Review: Go Time! - Speak

Go Time! - Speak
2009, Go Time!

Chicago's Go Time! was born from the demise of longtime Windy City faves Prairie Town, coming together in October, 2007 with Prairie Towners Scott Niekelski (lead vox/ guitar); Mark Marketti (bass) and Steve Grzenia (drums) casting their lots together. Go Time! wasn't complete until ex-Cromulents and ex-One Million Monkeys axeman Paul Schmidt came along. 2009 sees the release of the debut album from Go Time!; Speak draws from the same well as fellow Mid-Westerners The Psychodots (aka The Bears); mixing a working-class vocal ethic with mildly crunchy rock tunes you can really dig into.

Speak opens with You Know, a relatively monochromatic rocker with a Lowest Of The Low guitar style and a mildly catchy melody. This is bar rock at its most essential; not highly memorable but good enough for a Saturday night. Rust To Rust picks up the pace a bit with an edgy guitar opening and a driving rhythm to kick things into high gear. Niekelski sounds a bit like Ian Anderson on vocals. This is an excellent tune, built on a melody you won't be able to shake and a compact, concise arrangement that keeps things moving nicely. My Suicide is a high-energy, upbeat song about giving up and walking away; more about change than death, the song is a thoughtful for a rock tune that features some killer guitar work. Too Far Gone has a classic Southern/Garage Rock sound, like something Skynyrd might kick around in practice.

Wait And See continues with the Southern Rock style in a catchy and solid tune that likely plays well in front of a crowd. The relationship angst here is a bit atypical for the style but works well. Hey Day breaks out the Rockin' Rhythm N Blues in a dark tune that sounds more like the Tragically Hip than anyone else I can think of. No Sense To Lend harkens back to the 1960's Folk/Rock scene with a tune that's a decent listen but doesn't make a significant impression. Just Don't Know Why, on the other hand, is highly danceable Rock N Roll that will have you up and moving before the intro's done. Cost lays it open with a bit of Guitar/Pop/Punk that's as fun to listen to as I'm sure it is to play. Imagine if the Ramones and The Knickerbockers jammed together; it might sound something like this. Go Time! closes out with similar energy on the guitar rocker Cut And Run.

Go Time! is a strong band with decent material and a fun and frothy Garage aesthetic. Speak is a fitting debut for a band that's steeped in the past but hasn't forsake the future. The melodies in here range from average to above average, and there's a distinct emphasis on structure (thanks to the rhythm section of Marketti & Grzenia) that allows the band to stay tight in spite of the Lo-Fi approach. Speak is worth checking out, although I suspect Go Time! has more impact live than comes across on CD.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Go Time! at www.myspace.com/gotimeband1. You can purchase Speak as either a CD or download through CDBaby.com.

Review: Steve Lieberman - Diaspora; A Folk/Punk History Of The Hebrew Nation

Steve Lieberman - Diaspora: A Folk/Punk History Of The Hebrew Nation
2009, Steve Lieberman

The Gangsta Rabbi is at it again, this time with a musical telling of the travails of Israel and her children on Diaspora: A Folk/Punk History Of The Hebrew Nation. Diaspora is a highly interesting song cycle; based in Lieberman's trademark Garage sound, listeners will be extremely lost without a lyric sheet. Whether it's the vocal mix or issues of diction, I found it next to impossible to decipher the lyrics. Lieberman goes a bit further than just detailing the struggles of Israelites around the world; he assigns blame. Lieberman essentially chalks up all of Israel's struggles to sin; implying that each time Israel is separated from her land it is because her people weren't following God's will. Lieberman incorporates the flute into many of the songs here ala Ian Anderson, as always, and even plays with electronic instrumentation from time to time. Midianites comes across as a bit of cultural trash talk to all the peoples over time who scorned The Hebrew Nation but who found the end of their own cultural lines while Rachel's children continued on. Meri'bah-Kad'Esh caused me to chuckle a bit; it's a song about being freed from Egyptian dominance and sounds something like a polka.

The Fall Of Jerusa'lem introduces electronic instrumentation along with flute in bass in what becomes an interesting if slightly messy sonic stew. 4th Diaspora: The Endtime makes explicit what Lieberman has implied throughout; Israel constantly fights for her own survival because of her own sin, yet remains God's chosen people. The album closes out with For The Children Of The Ga'Za, reaching out to the innocent victims of Israel's on-going struggle with the Palestinians, bemoaning the deaths of innocents on both sides along the way.

Lieberman never fails to be provocative and straight-forward in song. Diaspora is no different. Lieberman tells stories drawn directly from the Torah colored by his own personal insights and beliefs. The result is a historical perspective with minimal political shading that is compelling for its willingness to share the blame. Diaspora is an interesting listen, but it is truly Lo-Fi and may just not fly for some listeners. Nevertheless, Lieberman is always worth a spin.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Steve Lieberman at http://www.gangstarabbi.com/ or www.myspace.com/gangstarabbi. You can also read reviews of Lieberman’s previous CDs Overthrow The Government and Psych Ward. You can purchase Diaspora or any of Lieberman’s other 15 albums by emailing him at SteveLieberman@gangstarabbi.com.

Review: Chris Huff - Death And Texas

Chris Huff - Death And Texas
2008, Help Us Find Food Records

Chris Huff speaks/plays a musical patois that is unique in popular culture. He's played/sung classical piano, jazz bass, folk and rock guitar, a cappella, opera, gospel, bluegrass... you name it; he's done it. And it's all here. Death And Texas is the ultimate "gumbo", where styles blend and fold into one another until the differentiated ingredients give up their respective identities to some new musical identify that has yet to acquire a name.

Listening to the opening track, Hey Now Now, I couldn’t get the vocal similarities between Chris Huff and Peter Gabriel out of my head. Huff could be mistaken for Gabriel on the virtue of his voice. Granted Gabriel has never been known to play Matthew Wilder style pop-reggae, but it could happen. Huff sets us straight on Oceans Never Freeze, taking us on tour of his eclectic musical mind. The song veers from big Max Webster style alt-punk to classic rock opus with some Beach Boys harmonies and New Music dissonance thrown in for good measure. Ghosts Of The Past and Lost In The Mausoleum continue the disintegration into post-modern sound. Each song starts with clear melody and slowly devolves to the point of sounds overlaying one another at random.

My personal favorite here is For The Trees, a dark and dirty blues/reggae hybrid. While For The Trees generally avoids the sonic cavalcade of sounds that become some of its countrymen, the Lo-Fi sound here is a perfect complement to the song itself. Neighborhood (Ain’t It Time) harkens back to the 1960’s as a strong period song. Then We’re Dead is fun little punker where Huff sounds vaguely like Ian Anderson on vocals. The album closes out with The Cause, which may be the most well-written song on the CD.

Chris Huff has some interesting divergences on his way to becoming a good songwriter. He has a strong sense of melody and song construction but is also enamored with musical deconstructionism a bit. Death And Texas is a fun listen; at times confounding, but ultimately worth the trip.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Chris Huff at http://www.huffmusic.com/, where you can purchase a copy of Death And Texas.