33 rebellions per minute
"Let my strings ring out of tune"
1998
Sean M Quinn, WATERCLOCK
The line between "sonic signature" and "horrible mastering error" is a fine one, and it took me three listens to WATERCLOCK to decide I was hearing the former-- your mileage may vary. Quinn's voice is a slurry cross between Tom Petty and early Bob Dylan that sounds somewhat tape-mauled and distorted but probably isn't. His guitar rings out power-pop, cleanly electric melodies in a Marshall Crenshaw vein, but sound like basement recordings being made while you're upstairs in the kitchen. The bass notes, when strummed slowly and one at a time, rub into each other queasily. The cymbals and hi-hats paint the treble range neon where they should use pastel. It might be a budget issue-- Guided By Voices's VAMPIRE ON TITUS had a similar un-sheen. But other GBV albums mostly didn't (at least with such consistency), and I've never heard anything else quite like it, and it's increasingly clear, as I press "Play" again, that it's actually an effect I like.
To determine that the songs are catchy took one listen. "Skyward"'s guitar fanfare suggests Big Country covering a traditional war dance, while the verses are forcibly paced by erratic harsh bass riffs. "Working For The Bank" is energized Country Joe and the Fish folk protest with heavy skipping drums and a ripping guitar solo in the middle. "21st Century"'s jungle drums introduce a guitar effect remarkably akin to Ian Anderson's fluttering tongue-flute, making the song sound like Jethro Tull inserting a solid march amid their usual rhythmic unsettlement. "Melanie"'s distorted surf guitar is aided by drumming just a little too ingenious to be accidental. "I Liked You Better" sparkles like TURN TURN TURN era Byrds for 15 seconds before turning into proud Social Distortion working-class punk (including the roughened Mike Ness-y singing), then synchronizing the impulses. "Soles In My Shoes"'s verses play robotic bass eighth-notes in a winding melodic counterpoint against a loosy-goosy guitar line and high-stepping drums; the chorus toys with space, sharp dynamics, and a mousy percussion clutter. "Desperate Dreams" is more Social Distortion, only with an uplifting tuneful hook worthy of radio overplay. "Sadie-Jayne" hesitates and worries over every beat, getting them all a bit late and weak, in touch with lyrics about "when I get near you, I never know the right thing to say".
What's especially impressive-- and unexpected, in the context of a low-budget songwriter who recorded these songs, about feelings and awkward love affairs and corrupt politics, with friends over a period of ten years-- is the thoughtful attention to detail. Song intros work quickly through alternative hooks that resemble, but differ, from the choices made following. A line is sung once close to the microphone, then away from the mike next time for contrast. The whole percussion array reforms every two lines if that's what it takes to follow a mood shift. Guitar textures, though all within broad power-pop specifications, are tested by the dozens, many of them not really sounding like errors even the first time. Choruses come with pre-choruses preinstalled, and the transitions double as hooks. Endings, though occasionally 30 seconds too late for my tastes, sound final when they come: clear signals that an event has occurred and can now be written up and eulogized. Whether any more will arrive in the next decade, I do not know, but WATERCLOCK, at least, is available from Bear Flag Records in Oroville, CA or from Sean, smquinn@hotmail.com, himself, and I hope he ends up motivated to try a new album sooner. I'm Working For The Bank myself this summer (while we're answering your questions may we please update our records with your current income you need not include spouse's income alimony child support or maintenance payments unless you're using them to establish your credit thank you for choosing citibank have a lovely day); a life in the arts, or at least a vacation paid for by them, seems especially worthwhile by the comparison. Besides, I needed something in my "Q" section that didn't begin with "Queen".
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