Posts By 75orLess
Chris Evil and the Taints – Blackout
75OL-196 Chris Evil and the Taints – Blackout CD
$7.00 S&H Included
Digital download is available here
Track Listing
1. So Against You
2. Howling at the Moon
3. Blackout
4. Muscle of Love
5. 9 Lives
6. Baby Please Come Home
7. You Suck
8. What You’ve Been Doing to Me
9. Separate Ways
10. Religious Right
11. Long Gone
Reunion album by the Taints after a four year hiatus. Chris Evil and the Taints combine punk, garage, hardcore, and some poppy moments. For fans of Ramones, Angry Samoans, Dead Boys, Johnny Thunders, New Bomb Turks, Dwarves, and Black Flag.
Motif Magazine reviews the Matt Fraza album ‘Let Trouble Go’
When I was a youngster I used to get so excited when the mailman would show up with whatever useless gadget I had ordered from the back of last month’s Star Wars comic book. The anticipation of receiving that bauble was often more fun than actually getting it (and by the way, those damn X-ray glasses never did work…). Of course today I’m a cynical old man who doesn’t get worked up over much, EXCEPT for when my mailman brings me the latest batch of fresh CDs from Motif to be reviewed. Today’s accumulation included a very unusual offering from the good folks at 75orLess Records, titled Let Trouble Go by Perryville, Rhode Island’s own Matt Fraza.
I have to admit that at first blush I didn’t know quite what to make out of this very raw and loose rock ‘n’ roll collection. Perhaps to the uninitiated, Fraza’s vocals may seem slightly pitch-challenged and somewhat monochromatic. The record’s overall production might be politely labeled unadorned or sparse. But I submit that those are the same people who didn’t appreciate Lou Reed’s vocal drone, or who could never quite get past Bob Dylan’s nasally affectation. In fact, those are the kind of people who probably never understood what rock ‘n’ roll was all about in the first place. But Matt Fraza understands the loftiness of rock and all that it entails. How could he not? He waited almost four decades to release Let Trouble Go, inexplicably his first! Clearly he’s not concerned with pop culture trends, and nicely auto-tuned, Pro-tools recorded garbage aimed at the teenie bop brigade. No, this is serious music, written and performed by a serious man who goes for raw emotion rather than neatly-packaged.
The album kicks off with a straight ahead roots rocker “Seventeen,” which sounds like an unholy marriage of The Band with Graham Parker. “Lord only know I need you by my side, Lord only know I need you by my side, so c’mon pretty baby and take me for a ride.” We’re not reinventing the wheel here, folks, it’s just good old fashioned rockin’ fun: “Too Much Love” straddles that tenuous line between Jerry Lee Lewis/’50s boogie and punk rock. If The Killer went straight into the studio with Mick & Keith after a night of binge drinking their weight in Brewmeister Snake Venom (Google it … ) they’d likely come out with something sounding pretty close to this. “I’ve got too much love, I’ve got too much love inside of me, well that must be why I wanna get with every girl I see.”
Featuring some very tasteful electric organ from Tom Chace, “Libertine” is Fraza’s ode to the adage: “If it feels good, it can’t be bad.” In that great talk-sing style of Fraza’s, the song starts with his declaring: “Whatever you want just go ahead and do it – Whatever you want just go ahead and do it – You can live off sin or take heroin, just do it.”
Setting aside the frenetic rockers, Matt Fraza lowers the tempo on the title track “Let Trouble Go” and in doing so, gives the listener a rare glimpse of the man in perhaps his most vulnerable of all the songs. While earnestly strumming a sweet sounding guitar, Fraza creates a heart-on-sleeve moment, akin to those times Keith Richards steps up to the mike to bellow out one of his soul-crunching ballads that only he could pull off with such raw sincerity. “Don’t you think that maybe father, in this life, we could all find peace?…Don’t you think that maybe father, just like a dream, we could let trouble go.”
