Warren Zevon - Tenderness on the block (1978)

Warren Zevon - Excitable Boys (1978)

Warren Zevon is one of the forgotten artists from the 1970s California singer-songwriter era and has tended to be overlooked in favour of many of his contemporaries. Part of the reason for this is probably because he is not your typical rock star with his very distinctive voice as well as what I would describe as his quite nerdy looks complete with Harry Potter glasses, not entirely keeping in line with the glitz and glamour of the mid-70s California pop world. However, despite this, his musical talents are undoubted and it was on his third album Excitable Boy where everything moulded together in what is one of the great albums of the period.

Released in 1978, Excitable Boy was Zevon’s third album and it would also become his best selling release. It was on this release where he combined his often humours lyrics and overall quirkiness with a California pop-rock sound complete with gorgeous harmonies, a formula which obviously worked well in appealing to a mass audience. The music on this album is a mix of up-tempo pop rockers and slightly mellower piano ballads, while it is the wonderful harmonies of the large array of backing vocalists on display including some of Los Angeles finest in the form of Linda Ronstadt and J.D. Souther that gives many of the tracks a laid back California feel. Opening track “Johnny Strikes Up the Band” is a stomping guitar rocker, while title track “Excitable Boy” has a Beach Boys feel to it and features a storming sax solo and a section of female backing vocalists. Excitable Boy also notably contains Zevon’s most recognised song “Werewolves of London”, a song that went on to become a classic rock radio staple and which in recent years was sampled by Kid Rock in his smash hit “All Summer Long”. “Accidently Like a Martyr” is a beautiful piano pop ballad in a similar style to the great singer-songwriters of the 70s period, while “Tenderness on The Block” features some of the most infectious harmonies on the album, harmonies that would give The Eagles a run for their money. This is definitely a standout track on the album and one my favourites, I guess I am just a sucker for good harmony vocals.

One of the strong features of Excitable Boy apart from Zevon’s wonderful piano playing and unique vocal style is his ability as a songwriter and in particular some of the themes he focuses on in his songs. On “Veracruz” he dramatizes the US occupation of Veracruz during the Mexican Revolution, while “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner” is about a fictional character called Roland who gets involved in the Nigerian Civil War during the 1960s. The theme of war continues on “Lawyers, Guns and Money” which represents Zevon’s humorous take on Cold War paranoia. So not only are the melodies and harmonies infectious on this record, but the song-writing is varied, vivid and interesting, ensuring that the listeners are kept amused with characters such as Roland the gunner and lyrics talking of seeing werewolves with Chinese menus in their hand walking in Soho. This is just the quirkiness and unusual mastery of Warren Zevon, showing why he is such a good musician and how his music makes for such good listening.

Excitable Boy gave Warren Zevon a larger audience and saw him crack the top 10 on Billboard, but he would struggle to capitalize in the long term on the openings this album gave him in terms of exposure. Although he would continue to retain his cult following in music circles and would earn the praise of people such as Dylan, Young and Springsteen, commercial success would elude him throughout the rest of his career and he eventually died prematurely in 2003, age 56. Warren Zevon is to this day still in many ways a cult figure in music and you have either heard of him or you haven’t. The 70s California singer-songwriter period and the music that came out of it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and people often view it cynically as a coked up bland period for music where money ruled the roost. This might be the case in some instances, but this album Excitable Boy by a nerdy looking guy with a strange last name proved that there were exceptions, and that in the end some of the music did sound good.

A-/A

- Sam

 

 

Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid (2009)

Keep It Hid is the debut solo album by Black Keys singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach, and is also so far his only non-collaborative solo album. Released in early 2009, the year before Brothers would catapult the Black Keys well in truly into the global music spotlight, Keep It Hid is an interesting album in that it is quite a diverse and varied album musically and is by no means a complete carbon copy of Black Keys material. This album rather than being a full on blues rock album contains a mixture of styles, with Auerbach moving between delta blues, garage rock, blues rock and even. This mixture of styles across the different tracks gives the album a nice balance and allows Auerbach to showcase other sides to his musical pallet, with the results speaking volumes.

Opening track “Trouble Weighs a Ton” is a rootsy pastoral folk tune of which when I first heard it I thought I was listening to a Mumford and Sons album. I certainly wasn’t expecting a Dan Auerbach solo album to start with a soft folk tune, but I was pleasantly surprised that it did. “I Want Some More” has an early-Black Keys feel to it with its swampy rhythm and dirty blues sound, while tracks such as “The Prowl”, “Keep It Hid” and “Street Walkin’” continues this theme with heavily distorted guitars and a blues rock template . “My Last Mistake” is one of Auerbach’s most poppy songs out of all his repertoire including his work with the Black Keys, and his also one of his best. Written in a similar vain to the tracks on Keys album El Camino, this is blues pop at its very best in the form of a driving backing track of guitar, bass and drums, as well as a very catchy melody which bounces along at you as you listen. The heavier blues tracks on this album are separated out nicely by some softer tracks where Auerbach shows off his tender side more so than he ever has done on any Black Keys album for mine. “Real Desire” is a beautiful soulful blues ballad laced with organ and very delicate guitar playing, while “When The Night Comes” is just Auerbach playing acoustic guitar and singing accompanied by a synth backing track. Album closer “Goin Home” probably gets the award for the softest track on the album and would also be in contention for the most beautiful, with Auerbach’s delightful finger picking and heartfelt vocal delivery floating along together in tandem in what is a gorgeous end to the album. What this album shows if anything is that this man can write softer soulful tracks just as good as he writes hard out blues rock epics, whilst singing them as equally as good.

