2002

26mph

Eddie December 26, 2002 No Comments

Redefine

Sonoma County’s 26mph, a four-piece band fronted by vocalist Airrick Nettleton and his guitar-playing brother Adam, would have to be the hardest working nu-metal band in the state. Its tour schedule has been relentless for the last two years, as the band has hit virtually every all-ages venue. It sounds like a mixture of early Papa Roach (Infest), Sevendust and Deftones. Its first-person lyrics can be a shortcoming, but not on the album’s high points—“Recognize,” “Pay Off” and “In Our Hearts.” Unlike Shortie, Tenfold and the countless bands that have played up and down the West Coast, 26mph has done everything itself—booking itself, promoting its own shows and going the extra mile for every show. In a market crowded by bands that would rather rest on their collective asses after just one capacity local show, 26mph shows its endurance on the live front and on this debut long player. Worth your listen.

Live! Saturday, December 28; at Capitol Garage, 1427 L Street; with Subject of Us, Thought Riot and Jim Jones Brigade; $6. Call venue for time.

(SN&R)

That Kai Kln connection

Eddie December 12, 2002 No Comments

“Come see People magazine’s 51st and 52nd most beautiful people” said Ricky and Del Connection drummer Del Nelipez, better known as Neil Franklin. You might recognize the “connection” to his cohort, singer and guitarist Ricky Ranchero, aka Gene Smith; both men did time with the defunct Kai Kln, one of Sacramento’s biggest bands in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The Connection formed a few years ago and has played locally, rarely traveling farther than Santa Rosa. Ranchero, Nelipez and alto saxophonist Flamp Sorvari perform without a bassist and fuse multiple styles, including jazz, rock, blues and folk. Their CD-release party is Saturday, December 14, at the Blue Lamp, 1400 Alhambra Boulevard. Electric Flood, which features Chris Horton and ex-Kai Kln bassist Scott Anderson, will open. Rumor has it Anderson may join Ricky and Del for part of their set. Where’s Sherman Loper? Smells like a Kai Kln reunion. You can find MP3s and more info at www.therickyanddelconnection.com.

(SN&R)

The Reindeer Section

Eddie December 5, 2002 No Comments

Son of Evil Reindeer

Like the Lambchop collective, the Reindeer Section features many players from different bands and backgrounds. Fortunately, the similarities end there. This recent CD finds members of Snow Patrol, Teenage Fanclub, Astrid, Mogwai, Alfie, Idlewild, Arab Strap and Belle & Sebastian, along with lesser-known acts Eva and Cadet, working together for one common cause—a great song. The music settles nicely somewhere between pop confection and slo-core, from the minor-key laden, narcotic effects of both “Grand Parade” and “Budapest,” to the genuine beauty of “Your Sweet Voice.” Such tunes as “I’ll Be Here When You Wake” leave no doubt that the talent pool represented on this effort is destined for bigger and better things. Although a Reindeer Section tour is logistically impossible, these recorded works should suffice. In a market filled with dubious “superstar” projects, this one stands out.

(SN&R)

Lanterna

Eddie November 14, 2002 No Comments

For the better part of 10 years, the talented and gifted Henry Frayne has released several recordings under the moniker Lanterna. The latest recordings of Frayne, who is from New York City originally, exude the expanse of large, open countrysides. From acoustic forays such as the lovely and aptly titled “Fields” to the album’s opener, “West Side Highway,” Frayne and Steve Day—who provided the rhythm tracks on Sands—have created a number of soundscapes. Hints of Bill Frisell sneak in alongside dashes of Chicago post-rock, à la the Sea & Cake. When Frayne plays, his music does much more than fill dead air; his soundscapes twist ever so gently like a cascade of tide pools moving and shimmering against the backdrop of a fading sunset. Some albums yearn for the outdoors and beckon to be heard in privacy. Such is the case with Sands.
(SN&R)

Unearth

Eddie November 14, 2002 No Comments

East Massachusetts-based Unearth consciously has fused the stylings of European metal with American hardcore. Vocalist Trevor Phipps’ multiple vocal styles, the able rhythm section of drummer Mike Rudberg and bassist John Slo Maggard, and the dual guitar quandary of Ken Susi and Buz McGrath make some extremely effective and memorable songs on this short, four-song affair. This EP, a collection of three new songs and a rare demo of “My Desire,” makes a good introduction for those looking for hardcore that doesn’t sound retro or, like most new hardcore acts, haphazard and aimless. Comparisons to Swedish metal bands such as Soilwork, Hypocrisy and In Flames are inevitable. But, on further inspection, Unearth gives bands like Will Haven and Maharahj a run for the hardcore crown. It only took four years for Unearth to sound this good on record. Just wait till 2010.

(SN&R)

Jurassic 5

Eddie November 7, 2002 No Comments

As Interscope Records ramps up for a bombastic fourth quarter, its trump card comes via Los Angeles’ finest, Jurassic 5. Since 1993, this group has quietly conquered the hip-hop throne alongside such stiff competition as Mos Def, Talib Kweli and the Roots. Power in Numbers couldn’t be a more appropriate album title, given the J-5’s use of intelligently planned lyrics and abnormal rhyme schemes alongside soundscapes created by Cut Chemist and Nu-Mark. On tracks such as “What’s Golden” and “If You Only Knew,” Chali 2na, Zaakir AKA Soup, Akil, and Marc 7 set new standards for the genre and up the ante for aspiring MCs. Fans of early De La Soul and Rakim’s best material will welcome Jurassic 5’s latest and relish the attention to organic and not-so-organic rhythm tracks. Any group that uses samples from David Axelrod and Bill Cosby on the same album can’t be half bad. Power in numbers? Indeed.

