New England Music Scrapbook
The Swinging Steaks

The Swinging Steaks

• Jim Gambino
• Tim Giovanniello
• Paul Kochanski
• Jamie Walker

They are joined on KickSnareHat by drummers Joe Donnelly, Craig Macintyre, and Scott Mitchell. Clayton Young plays bass on "Freeman."

Swinging Steaks
KickSnareHat
Thrust

A decade ago, a band of local rockers got interested in roots music and transformed themselves into the Swinging Steaks. Suicide at the Wishing Well, their debut, drew much fan interest, as well as critical praise, and earned a major-label release for the followup album, Southside of the Sky. And now after building a sizeable following from Boston through the Mid-West, touring across the country, and making a successful singing trip to Asia, they have delivered KickSnareHat, their best album in years. The Steaks play, as usual, like a well-rehearsed outfit and show us a few new twists in their instrumental sound. And they sing a varied batch of excellent original tunes in close, dazzling four-voice harmonies. KickSnareHat gathers around Jamie Walker's "Water the Desert" -- sort of a Country-meets-New-Wave song. Among other highlights is Tim Giovanniello's "Win Again," with its joyous chorus, "I'm gonna win, I'm gonna win again; I've been trying time and time again." Same for the Swinging Steaks.

Swinging Steaks hold a CD-release party at Cambridge House of Blues on Saturday, June 24. -- Alan Lewis

A slightly edited version of this notice appeared in the Calendar section of the Boston Globe on Thursday, July 27, 2000. For information about how these guys became the Swinging Steaks, please visit our profile of the earlier band, the Drive (original lineup: Pat Dreier, Paul Kochanski, Tony Paolino, Jamie Walker).

Discography:
"Beg, Steal, or Borrow" on North by Northeast (CD, Northeastern, 1991)
Suicide at the Wishing Well (CD, Thrust, 1992)
"Live with Me" on Boston Gets Stoned (CD, BoTown, 1993)
Southside of the Sky (CD, Capricorn, 1993)
Shiner (CD, Thrust, 1995)
Bare (CD, Thrust, 1997)
KickSnareHat (CD, Thrust, 2000)