Granted Let Trouble Go does have, as his press kits claims, “echoes of Nilsson, Lou Reed, and The Glimmer Twins…” But Matt Fraza waited a lifetime to commit to tape what clearly had been playing in his soul for quite some time. When an artist’s work is synonymous with the man, that’s a true hit. And on that score, Let Trouble Go is a smash.
Allysen Callery Live at Galerie Rademann, Schwarzenberg, Germany October 16, 2014 Download
Live at Galerie Rademann, Schwarzenberg, Germany is available as a name your price download.
Black Oil Incinerator – Live at Dusk
75OL-201 Black Oil Incinerator – Live at Dusk CD
$7.00 S&H Included
Digital download is available here
Track Listing
1.Cards on the Table 3:11
2 Huge Bruise 4:03
3 What Said 4:22
4 Window Pain II 6:35
5 Bus Stop 4:52
6 Bricks 5:16
7 Let’s All Ignite 9:13
Recorded Live at Dusk on March 16, 2014. Engineered by Robert Landergren, remote sound by Dark Hill Music. All sounds by Black Oil Incinerator, which is Eric Wilson, Michael Duffy, William F.Barry, and John McMahon. Contact the band directly at [email protected], on Facebook, and on Bandcamp.
For fans of effects pedals, really loud music, especially The Grifters, Spacemen 3, Black Angels, The Warlocks, LOOP, and Sonic Youth.
Limited to 225 silkscreen copies on both brown and white jackets
Motif Magazine reviews Bob Kendall’s Self Titled Album
If buying just one single from this collection, this writer would choose “Rage.” It is the most heartfelt, enduring relationship tune I have heard in a while. It has a nice production with neatly dropped cymbal crashes and soft keys to building waves of emotional tension. “Into the ocean, if all my rage slipped into the wrong hands, into the wrong hands, would we lose our way.”
The holidays can be painful, but there is nothing worse than grinning and bearing one’s painful way through them. “Holiday” reminds us that being with that special someone, even if things aren’t going well, might just be the only gift we need until the thaw.
I’m not sure what is really going on in “Pall Mall Days,” but I like the tune and maybe you and I really do not need to know and should just listen to this one.
The most acoustic tune on the album is “You Can’t Have Everything.” If this is what he sounds like solo acoustic, I think we should all seek him out and give a listen. It is his voice, rather raw and up front, that opens this careful-what-you-wish-for number, “You can’t have everything, cause you just want more, careful what you’re asking for, cause it might be yours.”
The collection ends with what appears to be a ghost track – “Wind.” A plane flying overhead, a church organ and tenor vocalist singing a la Sunday service style. Curious for sure.
I think Bob Kendall’s work is well worth its place in one’s collection. If you are not convinced by this reviewer’s take, give a listen to him yourself on November 22 at the Commonfence Point in Little Compton. Learn more about Bob by visiting bobkendall.com
Boston’s The Noise reviews the ‘In the Light’ EP by Shifty Eye
SHIFTY EYE – IN THE LIGHT EP
75orLess Records
4 tracks
“In the Light” begins and continues with a brontosaurus sized riff—it’s heavy sludge metal which seems minimally produced—along the lines of a four-track demo. This lends to it a lo-fi charm which a more polished production might otherwise lack. “YDHTG” is a minimalistic “You Don’t Have to Go” lament; “Hot and Sour” has a mildly Hendrix-like feel; the best of show, the Sabbath-like “Echo,” gives us a drum-driven dirge underlined by, yes, echo, and a buzzing guitar line. This is bare-bones heavy metal; most of it sounds like vintage early 1970s. Students of HM from Blue Cheer on forward might want to give this a listen. – (Francis DiMenno)
Gladhouse – goldencloud
75OL-197 Gladhouse – goldencloud CD
$7.00 S&H Included
Digital download is available here
Track Listing
1 Broken Bed
2 School Bus
3 Ain’t Got the Gas
4 Follow You Down
5 Believe
6 Start Again
7 Sing No Blues
8 I Could Get Used to This
9 Cobwebs
10 Winding Path
After the Pats shit the bed last year Paul and Ray started to write and record some music in Ray’s basement on Tuesday nights. We call ourselves Gladhouse. A largely acoustic affair, goldencloud was pretty much one song per night. We use Lazyboy harps and Terrapin pint glasses exclusively. Our influences include Chuck Yeager and Gunga Din. Come in to eat or we’ll both starve!
