The Nautics - Black Light Doves

The Nautics - Black Light Doves

2010, The Nautics

The Nautics are a family band from Medford, Oregon, blasting out of the northwest with a vital surf-guitar sound heavily influenced by The Ventures, The Beatles and The Stray Cats.  Mike Seus (guitar/vox); Joe Seus (drums); Matt Seus (bass) and Paul Seus (lead guitar) coalesced over the course of a couple of years, but play as if destined to work together from the start.  The Nautics recently released their debut album Black Light Doves, an intriguing blend of surf, classic and modern rock.

Black Light Doves opens with the title track, a catchy pop song in the 1960’s style lamenting loss.  This, surprisingly, is a highly danceable number with tremendous pop sensibility.  Mike Seus has a great rock voice; not necessarily the prettiest one out there but full of character and he transitions well between chest voice and falsetto voice.  “Save Your Money” is a fun, danceable tune, maintaining the vibe until The Nautics roll out “Quarterlife Crisis”.  Full of angst and melancholy, there is nonetheless a tongue-in-cheek quality to the unrequited love song that you can’t ignore.  “The Sobbing Truth” is catchy surf-guitar rock, perhaps a continuation of the storyline from “Quarterlife Crisis”.  Halfway through and The Nautics are looking strong.

And sometimes a band would be better off stopping at an EP.

The rest of the material on Black Light Doves is sufficient, but doesn’t grab the listener the way The Nautics managed on the first half of the album.  “Sweetheart With The Strawberry Hair” starts the second half on a promising note; a catchy rock tune that will get stuck in your brain, but thereafter the songwriting is uninspired and mundane.  It’s very clear that the Seus can play and even have a talent for writing catchy rock/pop tunes, but in this case the allure of releasing a full length album brought the inclusion of a selection of songs of uneven quality.  I have no doubt that some of the less inspiring material here may work better on stage, but the second half of the album in particular just comes off flat.  Nevertheless, there's enough good music here to make the album worth checking out, and to postulate a bright future for The Nautics.

Rating: 2.5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about The Nautics at http://www.thenautics.com/ or www.myspace.com/thenautics.  Black Light Doves is available from Amazon.com as a CD or Download.  The album is also available from iTunes.

Review: Evil Farm Children - Evil Farm Children II: The Evilling

Evil Farm Children – Evil Farm Children II: The Evilling
2008, Dad’s Favourite Records

When Evil Farm Children step on stage it’s like introducing alcohol to a party, literally anything can happen. The Ottawa, Ontario, Canada power trio segue from Punk to Surf to Metal to Americana like runway models change their outfits and nothing ever sounds out of place. Dave Kerr (DeadBeatDads, WizzleTeeth) plays guitar and sings on most tracks, while Janice Fitzsimmons (The Ambassadors, Revv Engine) plays bass and sings; Jeb Bond (The Restless Virgins, Screaming Bamboo, Fenton Brothers, Purple, Evil Knievel, Tall, Freudhammer) beats the skins and keeps Evil Farm Children on track. Any of the three members might be musically impressive, but when they come together as Evil Farm Children something special happens. 2008 saw the release of their second album, Evil Farm Children II: The Evilling, which raises the bar from their self-produced debut EP Knuckleduster. When playing live EFC has been known to cover such diverse artists as Dick Dale, Black Sabbath, Tom Waits, Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn, Link Wray or Alice Cooper. Their original material is as unpredictable and fun to listen to. You’ll come to the conclusion that either they’re mad, or Evil Farm Children is a product of collective genius. We’re not ruling out either one.

