Tugboat Captain’s album is not a Rut you’ll want to get out of any time soon

 By Henry Lipput

Although the songs on Tugboat Captain’s brilliant album Rut (vinyl: Double A-Side Records/digital: Bandcamp) were written before the pandemic, the themes of many of the songs (even the titles themselves), like “If Tomorrow’s Like Today,” “Day To Day,” and, especially, the single “No Plans (For This Year),” fit together to make up something of a concept album about what we‘re going through right now.  But, let me be clear, it’s anything but a downer; it’s a joyful listen full of great tunes and arrangements .

How strict are the rules for what makes a concept album? Like John Lennon once said about Sgt. Pepper: “It’s a concept album because we said it was.” And even though I'm no John Lennon (obviously) I’m saying Rut is a concept album. 

Rut was  recorded at the Abbey Road Institute (located in and associated with Abbey Road Studios) where producer David Dargahi was trained and, as a result, he obviously knows how to make a record come alive. Dargahi and the band, a four-piece from London along with some of their musician friends, have created a Technicolor song cycle that thrills in its inventiveness and the use of sounds and dynamics.

A perfect example is the amazing “If Tomorrow‘s Like Today.” It begins with a bouncy “Penny Lane”-like piano riff, breaks for an absolutely sublime piano interlude, and stops for a loud and crunchy guitar solo.  The result is its very own Abbey Road musical medley.

“No Plans (For This Year)” is an invitation to romance but things being what they are it’s also a sign of our times when hooking up is a bad idea and everybody else is locking down.  Although more RAM than Pepper, the song follows a similar template to “If Tomorrow’s Like Today” (especially the piano riff) but adds  a prominent horn section as well as a wonderful sting arrangement. “Everything About You” will remind you of chatting up someone at a club before, during, or after a band’s set and with any luck we’ll be doing that again some time soon.

“Day To Day” is another song that has down-at-the-heels lyrics but is just a delight to listen to. It opens with a burst of horns as it sums up the life of a musician who may be skint because of his inability to tour (or it may just be the usual musicians lot): “Now I’m in the supermarket/buying food that’s clearly passed it” and there’s also this bit of information “Each day’s a success/If I can pay for my own smokes.”

“Check Ur Health,” opens the album with a sideshow vibe and a first-person lyric. It’s something we all seem to be doing on a regular basis. Is that a headache? Are those body aches? Check ur health.  The song works in the same way as  the title songs from Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour (a more recent example is “Trip & Ellie’s Music Factory” from this year’s excellent release from Lisa Mychols and SUPER 8).  For some reason I can’t really explain, “Check Ur Health” makes me think of “All Of My Friends Were There” from The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society.

Next time: It runs in the family

There are no fools like The New Fools

 By Henry Lipput

“What did you do during the lock down, Daddy?”

If you were The New Fools, a Cambridge, England-based band consisting of Tony Jenkins on lead vocals and acoustic guitar, The Druid on electric guitar, Dave Seabright on bass guitar, Pete Carter on drums, and Shay Jenkins on keyboards, you recorded eight brand-new songs on each member's mobile phones and then everything was mixed together by Christian Gustafsson. The first single, “Nothing Toulouse,” was released in May and another seven were released during the summer. They’ve now been assembled on the splendid album Papillion - The Complete Lock Down Sessions (Everlasting Records/Bandcamp).

You might think, like I did, that the title of the lock down album was a reference to the Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman movie about prisoners trying to escape an island prison and these songs were escaping from the lock down. But it turns out, according to Tony Jenkins, the album title (with an extra ‘i’) is in fact a nod to that great band The Go-Betweens who had a loose  rule that album titles would have two LLs (Tallulah and 16 Lovers Lane, for example).  The New Fools have adopted this rule and so far have released their three albums with two LLs in the title: last year’s Brilliant, Mershmellow from earlier this year, and now Papillion. 

One of my favorite songs from the sessions is “D.N.S.” a wonderful salute to the skiffle era. For you kids too young to know about skiffle, it was England’s pre-rock-and-roll craze popularized by singers like Lonnie Donegan and embraced by groups such as The Quarrymen which later became The Beatles. The song rocks in a quiet sort of way and it’s a joyous look back at that time: “Won’t someone tell me where that sound is coming from/Just four people dressed in black and they’re kicking up a storm” and “They can’t believe they make that sound with just four people playing.”