A standard out feature for me on Keep It Hid was the overall production of the record, a task that Auerbach took on himself. Not only is Auerbach a wonderfully talented musician, but he is also a very good producer and it shows on this record where he pays careful attention to the needs of each track in attempting to get the right feel for each individual song, rather than an overall feel for the album. This comes across in the music, of which I noticed when listening is by in large less full on and fierce than the albums of his other band. The blues-oriented songs have a roughness about them and it is on these tracks where Auerbach uses distortion of the guitar and on occasion the vocals, while the folk and soul tracks have a beautiful simplicity to them with minimal production apart from the odd bit of echo. Overall I would give full marks to Auerbach for the production on this record in creating a sound and feel that I would describe as being quite organic in nature and very well suited to the eclectic mix of sound and style on display.

In conclusion then, I would say that Keep It Hid was an excellent debut for the Black Keys front man who showed with this release how he isn’t just a one dimensional blues rocker. Auerbach does a fantastic job in showing off his full range of musical abilities both as a songwriter and a player on multiple instruments on this album, while also giving a glimpse of his softer side as a song-writer, in particular showing how he can write tranquil folk songs as well as down to earth soulful blues. Keep It Hid is well worth a listen if you are into the Black Keys, especially their earlier work, and want to find out what Auerbach sounds like on his own. I thoroughly recommend this album, and I am sure you will be just as pleasantly surprised at the quality of the material as I was.   

A-

- Sam

Arctic Monkeys - Snap Out of It (2013)

Arctic Monkeys - AM (2013)

AM is the fifth studio release in seven years by the Arctic Monkeys, a pretty impressive feat for a band these days, while as an album it is their most diverse yet if not being the most un-Arctic Monkeys of their releases. On this new album the band have moved head first into a completely new area of music far removed from the indie rock sound which made them one of the best British bands of the 21^st century so far. The music on AM is heavily influenced by hard rock, contemporary R&B and even hip-hop which ensured the listening experience for me was in many ways one of confusion. At times I could have been mistaken for thinking this was the new Queens of the Stone Age album, with a strong current of heavy guitars, pounding riffs and high falsetto vocals scattered throughout the album. Interestingly enough Josh Homme does in fact make an appearance on this album as a guest backing vocalist, and of course helped to produce the bands third album Humbug.

The album stars in a very heavy fashion with opening track “Do I Wanna Know?” a guitar driven psychedelic rock track and “R U Mine?” a fast paced song reminiscent of classic Black Sabbath. The influence of Sabbath and hard rock continues on “Arabella”, a song that includes a seismic-like guitar riff during the chorus that thunders through the speakers at you. At this point I found myself thinking since when were the Arctic Monkeys influenced by heavy metal, an influence that continues on “I Want It All” which contains a very heavy guitar riff in the vein of early Metallica. After an incredibly fierce start to the album, the middle section is much softer and melodic. “No. 1 Party Anthem” is a John Lennon (circa 1974) sounding song that features acoustic guitar and piano accompanying what is quite a beautiful soulful vocal delivery from Alex Turner. I would bet my bottom dollar this will be a cigarette lighter in the air song during concerts. This song is followed by “Mad Sounds” which is the softest song on the album a midst a haze of heavy rock and R&B styled tracks. This song to me felt like it could have come from David Bowie’s “Young Americans” and has an underlying Philly soul feel to it complete with a chorus full of ooh-la-la’s. The final section of the album begins with my favourite track the poppy psychedelic stomp “Snap Out of It” with its hand claps and incredibly catchy chorus, “Knee Socks” which as a song has a new wave feel to it with echoey guitars and yet more falsetto vocals, and finally album closer the R&B laced “I Wanna Be Yours” which is my least favourite song on the album and where I had a what were they thinking moment.

As far as criticisms go, there are a few aspects of this album which did not do it for me namely the R&B/hip-hop influences which in my opinion did not suit them and hopefully will not be seen again on future albums. I also found myself at times getting annoyed by the falsetto vocals which are dotted across the album. Yes they work well on several tracks, but I do feel they ended up overdoing this a bit across the album as a whole. Finally, I also think this album is over-produced especially with the layers and layers of heavy guitars and multi-tracked vocals, which together at times feel like they are battling with each for supremacy on a particular song. There is a lot going on, on most of these songs and I feel many of them could have sounded better had they been a little less busy in places, and if the band had focussed more on getting the timbre right rather than the production.

So far AM has been well received by the critics on its release and has garnered plenty of positive reviews and ratings, with many in the music press commenting on the albums musically diverse nature and incorporation of styles that you wouldn’t usually associate with the Arctic Monkeys. Some have even gone on to say it is the bands best album, something I would not agree with as I still think their last release Suck It and See was better. However I do applaud the band for trying to evolve their sound and attempt new things on this release, even if the results are not always perfect. There are some very good songs on here and a lot of interesting things going on in what is by in large a consistent album, but all in all I am yet to be completely sold on the bands new sound. Despite this, I still think overall AM was an interesting listen and I would still recommend it if at least to see where the Arctic Monkeys are at after five albums, and what direction they could potentially be heading in the future.

B

- Sam