Star,* one of the album's
strongest tracks. Ihe vocals are playful
without treading too close to cute,
which many mate fronted rock bands
can't even pull olt. "Sunday Driving"
and ‘California* are down-and-dirty
rock songs. On the last I rack, bassist
Jackie Ferguson’s and drummer Scott
Sosebee’s near-connlry swagger on Ihe
verse coupled with Ihe heavy-hearted
chorus makes ‘{Losl Souls) Low
Tones" an ideal album closer.
Little Red Rocket's got the songs lo
prove their worth as a legitimate rock
band. So whaPsall this fuss I’m hearing
over them taking advanlage of
Sosebee’s sex appeal? (P. 0. Box
900980, Boston, MA 02199)
Fritz Gibson
THE PLASTIC PLAN
Basic
Samizdat
Atlanta-based instrumental new-
new-wave liio Plastic Plan’s debu!
album is chilly, stiff, weird and
absolutely functional. The 12-soog col
lection aims for the same territory once
ruled by Ihe likes of Devo, Kraftwerk.
Wall Of Voodoo and Altered Images
{minus the squeaky vocals): a place
populated by machinery, robolic figures
and real horrershow rhythmic chaos.
This is music completely devoid of
anything resembling "the blues" for the
bespectacled, sci-fi, skinny-tle set.
Weil, there’s actually not a whole lot
of chaos on Basic, W's tight, [ocked-rn,
orderly and very mechanical. There's
hardly any sign of human life, though.
Aside from Ihe occasional Bonzo drum
lill from drummer Colin English (ex-
Toenul) or tire random accent or bent
note Irom bassist Dain Johnson {ex-
Merrills), things are super-chill. Tunes
drone on m 4/1 or 6/4 time, powered
by repeated eighth notes and a minimal
selection o! chords.
Much of the album involves relent
lessly robotic synlh-drums-bass pat
terns (no guilar whatsoever). "The
Plastic invasion' opens Ihe album wilh
a tumble of snare-kick beals and lorn
fills 3nd nervous synlh run from key
boardist Ashley Moody (ex-Servotran).
‘Speed Skate' and ‘Trapper Keeper"
pound away with a quirky space station
precision. The album’s strongest track,
"Geodesic'—a perfect soundtrack to a
documentary video montage about
modern technology in ihe Western
world—fays off the uptight, uptempo
freakout thing enough lo breathe more
loosely with a catchy melody and
danceabte beal. .. the basics to any
good pop 1 Line. (1132 Vi rgi ni a Ave. /9.
Atlanta, GA 30306)
Ballard Lesemann
VOLUNTEERS
fan AthFest 2000
There are many areas left
that you may find match your interests.
_ / ’ / 7nS^ N
Athxest
2000
IMBaMI
www.othfast.com
If kids ore your cup of lea we need hefp with
Ktdsfesi which will be held on Saturday from
2 7 and Sunday from 2-6.
There is the Eyeio// Musk VWeo Showcase
which needs volunteers to help set up the 40
Watt and decorate on Thursday, June 22,
Other areas include the vemes,
sponsor^ ortisftnorkefj and thsFfogpofa Musk
Awards*
it you would like to get involved, please get in touch
with the volunteer chairperson, Anita Pinto either by
phone at 54B-1973 ©r by e-maA at vduntee^cdrfest.com.
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