The Fractals - Heavy Rotation

The Fractals - Heavy Rotation
2009, Kelvinsky Music

The Fractals have toiled in the background for years as members of other bands or well-worn session players. Vocalist/songwriter/guitarist Kevin Hanson has recorded with The Roots, Jay-Z and Usher, but his songwriting style has garnered him significant attention both with The Fractals and his previous band, Huffamoose. Bass-man Jim Stager plays everything, recording with everyone from Rosemary Clooney to punkers X. One of Philadelphia's top session players, Stager can play anything. Drummer Erik Johnson has recordings with Susan Werner, Mutlu, Lelia Broussard and Ben Schachter on his resume, and provides inspired drumming and soaring backing vocals. Guitarist Mike Frank spent two decades with Jim Boggia, and has also logged studio and stage time with The Disco Biscuits. When they come together as The Fractals, these four gentlemen are as unpredictable and virtuosic as their background might suggest, changing musical styles like a chameleon. This tendency is shown in fine form on The Fractals' latest album, Heavy Rotation.

Heavy Rotation opens with "Take Your Clothes Off Please", an old-fashioned song of pie-eyed rock n roll lust. The arrangement is very basic, and the treatment mild given the subject matter, but it's a solid start. "Priscilla The Killa" sounds more like a lead track, featuring a big, catchy guitar riff, high energy and a crunchy sound. "Dark And Stormy" features a 1970's smooth-jazz sound that seems very much at odds with the sounds on the first two tracks. The Fractals offer up some serious vocal harmonies in the process, staking out a wide berth for musical creativity. That easy-going vibe continues on "Isn't It Remarkable", a celebration in muted but lively tones. The vocal line here is a highlight, and the vocal harmonies exceed beauty.

The Fractals go back to a straight-ahead rock n roll sound on "Buried Alive", with an urgent feel and some serious guitar solos. "That Girl Tonight" is a song of encouragement with something of a country feel. It's an invitation, or perhaps an exhortation, to give up conformity and be yourself. Irony rains on "The End Of The End Of Days", the anthem of a disillusioned Christian rocker who has made a career writing songs about the coming end of the world but who is now questioning whether it's all true. The Fractals close with "She Gets Me", a post-modern love song of sorts. The arrangement here is a bit rough; making it seem like the band lost steam with the song at one point and just engaged in repetition to fill out the space. It's the least melodic track on the album and may have been more appropriate as a non-album track.
H
The Fractals dress up their music to impress on Heavy Rotation, expanding musical horizons wide enough to lose direction at times. Heavy Rotation is a solid effort with strong and weak moments. Kevin Hanson is in his usual good form, and Mike Frank helps to fill out the band's sound admirably. Heavy Rotation isn't perfect, but it's good enough to stick on your personal play list for the summer.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about The Fractals at http://www.thefractals.com/ or www.myspace.com/thefractalstunes. Heavy Rotation is availbable electronically from Amazon and iTunes.

The Public Good - A Varied Program Of Stereo Dynamics For Your Wild Nights Alone

The Public Good - A Varied Program Of Stereo Dynamics For Your Wild Nights Alone
2010, Lost Lyrics

The Public Good are led by John Elderkin and Steve Ruppenthal, singer/songwriters and former partners in North Carolina rockers The Popes. While The Popes have gone the way of the Do Do and the purple-spotted Snorklewhacker, the distinctive dirty pop sensibility of that band lives on in The Public Good. The Washington, D.C. based band spices up their live shows with solid songs, costume dramas and even the occasional brain teaser, while musing musically on the trials and tribulations of adulthood. The Public Good follows up last year’s No. 1 with A Varied Program Of Stereo Dynamics For Your Wild Nights Alone, an unapologetic and lively mix of wit, wisdom and wild bouts of fancy.

The Public Good opens with "You Looked Good", a solid rock n roll tune with a crunchy Americana feel. Lyrically repetitive, The Public Good keeps the song interesting with a low-fi sound that feeds your head. "This Is What We Want" continues the catchy, crunchy rock-n roll. The sound here isn't exactly garage, but the distant cousin concocted by an electrical engineer with a lot of spare time. "Black Ice" is an interesting change of pace, looking in wonder at the ability of illness to tie us to loved ones in ways good health and happiness never quite accomplish. It's a lively but thoughtful take on life, love and death.

"Cooking For Two" is a lighter number, having some self-deprecating fun with Elderkin's reliance on his microwave as a mark of manhood. The merriment continues on "Hey, Solomon Grundy!", a rowdy take on the classic children's rhyme. This tune is a lot of fun, and great fodder for live shows. The Public Good goes instrumental with "Slow Day At Work", a solid but unexciting turn that acts as an intermission of sorts. "Your Product Name Right Here" details the virtues of selling out as a band with a sung chorus and adolescent banter about all the good stuff they'd buy. It's an entertaining diversion that most every band daydreams about at one point or another. "My Pre-Existing Conditions" is the best songwriting on the album, with Elderkin laying out all of his shortcomings early in a courtship to avoid rejection later on. It's a brilliant tune that's funny but too well crafted to be considered novelty. The Public Good closes out on a comically incomplete note with "And Then We Ran Out Of Things To Talk About". You'll see the ending coming and it will still make you chuckle.

