May Album Reviews: Bloody Red Baron
GUEST POST: Mike Baron
Mike Baron (aka Bloody Red Baron) was the longtime album reviewer for Pop Geek Heaven. With the closure of that legendary power pop newsletter, we are very happy to host his latest round of album reviews here at Remember The Lightning.
Extra Arms—Radar (Setterwind Records)
Ryan Allen is a force of nature. One exuberant record after another, like Paul Collins or Kurt Baker. Radar is no exception. Allen has an instantly identifiable voice cutting through the juggernaut rhythm section, bassist Ryan Marshall, drummer Dan Stover, and guitarist Jordan Wright. The songs are fun but far from frivolous. He’s got something to say as on the opener, “Be Someone Else”: “They’ll stare into your eyes/and cut you down to size/and put you right on a shelf/they got you hypnotized/until you realize/ooooh you wanna be someone else?” Allen delivers these lyrics with carefree abandon over a bottom that exceeds the speed limit.
It’s a handsome record, gives you something to look at. The sound is consistent from song to song. No ballads. Full speed ahead. Each song takes a stand. Like “I Don’t Wanna Surrender”: “You’re just being selfish as you take a bigger piece of the pie...You’re acting like a pirate and making us walk the plank. Cashing in on our efforts while you’re taking us to the bank.” This is the kind of stuff Dylan used to do, but in sleek kinetic duds that if you don’t pay attention, you could just groove out. ”Space and Time,” with pedal steel brings a touch of Nashville and Byrdsian twang. Like the Plimsouls, or Australia’s Angels, it’s all forward thrust with sweet chords: tonic, bridge, and hook.
The Cynz—Little Miss Lost (Jem Records)
This is straight up rock that dips a toe into power pop, but mostly it’s on the same bus as The Runaways, with songs like “Crow Haired Boys,” “Break Me,” and “Narrow Hips.” “Tell That Girl to Shut Up” is a hilarious threat that must be taken seriously, a great cover of the Holly and the Italians classic. Harmonies on every song create a pleasing chime, but mostly it’s Cindi Dawson out front wanging, second voice by Henry Seiz. You see the band name.
“Just a Boy” is the closest it gets to power pop, straight up bar band rock and roll with a wailing guitar and a good hook. The title song is sooo Runaways, except for Henry singing harmony. “Fall Away” looks like it was cut from Streets of Fire, Walter Hill’s crazy ass masterpiece from the eighties. The kind of record you slip in the dash when you want to make time.
David Cope and the Sass—Hidden From the World (Kool Kat Records)
Cope reaches for the stars and snags them. “All Alright” starts things off with a shifting radio dial like Dexys’ “Burn It Down,” only instead of segueing into an R&B juggernaut, it turns into a thumping rocker reminiscent of the Yardbirds. He’s got help on that one but pretty much every other song on the album is all Cope.
“Just A Dream I Had of Lizzie” is an acoustic charmer that might have been written by Tim Buckley. “Hidden From the World” is an oblique confessional with a haunting refrain, but the next song explodes. The thrillingly operatic “One Hell of a Ride” finds Cope launching himself into the stratosphere, from the thumping sitar sounding mellotron to the joyous chorus, Cope’s throat grabs you by the ears.
Like Doug Powell’s More, it’s ambition goes hand in hand with the soaring melody. “Crooked Picture” has a little Paul Revere and the Raiders DNA, but then “Next To Nothing” joins the race, another deliriously joyous power popper. Cope’s got a plangent voice and omniverous instincts, from folk rock to soaring power pop. The last song, “Settle Down,” sounds like something the Canadian super horn group Lighthouse would write. But they didn’t. Cope did.
The Blood Rush Hour—Sanity Fare (Nicola Records)
The Blood Rush Hour is a crazily ambitious ensemble led by Robert DeStefano that sounds like two other crazily ambitious Brit bands, Jackdaw 4 and the Dowling Poole. In fact, Willie Dowling, who was in Jackdaw 4, produced this record which features complex melodies verging on prog, starting with “My Invention,” which segues seamlessly into “Within This Tragedy,” as they have done on previous albums. That is, it’s all one song! There are breaks between songs after that but I would have welcomed them doing the entire album as one seamless prog rock juggernaut.
“Watching You Make Love” is tinged with Latin gaiety and so it goes with endless forward thrust, through the rainforest of “Here We Go Again” to “Lost Girl,” which features Robert’s daughter Nia on vocals. “Billy Boy” enters the rare atmosphere of Sun Sawed In ½ in its crazily ambitious melody and harmonies. The constantly shifting melodies, major/minor, have too many hooks to count. It’s all hooks. Complex pop that makes you think and hum.
Love that "Crow Haired Boys"! I may have to tag The Cynz for migratory purposes! That song reminds me of Shoes with way more of an urgent attack! Love me some Shoes, as we all do, but this revs 'em up just so much more! Thanks for this, Mike and Steve. I'm off to go hear the album!