Ezra Furman – Perpetual Motion People or The Ballad Of The Distracted Squirrel

November 3, 2015November 3, 2015 / ds barrett / Leave a comment

The wheels roll on as I jerk my car to my left to avoid a squirrel bouncing across the road without it giving a thought to its near death experience. I’m not sure if it was too busy to notice me or it simply didn’t give a shit, but it just kept hopping along without so much as a casual look in my direction.

Ezra Furman reminds me of that damned squirrel, and I’m happy about it. Shock, surprise, and from out of seemingly nowhere (ok, it’s his third record… so nowhere is somewhere) he arrives with a record that is cohesive and yet genre hops. The influences are recognizable but like smoke you can see them but never hold it.

His vocal phrasing is like a cross between Gordon Gano (Violent Femmes) and David Bowie while musically there is a whimsical quality that seems to cross early rock ‘n’ roll with the soundtrack for The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Add to this the kind of playful lyrics that would make Jonathon Richman, David Lowery (Cracker & Camper Van Beethoven) or Paul Westerberg swoon, and you get an idea of how difficult it is to place Furman within a defining genre box.

He has a maddening ability to be so direct you don’t know whether to laugh, cry or throw your arms up in rage as his observational storytelling is seemingly both turned inward towards his anger/humour, and outward at people who can’t seem to mind their own frickin’ business.

Take “Body Was Made”, it is both empowering for those who can grasp his refrain and angry at people who judge based on body image. It begins with an understated Modern Lovers vibe and then rips into a solo sax reminiscent of the Spiders From Mars as Furman sings “My body was made this particular way / There’s really nothing any old patrician can say / You social police can just get out of my face / My body was made.”

Like early Bowie, Furman seems to relish changes in identity, except rather than do it from album to album Perpetual Motion People is a record that does it from song to song, and sometimes, within a single song. “Haunted Head” deals with one’s own self inflicted torment. “Can I Sleep In Your Brain” seeks respite from torment with a wish to become co-dependent. In turn, “Lousy Connection” hides themes of emotional distance behind old sounds of Doo-Wop and killer saxophone leads. To a certain extent, Furman makes being screwed up sound fun in his unique version of a poetic stream of consciousness.

What you have here, is an artist who is so into his music that you’re not sure if there is any attention being placed in the here and now. And really… who cares? If he keeps putting out music as fulfilling as Perpetual Motion People, you’ll prefer geek dancing over analysis of muse.

On The Subject of Bucket Lists and Bands #1 or Dressy Bessy – Holler & Stomp

May 9, 2015 / ds barrett / Leave a comment

Sometimes you need a bit of candy to see you through the dark corners of life, and sometimes music itself needs to be lit up in bright colours if only to liven things up after a downpour; that’s when Dressy Bessy entered.

After the dreariness that was rock music in the early 90’s and the arrogance that was Brit-pop in the mid 90’s some kind of intelligent fun was needed. No one wanted a return to the days of hair-metal but what could fill the void?

Well the 90’s did provide us with some direction with power-pop bands like Shonen Knife, the 5,6,7,8’s, Matthew Sweet and The Posies, but another step was needed, and Dressy Bessy jumped right into my heart.

The dual guitar work of Tammy Ealom and John Hill provided promise to this music stalwart while Ealom’s delivery and lyrics had me dreaming of the sunnier side of things. Sure they sang songs of sunshine and their tones were 60’s surf/garage/Phil Spector poppy, but they just weren’t being over the top in their quest to relate. Instead it was sunny skies, sarcasm and observational humour used in a similar style to Cracker that had me fall for them. The only problem for me is that they never seem to make their way north to Toronto and they are pretty high on my bucket list of bands. Dressy Bessy just looks like they would be a whole lot of fun to see live.

Anyway, after my initial discovery of their music back in ’99 and then getting the old mail order CD’s from their various record companies and distributors over the years – I finally see the vinyl for Holler & Stomp.

It is gorgeous.

150 Gram Pink Splatter Vinyl

It sounds absolutely fantastic; especially on a summer day with a margarita, a comfy chair and a nice bit of shade. Which is kinda the point when I listen to their music; it’s a cool escape.

You can order it here. You can also hear a great song from Holler & Stomp below… Enjoy Folks!

Just because I feel like it… an out of place live review! – Cracker & Camper Van Beethoven @ Lee’s Palace

January 17, 2015 / ds barrett / Leave a comment

The great thing about blogging is that you make up your own damn rules about how to write whatever it is you decide you’re going to write about. So while I should talk more about the bands, I prefer to write a bit about the experience, and, well… sorry I digress.

The core of both CVB and Cracker have more than 20 years each in experience playing with one another; the odds of them playing a dud show sits on the right side of zero. Proof is that while both bands played the so-called “hits” (or fan favorites) early and leaned on material from their new records, it bothered no one. The audience, such as it was, seemed appreciative and responded in kind. CVB band members were having fun with each other and bringing it to the crowd who were of course shouting out requests that were in turn rightfully ignored, and cheers that were appreciated.

Cracker seems to have a new line up behind the Lowery/Hickman combo which showed at times with false starts and a keyboard blast at the end of “Teen Angst (What The World Needs Now)” that was just a wash over the rest of the band. However, the overall performance was fun and the fans seemed happy… in a weird kinda way.

Maybe it’s audience age (on the thinning hair side of 40), or maybe the stars were in some screwed up alignment, but things got strange in the pit of Lee’s Palace. First the audience was twisted in some reverse thought process where the periphery of the pit was packed shoulder to shoulder with fans while the stage area had plenty of breathing room. Then, someone best described as looking like a Ford brother (yes those Toronto Ford guys) started putting his “had ten beers too many” arms around people asking them why they weren’t willing to dance with him. My mind popped out the phrase “perhaps the beer stench and sweat are a factor… or maybe it’s the knowledge that large drunken men can be a bit on the intimidating side dude.” Fortunately, my mouth remained in check this time, and everyone avoiding eye contact with him sent his sorry dejected ass in another direction after only two or three songs.

Of course, this could have all just been theatre. Seeing the twisted images of broken people strewn throughout the music of both bands may have just presented the chance for someone to see it as performance art. An interpretive rendering of CVB’s “Lassie Goes To The Moon” with a twist of Cracker’s “Can I Take My Gun To Heaven.” Oddly, neither of these songs was played, so I might just be looking for excuses.

Regardless, it was an enjoyable night out with friends with two bands playing that I absolutely frickin’ love, so, I hit the ‘merch’ booth, bought the new Camper and Cracker CD’s (because they ain’t (yeah I know “ain’t” isn’t a word) on vinyl) and made my way home for an ear ringing night of sleep. Wish more of you people were there.