Toilet Ov Hell covers Allysen Callery’s Folk Radio 2014 EP
Allysen Callery – Folk Radio UK Session 2014 EP
Allysen Callery certainly does not play metal, but she sure does know how to play heavy on our hearts. This whole EP is definitely an emotional trip, but the song “The Huntsman” just stabs me right in the heart every damn time (skip to track 4). This is a beautiful release and I hope to hear more new music from Allysen very soon. If listening to this makes me a lifelover, then I can live with it!
Providence Phoenix article on Bob Kendall and Allysen Callery
You can read the article here
Homegrown East Bay imprint 75orLess Records continues to crank out noteworthy product on a regular basis, including new records from two of the finest singer-songwriters Lil Rhody has to offer in Bob Kendall and Allysen Callery. Kendall follows up 2012’s Midnight Flower with a self-titled full-length, while Callery just released (by popular demand) a four-song session for Folk Radio UK, with production help from Kendall. To celebrate, the pair will team up at the Channing Memorial Church in Newport on Tuesday (the 29th), with 100 percent of the proceeds benefiting the Rhode Island Community Food Bank.
Aquidneck resident Kendall has a long New England rock pedigree which dates back to the early ’80s. He was born in Huntsville, Alabama (aka “Rocket City”), where his father “somehow” scored a job at IBM working on NASA’s Apollo Rocket systems (Kendall: “He didn’t go to college and barely made it through high school, but clearly he was a smart bastard”). The family was transferred to Rhode Island during his teen years and Kendall moved to Boston following high school in 1981 with his brother Greg, and eventually became a staple of the city’s burgeoning indie/college rock scene with the bands Lifeboat and the Blood Oranges, opened for the likes of R.E.M., the Replacements, and Gang of Four (he also had a day job at the legendary Fort Apache studios in Cambridge). Kendall garnered acclaim with his 2002 solo debut Enough Is Enough and landed a spot the Newport Folk Fest that year, sharing the same stage as Bob Dylan.
Around that time, Kendall also became focused on his career, writing and developing curriculum for programs to prevent violence, and worked in various school districts throughout the state.
“I had been working with men and women who were arrested for domestic violence, as well as victims of domestic violence, and I began to focus on ways to get the word out to younger people so that they wouldn’t fall into the same patterns,” Kendall said when I dropped him a line earlier this week. “The work was sometimes pretty emotionally taxing and required an enormous amount of focus and energy.”
He had been jamming out material with longtime friend and Throwing Muses drummer Dave Narcizo, and brought some tracks to Kraig Jordan at his Plan of a Boy studio, which has developed into the go-to production homebase for 75orLess musicmakers. Kendall released Midnight Flower via 75orLess, an earnest display of Americana and roots-rock songwriting (listen up, fans of Wilco and Buffalo Tom). Tanya Donelly (who has been recording new stuff with Jordan at POAB) joined Kendall on the title track, and released her own rendition on her latest EP, Swan Songs III.
While gathering material for his next solo album, Kendall performed with Jordan as “Stan Sobczak,” a multi-media project that accompanied Jordan’s space-age, ambient music score Stanatron (get it at 75orlessrecords.com).
“Bob is probably best known for the Americana material, but that really is just one piece of what he does,” said Jordan. “He is truly a multi-dimensional artist and a master of textures.”
Kendall’s strong songwriting and penchant for slow-burning melodies are on full display across the new solo album. “New Day” addresses his father’s longtime bout with dementia. His vocals ride squelches of reverb on “WAISTD” and coasts into the standout, smoldering cut “Rage” (with Narcizo’s cymbals crashing through) where he croons, “If you’re bored with me, baby, just rest me up on the shelf/If you’re bored with, bored with me baby, I’m a good read for somebody else.” The band is in full swing on “Dazed” (“a true collaboration,” said Kendall), and the acoustic folk cuts “Dead End Dream” and “Pall Mall Days” are nice changes of pace. The album was produced by the revered Paul Kolderie (Radiohead, Pixies, Warren Zevon), and Kendall said they will also work together on his next album.