Although bands like The New Fools haven’t been able to perform live for their fans since the spring, “Sunday Night” is about a musician with a much-loved back catalogue having to perform the old tunes again and again to an audience who are also people of a certain age. It’s not an angry or mean song, but presented with a sense of resignation: “And I’ve written so many songs/But no one wants to hear the new ones/Or face their sorrows.”  There’s a lovely flugel horn played by James Stygall that introduces the song.

Age is also a topic in “Old Bones” and also a feeling of both sadness and resignation: “I don’t think I can take another winter/These old bones sure feel the cold” and the chorus echoes the feeling of time having gone by “So much has changed/Are you still the same?/Or have you gone the way I’ve gone?” There’s a wonderful guitar solo from The Druid, some fine organ work by Shay Jenkins, and, as always, a warm vocal turn from Tony Jenkins. 

“Witch,” which gallops at full speed, opens with Kristin Hersh reading an except from her 'Rat Girl' memoir: “This is the story of a girl/A girl who flew from this world/On the fender of a witch/A too bad hard luck don’t stop drive away.” It might just be me but I’m hearing a bit of Donovan’s “Season Of The Witch” on this tune.

The last song to be released and the closing track on the album, “We’ll Meet Again,” is the only one that touches on the difficulties people are facing during these difficult times. But it’s also an uplifting message with the hope that we can meet again when things get back to some sort of normal.  “We’ll meet again/Along with our old friends/And the one’s we won’t see again/We’ll drink to them,” sings Tony Jenkins. “We’ve never known times so strange/So many things we had to change/It hurts so bad/We’ve been through hell/And back again.” But, like those four lads from Liverpool once sang, we’ll be okay because “All you need is Love” and the song ends with a sing-along of that grand sentiment.

Next time: Tugboat Captain’s album is not a Rut you’ll want to get out of any time soon

Take the time to hear what Dusty Wright has to say

 By Henry Lipput

You would have been mistaken if you thought the title song on Dusty Wright’s 2018 album Gliding Towards Oblivion would be about the affects that humanity was having on our planet and where we‘re headed if nothing is done. But it really wasn’t. However, with his cover of Credence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising” last year it became abundantly clear where his concerns lie as the song was presented as a tribute to those fighting climate change.

On his serious and extremely tuneful new album, Can Anyone Hear Me? (Pet Rock/Bandcamp), Wright goes all in on writing protest songs about (among other things) climate change, gun violence, and child abuse. (“Awareness“ songs might be a better way to describe them because what he’s protesting is our lack of awareness and action on these issues.) 

Because some of the songs, like the opening track “Rain Rain” (a hopeful song despite having been written on a rainy, dreary day in March during a NYC lockdown) are not obviously part of the protest genre, I’m reminded of what Dylan said to the Royal Albert Hall audience during his 1966 tour of England: “They’re all protest songs.” 

Wright, in a voice that recalls the late, great Harry Chapin, plays acoustic and electric guitars, eBow, mellotron, harmonica, and percussion on the new album. He is joined by singers and musicians who are very much in tune with him and his words.  They give Can Anyone Hear Me? an early Americana vibe not unlike post-motorcycle crash Dylan albums like John Wesley Harding.

One of the most striking songs on Can Anyone Hear Me? is “Book Of Tears” a song Wright has said came about after the horrific mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. He seems to be asking: If there’s a Book Of Love, why shouldn’t there be a Book Of Tears? “I found this book/With so many names/The pages were all filled with pain/Who has read/The Book Of Tears?”

“It Makes No Sense” is also about gun violence, especially as it concerns the young victims and it’s also about the hunger children face in the richest country in the world. On “Broken Birds” Wright sings of “fractured wings” and “shattered dreams” as he addresses child abuse and the terrible harm it does to a child’s future. He hopes they can find the strength to hold on to their dreams and try to fly.

The full band “Can Anyone Hear Me?,” with its Byrds-like jangle, is a plea for recognition for those who are ignored or feared because of their economic status, color, or what country they‘re arrived from. “You can buy more guns/And build more walls/But the hate in your heart/Will be the end of us all.”

Far be it from me to tell someone how to put together a track listing, but the joyful, hopeful, rocking “New Year Bliss” should have been the last song on Can Anyone Hear Me? Written and recorded when things in this country looked especially bleak and now (with a vaccine and a new resident in the White House) it looks like what was once a dream is now a reality. With birds singing and applause at the end, it’s a wonderful wish for a new beginning.

