From the Dallas Observer, February 1st, 1990
A Little Night Mojo
by Clay McNear
Consider the buzz. It's that nearly inexplicable microburst of
consciousness that envelops one band out of, say, every few hundred or
so. When the buzz is on, the name of the act in question seems to be
rolling off every tongue simultaneously. The buzz is not like the
"bandwagon," which is a much more conscious and manufactured invention
of the human mind and the music business (devised by those acts that
lack a spontaneous groundswell of support, desperately want one, and
are willing to go to sometimes buffoonish lengths to create one). No,
the buzz seemingly comes out of nowhere and everywhere, makes a huge
racket, and then, mission accomplished, lopes off to enhance someone
else's career. It's all very sudden and strange.
New Bohemians owned one of the biggest buzzes in local history once, a
long time ago. Three On A Hill was sporting a dandy at last year's
South By Southwest Music and Media Conference. Last year at this time,
Austin's Poi Dog Pondering had a bad case of the buzz - and that's bad
meaning good. The most interesting thing about the buzz is that it
usually has nothing to do with real-world considerations like media
support or A&R scouting reports. The buzz transcends all that petty
day-to-day stuff; it seems more a product of fortuitous timing and,
perhaps, a little well-placed mojo.
Course of Empire (previously described in this space as "U2 with a
Bauhaus hangover") is the latest local beneficiary of the buzz. Which
is to take nothing away from the group's obvious talents. Buzzes rarely
happen to hopeless bands. It's just that Course of Empire, after a
couple of years of being lumped in the rank and file of all those other
fresh young bands with potentially bright futures, is looking more and
more like a hot number. In a sort of social stampede of taste, the band
has recently rocketed to number-one on the local hit list, with a bullet.
The tongues, as they always do, have started to wag. But it's not that
Course of Empire has suddenly blossomed into one of the big draws in
clubland; that's another flavor of buzz altogether - same genus,
different species, if you will. And it's the rare week, maybe even month,
that this band gigs live.
No, this buzz thing generally boils down to aesthetic properties. For
instance, when pressed to name the band that, petty realities aside,
should make it, the band with the buzz is almost always the first band
that leaps to collective mind. And petty realities aside, Course of
Empire should make it. That's what everybody's saying. And that's
important, but it's also the way they're saying it.
Course of Empire is the first Dallas band in this memory that has been
the subject of what you might call a local bidding war - the difference
being that this particular skirmish, so-called, had nothing to do with
money, at least not in any immediate sense. This unsigned relatively
unknown, and basically umproven act (if your yardstick is the standard
criteria of audience draw) had two promising indie record labels -
Patrick Keel and David Dennard's "national independent" alternative
label Dragon Street Records and Allan Restrepo's excellent, grassroots
Carpe Diem label - going toe to toe for the right to do what almost
every other act in the market would kill for: to release, and fully
promote on a national level, a full-scale album of original works.
Course of Empire was reportedly leaning toward signing with Dragon
Street and becoming that label's first (and thus showcase) signee. When
the smoke cleared, however, the band had picked Restrepo's Carpe Diem,
which released Rhett Miller's Mythologies last year and will unveil Ship
of Vibes later this spring. Restrepo says Course of Empire's debut has
been tentatively scheduled for a September '90 release on CD, cassette,
and LP. "This will be Carpe Diem's first fully promoted release. It will
be promoted all over the country," says Restrepo.
"I think everyone feels that Course of Empire is an exceptional talent,
and I think signing with Carpe Diem will be really beneficial for the
band," he says. "The band and myself jelled pretty well, and I think it
was just a matter of relationship. They were very interested in, quote
unquote, an extended family. We complement each other personality-wise
and on a lot of different issues. I pay attention to details, and I
think they like that."
"More power to them. We want them to succeed," responds Keel, who says
his understanding is that the band was turned off, for lack of a more
diplomatic way of putting it, by Dragon Street's condition of a multi-
album deal. "What it comes down to, it was a one-record deal instead of
a three-record deal. They had an offer of a one-record deal that,
obviously, was better for them. They have an opportunity to make a
record, and [the Carpe Diem deal] leaves them totally unencumbered at
the same time. Course of Empire is like a lot of other new bands. They're
overly afraid of commitment.
"In real terms, we're a little major label, doing what a major label does.
We're making a bigger commitment monetarily. We're not going to sign people
for one record. We're signing them to develop them," continues Keel, who
says Dragon Street's initial signee will now likely come down to either
Shoulder or Grains of Faith, two promising acts from Austin. "We want to
work with people and develop them over a number of years. If no major comes
along after the first album, we're there for a second, and a third, if
necessary. If a band puts out a first album and it's unsuccessful, what do
they do then?"
Restrepo, naturally, prefers to couch the Course of Empire signing in more
positive terms. "Course of Empire was in demand, and that's a good thing for
them and for everybody else in Dallas," he says. "It proves that the
business is evolving, and maturing, here in town. There's a new sense of
reality, with companies like Dragon Street and Carpe Diem competing for some
of the same acts. In the past, someone with a slight interest might have
been willing to invest a little money in a local act. We've got our new
distribution situation in place, and we're prepared to make a big push on
this band."
And there's the interesting twist to this story. Before many of you have
heard - or perhaps even hear of - Course of Empire, this band seems primed
for bigger things. That's not how it usually happens, but that's what
everybody's saying, and that's what the persistent buzz implies. But see
for yourself. Course of Empire is scheduled February 8 at Club Clearview in
one of its rare live performances. Those with their ears attuned to the
frequency of new things, I think, will be enchanted.
(
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geocities.com/sunsetstrip)