Posts By 75orLess
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.
Lloyd’s Llamas – Cool the Burn
75OL-186 Lloyd’s Llamas – Cool the Burn CD
$7.00 S&H Included
Digital download is available here
Track Listing
1. The Barker (2:54) video
2. Worn Out Welcome (2:43)
3. Whiskey (3:21)
4. Midnight Clover (2:17)
5. Mysterious Wisteria Hysteria (4:23)
6. Dabbler (6:02)
Lloyd’s Llamas are back with a 6-song CD! An interesting and varied piece of work, the Rhode Island animal rock quartet meld the sounds of country, psychedelia, power punk pop, and dinge on their second release, Cool the Burn, on 75orless Records. The Llamas explore themes of the circus, co-habitation, homelessness, rampant vegetation, the occult, and degeneracy. Lloyd’s Llamas are Kraig Jordan (Masons, Plan of a Boy), Bruce Moravec (Medicine Ball, Porno Sponges), Eric Moberg and Tom Cummins. Mixed by Tom Buckland. Cover Art by Peet Tamburino.
press –
“Synth-laden quasi-country instrumental, pleasantly reminiscent of both the Meat Puppets and Wendy Carlos, snotty power pop with a good-time psychedelic guitar, snazzy (and bluesy) shuffle with elements of prog rock, thrash metal; epic drum and synth confection with a strangely resonant guitar line and cab-mike distorted vocals.” – The Noise Boston Nov 2014
Lloyd’s Llamas – The Barker video
Allysen Callery and Haunt the House Named to Paste’s Top 10 RI Bands
You can read the article here
Boston’s The Noise reviews the new album from Bob Kendall
Bob Kendall – self titled album
11 tracks
It’s a Saturday afternoon; I’m trying to get a head start for once with my Noise reviews, so I slide Bob Kendall’s CD into my computer and I am so unexpectedly taken in by his songs that I have to keep remembering that I’m supposed to be taking notes and writing about it, but instead, I’m just plain happily sinking into each track and thoroughly enjoying the music that’s flowing from my speakers. I want to endlessly rave about this in a more original way than I usually do and while doing complete justice to such a great body of work, but all I can say is this should be on the airwaves (if it isn’t already) so that more people can derive the enjoyment. So what does Bob play exactly, you ask? Okay… he’s a singer/songwriter, who in these 11 tracks beautifully manifests lyrics… meaningful lyrics… into songs that perfectly bring to life his words. Need a genre? Americana, roots, blues, modern/alt rock/pop…. I love how his songs make me feel—they bring out emotions—both the dark and the encouraging songs. Just listen, feel, enjoy. By the way, this recording was produced by the wonderfully talented Paul Kolderie and kudos to the also-talented backing musicians. My picks (though I love them all): “Stay,” “New Day,” “Rage,” “Dazed.” (Debbie Catalano)
Matt Fraza – Let Trouble Go
75OL-190 Matt Fraza – Let Trouble Go CD
$9.99 S&H Included
Digital download is available here
Track Listing
1. Seventeen
2. Too Much Love
3. Forever
4. Sunset’s In
5. Libertine
6. Let Trouble Go
7. Watermelons
8. Tell Me
9. Hit the Wall
Let Trouble Go is the debut album by actor, surfer, and songwriter, Matt Fraza. A literate, melodic, and emotionally direct transmission from the witch-haunted wilds of Perryville, the record was captured by Kraig Jordan at Plan of a Boy, and features the production skills, voice, drums and keys of Warren’s nifty man, Tom Chace.
Allysen Callery For Folk Radio UK 2014 EP
75OL-191 Allysen Callery For Folk Radio UK 2014 EP CD
[sold out]
Limited to 125 handmade brown jackets, 100 of which are only available at live performances.
