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Turn Up That Noise!
By Stephen Grimstead
SEPTEMBER 8, 1998:
The Tony Rich Project, Birdseye (LaFace)
The Nineties have brought three new types to the arena of new-jack
soul men; theres hip-hop (DAngelo), boho (Maxwell), and Babyface.
Words, Tony Richs Grammy-nominated 1995 debut, was pure Babyface
expertly crafted, but a bit dull. Like Face, hes more of a
record-maker than a singer. The Project is mostly a one-man
outfit hes a songwriter, singer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist
whose compositional skills mask his limited vocal chops. The follow-up,
Birdseye, is kinkier, trippier, and more expansive, from the psychedelic
sunburst cover to the Princely vocals of Blue Butterfly. If
DAngelo is about attitude and Maxwell about groove, then Tony
Rich is about songcraft, which means that, musically, he gets
over on hooks, but also on lyrical specificity. He doesnt just
want to freak his new lover, he wants to baptize her in a bubble
bath and bake her a chocolate cake (take that, Prince), and when
she leaves, its not his heart that aches; its his stomach.
Birdseye jumps out of the gate with aplomb. On the title cut,
Rich falls for a honey in an Atlanta nightclub with Halle Berrys
eyes and a habit of folding her laundry in bed. Then, on Silly
Man, love makes him lose the cool that most modern soul men cling
to like life itself. Things flatten out after that. Third cuts
a pro-life (as in anti-suicide) song with Eric Clapton on slide
guitar (take that, Babyface), and the rest is pretty ordinary,
though Rich does direct his most sentimental love song at his
ex-wife.
Rich is honestly quirky in a way that Babyface will never be.
Who knows if hes able to tap into the physical bliss his music
keeps at arms length, maybe well be comparing him to Stevie
Wonder next time out. Chris Herrington
Those Legendary Shack-Shakers, Hunkerdown With
Various Artists, Todays Top Girl Groups, Vol. I (Spinout)
With rare exception, the current crop of major record-label product
is as predictable and obvious as death and taxes (and just about
as pleasurable). For a taste outside the mainstream, one must
look to the lowly independent music companies for sustenance.
Dont expect salvation from some trendy success stories who are
taken under the corporate wing and forced to produce cookie-cutter
music, as true sanctification comes from real outsiders without
connections.
Spinout Records is one of these glorious little outfits, based
in Nashville and brought to you by the Angels Eddie and Melanie
Angel, that is. Best known as a masked guitarist for Los Straitjackets,
Eddie Angel has impeccable taste in producing what today is called
roots or retro music, and his wife, Melanie, assists in the
promotion and packaging of Spinout artists. With eight CDs and
15 singles to their credit over the past four years, Spinout is
the little engine that could. (They also offer a lively variety
of some No Hit and Flipsville titles from the United Kingdom.)
Two notable recent releases are the second album (Hunkerdown With
)
from Kentucky kut-ups Those Legendary Shack-Shakers, and a snappy
compilation of modern distaff-led garage bands, Todays Top Girl
Groups, Vol. I.
A marked improvement over their first, self-titled CD from two
years ago, Hunkerdown With
finds Those Legendary Shack-Shakers
doing what they do best making feverish animal noises amidst
a clattering cacophony that sounds a lot like an old freight train
running off the tracks.
Whether theyre identified as punk-a-billy, psychobilly, or just
plain spasticbilly, Those Legendary Shack-Shakers jump into the
listeners face with the impact of a headless chicken spurting
blood on your finest carpet. You might be shocked at the crudity
of the display, but you wont turn away. These off-balance madmen
hold dear what others have discarded, and their whack-off world
of inbreeding, booze, and sin is a place for loitering with intent.
Lead reprobate Col. J. D. Wilkes sounds like hes yelping through
six-ply toilet paper wrapped around a greasy comb, and lead guitarist
Brian Bird-Dog Berryman plays all over the rocky road, even
in the ditches. If this music dont set your ass to twitchin,
then you must already be dead. Hunkerdown With
finds Those Legendary
Shack-Shakers earning their title and can best be described as
a hoopin and hollerin good time with some fellas who just aint
right, bless they pointy little heads.
Todays Top Girl Groups, Vol. I features 15 bands and 16 songs
with the ladies out front and on top. This is probably what the
British Invasion would have sounded like had the Beatles collective
testicles never descended (and some would argue they never did).
A truly international effort, the bands included hail from Japan
(the Pebbles, the 5.6.7.8s), England (the Diaboliks, Holly Golightly),
France (the Godzillas), Greece (the Meanie Greenies), Canada (the
Girl Bombs), and the good ol U.S.A. (Sit N Spin, the Neanderdolls,
the Bobbyteens, the Prissteens, the Neptunas, the Friggs, the
Maybellines, and my favorite girl-group name, Poontwang).
These lively lasses kick, punch, and scream their way into your
heart. All of the songs have their own peculiar charm, run around
two to three minutes in length, and rock like theres no tomorrow.
Being the horny male that I am, the Godzillas coital moaning
on Pass The Hatchet elicited a particular thrill in my loincloth.
One can only hope Volume II is not too far behind. David D. Duncan

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