The Evilling opens with Code Of Silence, a classic surf guitar rock song with a hint of rockabilly swing, like something from a Ventures session. Border Blaster follows a similar retro vein, getting back to Roots Rock N Roll in a classic party song. Booze Can is an interesting Garage/Punk/Surf hybrid that its feet firmly planted in the 1960’s. Much of the material here is fun to hear on CD but seems like it would be much more vibrant live. Valley Justice is interesting; written like a trail rider’s song to the slow beat of a plodding horse. The song has a dark and vaguely ominous quality with a bit of a “pulp fiction” sound to it. The highlight of the disc is the cover of Max Webster’s Hangover. While lead vocalist Dave Kerr isn’t quite as dynamic as Kim Mitchell, he manages to capture the gritty drunken essence of the song. Other songs of note are Knuckle Duster and Straight ‘N Narrow.

Evil Farm Children have a unique sound, call it punkabilly if you want; its close but not a complete description. I can’t say I was blown away by Evil Farm Children II: The Evilling, but it was a fun listen. I strongly suspect, from all that I’ve read about the band, that the live show is the thing here. Evil Farm Children did an excellent job of capturing a live sound on The Evilling, but the charisma of the live show is much harder to translate to a CD. Nevertheless, the songs presented here are bound to whet your appetite for more from Evil Farm Children.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Evil Farm Children at www.myspace.com/evilfarmchildren. You can purchase a copy of Evil Farm Children II: The Evilling at www.cdbaby.com/cd/evilfarmchildren.

Review: Toubab Krewe - Live At The Orange Peel

Toubab Krewe - Live At The Orange Peel

2008, Upstream Records

Appalachia. Home to scenic vistas, simple living, squirrel dinners and African-rooted folk music. What? Back up. Asheville, North Carolina is home to Toubab Krewe, a band that mixes traditional West-African music with a pop/Americana mix to create one of the most unusual combinations you've likely ever heard. Toubab Krewe was born in 2005, the partnership of five childhood friends: Teal Brown (drums), Drew Heller (guitar), Justin Perkins (kamel ngoni, kora, guitar), David Pransky (bass) and Luke Quaranta (percussion). Toubab Krewe has travelled extensively, studying with music masters in places such as Guinea, Mali and the Ivory Coast. Toubab Krewe has wowed crowds at Bonnaroo and the Festival Of The Desert in Essakane, Mali. Their latest release, Live At The Orange Peel (available January 6, 2009 on Upstream Records) captures their live presence in intimate detail.

Disbelief quickly turns to musical joy while listening to Live At The Orange Peel. I expected kind of a Paul Simon Graceland redux; instead I heard a brilliantly original and vibrant set of recordings that exceeded my imagination by leaps and bounds. The opening track, Autorail fell about where I expected musically, but Toubab Krewe weren't about to stand still. Lamines Tune seemed an interesting conglomeration of roots rock and northern and western African sounds. This is the catchiest of the tunes here and almost descends into honky-tonk at times (but not quite). Roy Forester features Justin Perkins on the kamel ngoni and special guest Umar Bin Hassan (The Last Poets) on the spoken word passages. Kaira is exceedingly beautiful from the opening, with Perkins creating sounds on the kora that sound like they may have been from and old Yes album.

51 Ft Ladder is more rock song than anything else, with the kamel ngoni sounding at times almost like a banjo. This is a great jam tune that could go on a lot longer than it does. Maliba carries an almost Caribbean sound -- all its missing is the steel drums. Toubab Krewe kicks out the jams on Moose, just to prove they can. This big, guitar-driven rock song has an almost Celtic feel to it and should appeal to fans across diverse boundaries. Live At The Orange Peel closes with Buncombe To Badala, which has a definite Dick Dale/Surfaris feel to it.

Toubab Krewe is one of the most unique bands I've come across. Their music is infectious and fun. You'll find yourself hooked from the first listen. Live At The Orange Peel captures Toubab Krewe in their best light - live on stage. Musically talented, Toubab Krewe adds to their performance by maintaining an ultra-high energy level. This energy comes across well on the CD, and likely only offers a hint of what there is to experience at a show. On the whole and excellent recording.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Toubab Krewe at www.myspace.com/toubabkrewe or http://www.toubabkrewe.com/, where you can purchase a copy of Live At The Orange Peel.