The Public Good seriously don't take themselves too seriously. Similar to the process of a highly intelligent actor playing a "dumb" role, The Public Good find their comedy in juxtaposing reality with the adolescent proclivities of society at large. Musically low-fi, The Public Good allows themselves the room to get messy with life's foibles and explore them at ground level. Consequently, A Varied Program Of Stereo Dynamics For Your Wild Nights Alone avoids brilliance by rising above it while sinking into the depths of everyday life with observations and conjecture that fall outside the collective box of groupthink. Make some time for The Public Good and A Varied Program Of Stereo Dynamics For Your Wild Nights Alone, and don't be too hard on the paper dolls.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about The Public Good at http://www.thepublicgoodonline.com/ or www.myspace.com/thepublicgood. A Varied Program Of Stereo Dynamics For Your Wild Nights Alone is available from http://www.thepublicgoodonline.com/ on CD. Digital copies are available from iTunes.

The Wildy's World Top-40 of 2008: #20-26

Ah yes, the dreaded end-of-year lists have begun. Not being able to resist the call of annoying pop-culture end of year lists, we here at Wildy's World thought we'd tear our hair our trying to present you with the top 40 albums we've reviewed in 2008. The albums had to be released in 2007 or 2008 in order to be considered, and a total of 537 albums were in the mix. This means the forty albums we'll present over the next 10 days comprise the top 7.5% of submissions in 2008!Each listing will give a very brief statement about the album, and the artist name/title will serve as a hyperlink to the original Wildy's World review, where you can also find links to the artists' website and links to purchase their CDs.

Today we are covering #'s 20-26. We're creeping our way towards #1...

#26 - Autumn - Velvet Sky

The Texas singer-songwriter's second album is full of quiet grace and fortitude. A songwriter's songwriter, Autumn paints velvet sky like the master artist that she is.


#25 Stephanie - Stephanie
Contemporary Christian Pop music that's good enough to break out into popular radio. If you want to see what the future of Christian Pop looks like, take a listen to Stephanie.


#24 Blue Rabbit - Separate

Delightful Baroque Rock from San Francisco! Cello, drums and Celtic Harp supporting the angelic harmonies of Heather Anderson, Arami Reyes and Sarah Rocklin make this a sparkling listen.

#23 John Taglieri - Everything We Are EP

Great pop/rock songs that are intelligent in lyric and catchy enough to warrant serious attention. Taglieri is a rare combination in today's music world.

#22 Katie Haverly - Around The Bend

Somewhere between Joni Mitchell and Aimee Mann is where Katie Haverly lives. Around The Bend is as much a musical declaration of self as anything else, and it's brilliant. One of the best kept secrets in the Northeastern US.

#21 O.L.D. - I Live In A World

Former Huffamoose front man Craig Elkins is back with this eclectic and tasty set of pop/rock gems. It'll take a few listens to get this one, but you won't regret the effort.

#20 - SPiN - Spin EP

Theatrical Rock N Roll at it's finest. Big guitars, soaring harmonies and inerrant pop sensibility land this Philadelphia DIY band at #20.

Review: O.L.D. - I Live In A World

O.L.D. - I Live In A World
2008, Fake Record Label Records

Craig Elkins is known to fans as the former front man of Huffamoose, and has long had a reputation for honest, expansive lyrics that border on catharsis. Along with Larry Chaye De Gasperin he formed O.L.D. as an outlet for his more recent writing, much of which coincided with or was inspired by moving to L.A. a few years back. I Live In A World is a series of musical soliloquies developed from a time of upheaval and new opportunities in a life defined by family and music.

Everybody's Bitch describes the frustration felt by Elkins at being tied to the needs and requirements of others in order to support a family and develop himself. It's an anthem that most any working person with a family can identify with as it examines how difficult and yet seamless the transition from narcissistic individual to productive member of a family/society can be. The song itself is great alt-rock stuff: highly memorable and infectious. You'll be humming it for days, and singing it in your head every time your boss drops something new on your desk. The Cookie Song is a hilarious look at self-denial for your own good. It's full of a tense energy that is part desire for change and part longing for the comfort of old ways. It's a bit of fuzzy pop genius.

When The Gloves Come Off is built around a great guitar hook. By the time you get through When The Gloves Come Off you'll be convinced that Elkins has distinctive gift for catchy pop songs in a fuzzy/dirty jacket. There's an almost Beatles-like sense for melody lines that will stick in your head like good oatmeal on the ribs. The sound is a little bit messy, like a live a recording; reflecting the almost haphazard genius that seems to define Elkins' compositions. The title track, I Live In A World, reflects upon the sad state of modern society where being friendly to the wrong stranger can have bad consequences. This is particularly reflective of life in a major city such as L.A. or New York.

Truth to tell, there isn't a weak song on I Live In A World. Hey, Where Ya Goin'? sounds at first like an intervention with a family or friend until you realize Erlich is chastising himself. Lost Soul is a quiet moment against the fast pace thus far. Full of a lyric melancholy that is sad but distinctly beautiful, Lost Soul is one of the true highlights of I Live In A World. It's All Good Baby takes on a distinctly Americana flavor and serves as a reminder of what's important in the middle of the day to day maelstrom of life. The album closes out with I'm Always On The Wrong Side Of The Road; Let's Ride It and 3000, all strong songs.

O.L.D.'s I Live In A World is a surprising album. It took me a few listens to get into this one, but the effort was definitely worth it. It went from an album I wasn't particularly excited about to a personal favorite in the course of about ten spins. Craig Elkins is a distinctive voice, both as a singer and songwriter, documenting the slice of life he's been dealt in unusually honest and unrestrained terms. I Live In A World is a Wildy's World Certified Desert Island Disc, something I never would have imagined at first listen. Let O.L.D. surprise you too.

Rating: 5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about O.L.D. at http://www.oldtheband.com/. You can purchase a copy of I Live In A World at www.cdbaby.com/cd/oldtunes or via download on iTunes.