Kendall recently worked the boards for Bristol’s favorite songbird, Allysen Callery, who remains on the international radar following a few European tours. On her latest release we are treated to another stunning session for UK Folk Radio. The four songs include a traditional British Isles cover (“Blackwaterside”), a gorgeous unreleased track titled “All In the Morning” (Callery’s vocals and finger-picking guitar skills are second to none here), and two re-recorded songs, “The Huntsman” (originally found on her Summer Place EP) and the precious “Spare Parts” from Mumblin’ Sue. Callery’s subtle delivery is pure gold on lines here like “I’m pretty good with my hands, and I need a man who’ll whir and purr, stir at my command” and “I’ll build a man with a gold heart out of those spare parts.”
Kendall and Callery met last summer and the chemistry immediately clicked. They recorded the sessions in Kendall’s “shed” during one wintry evening (with help from Don Julio tequila, reportedly). The disc has sold out, but her Folk Radio UK Session 2014 download is still available at allysencallery.bandcamp.com. Kendall also worked the boards for a Callery cover of Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s “I Gave You” for a Will Oldham tribute compilation, and will produce Callery’s next album.
“Bob is able to produce exactly the sound I want, without me explaining or saying anything — I love it,” Callery gushed. “I feel like I discovered a hidden treasure over there in Middletown, but lots of people have known and loved him for a long time.”
Bob Kendall in Newport This Week
You can read the article here
Bob Kendall knows a great tune when he writes one. “Most of the songs I write are about an idea, and my job is to get that idea into words.” His resumé of original music is a testament to his powers of songwriting and its incredibly visceral human connection. Since the 80s, he has been very active in the New England music scene. From the underground Boston band Lifeboat to his solo work today, Kendall, 52, has never put music on the back burner. This year is bringing him some well-deserved satisfaction. With a brand new album and a spectacular release show to support it, he is enjoying a new phase in his musical career.
Kendall isn’t afraid to wear his influences on his sleeve. He worships The Velvet Underground, but also looks to catalogs of artists such as Gram Parsons and Steve Earle for inspiration. His new record is a steadfast tribute to the styles that shape his musical identity, a reflection of the iconic rock ‘n roll/Americana crossover. The albumn’s opener “Stay,” is a bouncy and infectiously catchy power-pop track with adamant and resolute lyrics. Other songs like “Long Road” and “Dazed” highlight an extensive love of Brit pop heroes The Kinks and The Beatles. The lead guitar in each emulates a crisp and honorable interpretation of some of George Harrison’s best moments.
The record’s masterpiece comes five songs in – “Rage” is a cry of emotion. It was partially inspired by past social work Kendall has done with men and women arrested for domestic violence. “I have always been fascinated by rage, by both the ability and inability of people to control it.” The interlocking of multiple guitar parts combined with blasts of trumpet, keyboards, and drums captures this idea and explores the boundaries of this complex human emotion.
Kendall recalls some of the struggles in making this soundtrack versus his previous one, “Midnight Flower.” Instead of recording in his backyard like before, he brought in longtime friend Paul Kolderie to produce it, and the band went to Steve Rizzo’s Stable Sound Studios in Portsmouth to record.
At Fall River’s Narrows Center for the Arts, Kendall and his band presented the new songs last month at a record release show, which was a perfect live execution of the new material. The band consisted of Newporters Kevin Zahm on bass, Chuck Ciany on guitar, and Dave Narcizzo from Throwing Muses on drums, as well as Dan Wright from Jamestown on keyboards and Rafael Attias from North Kingstown on guitar.
Kendall is opening for The Barenaked Ladies at the Newport Yachting Center on Friday, July 18 then later that night he will be playing at Jimmy’s Salon. He will also be performing during BridgeFest on July 29 at Channing Church as part of the songwriters’ round table.