(SN&R)

Such a Dall

Eddie November 7, 2002 No Comments

Former Sacramentan Cynthia Dall spent time in the indie-rock band Smog, which also featured ex-resident Bill Callahan. Her latest Drag City album, Sound Restores Young Men, reveals Dall is settling nicely into singer-songwriter mode. Such songs as “Be Safe With Me” and the sarcastic “I Play With Boys” display both her patience and aptitude, and her music creates the perfect melancholy backdrop for Sacramento’s overcast autumnal weather. Dall has made considerable progress since her first release in 1996, Untitled. She’ll play a handful of scattered West Coast dates in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Berkeley, in addition to Sunday’s show with Drag City label mates the Scene Creamers, which feature members of the Make Up. Fans of Hope Sandoval, Lush’s more depressing moments and Smog should find great reward in Dall’s opening set Sunday, November 10, at 8 p.m. at the Capitol Garage (1427 L Street), with a special surprise guest. Cover’s $7.

(SN&R)

Liars

Eddie October 31, 2002 No Comments

They Threw Us All In a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top

As evidenced on their last national tour, New York’s Liars are big fans of sonic dissonance and feedback. The first release for Mute Records from this four-piece finds it melding elements of the East Coast’s new-wave scene with noise backdrops similar to Sonic Youth and Hovercraft. From the raucous, cut-time opener, “Grown Men Don’t Fall in the River, Just Like That,” to the droning set (and album) closer, “This Dust Makes That Mud,” pegging these young lads is about as difficult as understanding their lengthy song titles. However, amid a full-fledged assault of chaos, Liars do create deep, memorable melodies that linger for days on end. This band, a big part of New York’s warehouse scene, manages to bring the sweat and aura of that city’s vagabond nightclubs onto the CD and into every city it plays, or destroys. Remember when Gibby Haynes was cool? Liars do.

(SN&R)

Cynthia Dall

Eddie October 31, 2002 No Comments

Sound Restores Young Men

Former Sacramento resident Cynthia Dall, an erstwhile member of Bill Callahan’s music project Smog, made a smart decision to venture out on her lonesome years ago. Dall’s second effort, aided by her brother, Aaron, seeks to make her name more familiar; the disc follows on the heels of the largely overlooked Untitled, her debut. From the swell of “Zero” to the solemn but driving anecdotes found in “The Party” and “Nest of Dead Children,” Dall manages to share her stories without sounding like typical singer-songwriter drivel. Sound Restores Young Men contains moments that recall an introspective Cocteau Twins with nods to Lush and Seattle’s Jana McCall. Jim O’ Rourke of Sonic Youth even lends some production work to a few tracks, with great effect. Although somber and melancholy, Dall’s latest work is an impressive collection of music.

(SN&R)

Long, winding road to Arco

Eddie October 31, 2002 No Comments

Every touring artist has an agenda. Whether it’s Willie Nelson working to pay off the IRS or Axl Rose trying to prove that he alone is Guns N’ Roses, there’s usually some reason superstar artists take to the road.

Tickets for Paul McCartney’s show at Arco Arena, scalped for more than $1,000 a pair for floor seats, kept the audience confined to roughly age 40 and older.

Why was the former Beatle doing a national tour? McCartney doesn’t need the money. The royalties and mechanicals from his back catalog would be enough to sustain a small country for at least a decade. Now past age 60, one would imagine he’d hang up his bass for a “normal” domestic life.

Instead, McCartney has Back in the U.S. Live 2002, a two-CD set featuring 35 songs played on his current tour. The Capitol release will be in stores two days before Thanksgiving, around the time McCartney’s tour ends.

His show at Arco last Monday, which could have been another case of an aging rocker ambling through a sweet Geritol set list, was anything but. Backed by a small but talented group of musicians—Brian Ray and Rusty Anderson on guitars, Paul “Wix” Wickens on keyboards and Abe Laboriel Jr. on drums—McCartney delivered an energized set of solo, Wings and Beatles material.

Aside from the opening festivities—a Cirque du Soleil-meets-Shanghai Ballet disaster featuring dancers; acrobats; and lame, pre-recorded, new-age slop—the show was exceptional. McCartney opened with the chorus of “Hello, Goodbye” only to hit hard with a driving rendition of “Jet.” From there, he launched into a lovely solo set highlighted by the politically challenging “Blackbird” and a gorgeous, acoustic, harmony-enhanced “We Can Work It Out.”

Even McCartney’s between-song banter, which ranged from stories about drives along the Pacific Coast Highway to George Harrison’s strange fascination with ukuleles, was top-notch. By personalizing his Sacramento show and remembering his lost loved ones—half the Beatles and his former wife, Linda—McCartney unveiled a kind and caring side that many didn’t realize he still had.

By the time McCartney launched into the chorus-laden “Hey Jude,” it was hard to believe the end was near. Two encores later and a rendition of “Yesterday,” and it was over.

Yes, McCartney still likes playing music. What’s more, he’s more than able to reproduce all eras of his legacy. Agenda or not, it was a damned fine night to be in Sacramento.

(SN&R)