Digital download is available here
Track Listing
1. Intro
2. All in the Morning
3. Blackwaterside
4. The Huntsman
5. Spare Parts
“The session Allysen recorded for us features three of her own songs and one traditional song ‘Blackwaterside‘ which she first heard Anne Briggs performing. The session also marks a new direction for Allysen on which she intertwines her love of psychedelic and trad folk. Her friend Bob Kendall recorded her in his shed one snowy evening. I think you’ll all agree that this session is simply magical, she never disappoints and always leaves you wanting more.” – Alex Gallacher Founder Folk Radio UK
Original album artwork by William Schaff
Bob Kendall in Mercury Magazine
You can read the article here
Bob Kendall felt as if he was interrogating himself throughout the process of writing and recording his third, self-titled record — a sentiment that’s also reflected in the album’s cover art. Bound to a chair under a single light bulb, Kendall and his guitar take the stage on his 2014 release.
“I ended up pulling out five of the songs. I was forcing lyrics and started feeling like I was making false confessions, which is where the drawing came from,” says Kendall, whose Providence illustrator brother Brad Kendall drew the cover.
A marked change in both sound and approach separate “Bob Kendall” from his two previous efforts, “Midnight Flower” and “Enough is Enough.” The songs have space to breathe through more sparse instrumentation, and Kendall’s voice sits high in the mix, a decision he probably would not have made had he mixed the record himself.
For the first time in his solo career, Kendall handed over the production reins to his friend Paul Kolderie, a well-known engineer and mixer who has worked with artists like Radiohead and the Pixies.
The songs on “Bob Kendall” are consistently mid-tempo with tasteful instrumentation. They immediately call to mind current artists like Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Richard Hawley as well as jangly groups like The Byrds and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
“The simplicity is the trickery of it — those are usually the best songs,” Kendall says. “They are to the point and they say exactly what you want them to say. Most of my songs are pretty depressing, but they all have some description of hope,” he says.
The record’s opener, “Stay,” is a testament to the Middletown resident’s affinity for the pop form — both musically and lyrically.
“That song was written six or seven years ago and I thought of it as a challenge song. I was listening to ‘Breaking Up Is Hard To Do’ and the more I thought about it, I realized that sometimes staying is harder to do,” says Kendall.
“Stay” sets the tone for the sound of the record: a mixture or ’60s pop and country-inspired ballads which result in 10 hook-centric songs, plus bonus track “The Wind.” Although it’s clear that Kendall unabashedly wears his influences on his sleeve, he’s able to keep the songs from being derivative.
“Some of those songs were kind of soul songs, ‘New Day’ and ‘Holiday,’ and ‘Dead End Dream,’ were heavily influenced by a Roy Orbison period of my life,” says Kendall, “and they never really fit in with anything else I was doing.”
Recording at Stable Sound studio in Portsmouth was a process very unlike what Kendall was used to. “Midnight Flower,” Kendall’s 2012 release, was done in his backyard shed. According to Kendall there was less pressure this time around as an engineer was present during the sessions. “And the cool thing about Stable Sound is that while you’re recording you can open the windows and horses will stick their heads in,” says Kendall of the rural studio.
While Kendall is credited with writing nearly all the songs, the band collaboratively worked on “Dazed,” a dreamy, pop ballad with the type harmonies and guitar lines that don’t seem to be written anymore.
Even with five additional band members (drummer Dave Narcizo from the Throwing Muses, keyboardist Dan Wright, bassist Kevin Zahm and both Chuck Ciany and Rafael Attias on electric guitars), the record does not sound too big. “There was more dissecting than adding,” says Kendall of the mixing sessions, helping mold “Bob Kendall” into a collection of perfectly compacted, well-crafted pop songs.
A record release show with Providence-based rock ’n’ roll group Smith&Weeden, who have also just released an album, will be held at the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River, Mass., on Friday, June 20. “Bob Kendall” is available at www.75orlessrecords.com and at www.bobkendall.com, as well as locally at the Music Box on Thames Street in Newport.
“This is the best sounding record so far, Kendall says. “The quality of it is so much better. I appreciate it much more now than I did before, as I’ve recently been able to remove myself from it and see it more objectively.”