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Pop Soundboard |
Local musicians turn 2002 into banner year
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By Regis Behe
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, December 8,
2002
Sometimes
pundits refer to Pittsburgh as the city where trends go to die.
That might be true as far as fashion goes — ever wonder why the mullet promotion is so big at Pirates games? — but musically, the city is alive with everything from garage to rap to tried-and-true rock ’n' roll.
This year had many highlights. Local bands The Clarks, Rusted Root and The Juliana Theory all mounted national tours. Ernie Hawkins, a blues legend in his own time, played Japan. Tangerine toured Canada, and the Johnsons Big Band gets extra credit for daring to play shows with the gonzo writer Neal Pollack. Other groups made treks to Ohio, West Virginia, New York and New Jersey.
But you don't have to go out of town to hear good music. On any night, at a variety of venues, there's a local band playing its heart out. The following list goes to show there's plenty of talent to go around, for every taste.
HONORABLE MENTION
Jeff Miller's "Trying to Be Cool" is an underground, do-it-yourself release of pure pop music. Ashes to Ashes proved hard rock isn't dead with "Harder Faster." Fullproof's "Far Away From Now" highlights a young rock band of promise. Expatriate Warren King's "Filleted … Sauteed & Burned to a Crisp" shows why blues music is something less in Pittsburgh with him not around. Irish import and folk singer Mark Dignam's "… And One for All" is a quiet, unassuming release that shows not everyone's leaving town.
HONORS
· "Iron City Punk 3," various artists. From Anti-Flag to the Ultimatics, "ICP3" is a punk rock primer, a reminder that trends don't always die. Sometimes, they just go underground.
· "Sworn Testimony: The Billy Price Band Live," Billy Price. If you had to pick one musician with whom to drown your troubles, Price is your guy. He just might be the area's best singer in any genre.
· "Used," Brad Yoder. An underrated musician and one of the region's most accomplished and inventive songwriters. Also a tireless music advocate, Yoder has been instrumental in bringing artists such as Ben Arnold and Django Haskins to the Quiet Storm in Friendship.
· "Cigarette Beach," Grand Buffet. Fortunately, white rap's legacy is the Beastie Boys, not Vanilla Ice. No one does it better locally than Grand Buffet, a duo that combines smart rhymes with original, inventive music.
· "Pedal Hard," Paul Hannan. Quirky can be strange, but in Hannan's case, it's good. Solid lyrics and an original voice, combined with his off-kilter folk and pop songs, make Hannan a welcome addition to local stages.
· "Feel Like a Good Girl," Selena Catalina. Another original act that combines a penchant for jazz-oriented lounge and cocktail music with some of the wittiest songwriting this side of Randy Newman.
· "G: The Continuing Adventures of the Granati Brothers, " G. Despite 14 years between releases, the most talented sibling act to ever come out of Pittsburgh can still hit the fastball. Great harmonies and sterling musicianship are wrapped up in a time capsule of an album that sounds fresh and new.
· "Welcome to My Party," Rusted Root. Call it pop and Root. Arguably, the best-written of any of Rusted Root's albums, "Welcome" is the group's most song-oriented effort to date. Don't take that as a sign the band is selling out — the album's last song, "People of My Village," shows the band still can create hypnotic, groove-oriented music.
· "Another Happy Ending," The Clarks. They're the equivalent of baseball's Greg Maddux — solid, dependable and quietly brilliant in their craft. It's hard to imagine what local music would be like without them.
· "Forever Now, Nowhere Tomorrow," Shade. While a lot of bands are trying to emulate the garage band sound a la the Strokes and the Hives, Shade has the good taste to go to other sources. Would you believe the atmospheric post-punk of 20 years ago? This is the type of music New Order could have made if Ian Curtis hadn't killed himself — moody, ethereal and sometimes brilliant.
HIGH HONORS
· "Mean Little Poodle," Ernie Hawkins. For the past few years, Hawkins has been building a global career based on his unique grasp of the fingerpicking style of blues guitar. "Mean Little Poodle" showcases his effortless fretwork that makes him a rightful heir to predecessors such as Mance Lipscomb and the Rev. Gary Davis. Even better, Hawkins' roguish, sly vocals are his best yet on record.
· "Fingerprints," Joe Grushecky. Typecast for years as a bar band legend — or worse, a minor version of Bruce Springsteen — Grushecky proves he's more than a one-trick pony with this release that showcases his talents as a soul and R&B singer, as well as some rousing rock tunes. But the album's best song, "Rainy Day in Pittsburgh," sounds like it came straight from the Jimmy Webb school of songwriting.
· "Tangerine," Tangerine. How does a band come from seemingly nowhere to produce music that is incredibly good? The members of Tangerine practiced in seclusion for nearly a year before coming out fully formed. Comparisons to Pink Floyd and the Church are valid, yet only begin to describe this talented band's guitar-oriented, melodic sound. Definitely the musical surprise of the year.
HIGHEST HONOR
· "Better the Parcel Than the Post," Daryl Fleming. One of Pittsburgh's most eclectic guitarists (Watershed 5Tet, OPEK, Boxstep), stepped out with an album that is different from anything else released in town, and maybe anywhere. Who would have believed that political folk songs the ilk of "Jefferson and Liberty" or "Jimmy Carter Says Yes" could be so entertaining? Sounding like a saner version of Tom Waits crossed with Frank Zappa's affinity for musical experimentation, Fleming's debut effort is magical, and proof that popular music has not yet run out of ideas.