Next time: There are no fools like the New Fools.

Trip and Ellie's burst of color

 By Henry Lipput

For the second time this year Lisa Mychols and SUPER 8 have created music to brighten up the dark days of 2020.

The first was their wonderful self-titled release last July, a concept album of sorts about summer love. And now it’s the single “Red Bird,” (Bandcamp) that, in their words, is an “enchanting slice of Wintertime Pop featuring Trip & Ellie sharing vocal duties (plus the obligatory sleigh bells!)” (and who am I to disagree?).

Taking a walk during the winter, it’s sometimes difficult to see anything other than a wide expanse of snow. Even some animals, like the deer, have begun to camouflage their coats to blend into their habitats.

But every once in while you’ll see a burst of color, a flash of red, a cardinal, a red bird. And that’s the feeling you get from the new Mychols and SUPER 8 single. It’s a sign of life in the middle of a world where the sight of a red bird, and the sound of its cheerful chirp, can seem like the hope that will take place come the spring.

And, because it’s Lisa Mychols and SUPER 8, of course there’s a video:

Next time: Take the time to hear what Dusty Wright has to say

The Nature Strip branches out

 By Henry Lipput

When Australia’s The Nature Strip released their Past Pacific EP in 2018 there was this note on the Bandcamp page: “The last Nature Strip record for the time being.”

The band, led by songwriters Pete Marley and John Encarnacao, went on hiatus. But Marley and Encarnacao found other outlets for their music: Marley, who has also plays bass for the terrific Australian band Fallon Cush, created Marveline with some friends. Encarnacao hooked up with producer David Carter and, joined by students or ex-students of the Tasmania Conservatorium, brought back Warmer, a unit he led before becoming part of The Nature Strip.

Warmer

Wooden Box With Strings (Bandcamp) is a remarkable album with (mostly) acoustic instruments and wonderful arrangements. It’s full of melody and noise (think of George Harrison’s “Long Long Long” from The Beatles with that strange ending). Most of the time the noises are produced by instruments making a cacophony of sounds and other times, well, there’s a credit for “preparation of piano for ‘Wooden Box’ and gathering of percussive debris for ‘Cry For The Moon‘.”

The title track is an example of how songs on the album start slowly and then build: acoustic guitar then a spooky-sounding banjo, strings, and upright bass. It all gets a bit scary with the violins swirling and then just bows on strings in an ending that recalls John Lennon‘s “Glass Onion“ another song from The Beatles. What or who is living in that piano? 

“Fishes Swim and Corals Grow” is one of the brightest songs on the album. It’s both a love song about scuba diving and an adult take on “Octopus’s Garden“.

My favorite track on the album is “Got Older Today.” “I got older today just talking to you.” The song’s double bass acts like a heartbeat dreading that “talk.” There’s also a violin that at first is sounding like it’s going to a hoe down and for a moment it appears as if the song might, like the protagonist, turn out okay. But then: “Got older today when you told me the truth and it crushed my heart to paste.“ Sometimes you don’t need a year to get a grey hair; sometimes it just takes a minute. 

“New Thing” could have been on a Nature Strip album not only because it was co-written with Marley but it has that patented McCartney acoustic thing he does with songs like "Blackbird" and "Jenny Wren." But this being Warmer, Encarnacao and company add more instruments and it becomes a darker and fuzzed out thing which leads one to wonder if the new thing is a love interest or something illegal and about to become an addition.

“Get So High I Can’t Get Down” ends the album on a joyful note. It’s a rave up in the Nature Strip mode. And there’s no question that this thing is all about love: “And you can have the tears in my eyes/It’s not the first time happiness cried.” The song (and the album) ends with laughing.

Marveline

Marveline’s Savoury-Toothed Tiger (Bandcamp) is a pure pop delight with some dark passages. For his solo project Marley has put together a group that includes Nature Strip percussionist Jess Ciampa on drums, Matt Langley from the Strip on keys and guitars, Tony Bibby also on drums, and Jack Dunn on guitars. In addition, Rachel Marley and Suzy Goodwin (of Fallon Cush) provide backing vocals.

The funky “Gonna Get Myself A Demon” kicks off the album and sounds like a wish to occasionally visit your dark side. “Turpentine” concerns a woman who thinks in colors and her boyfriend watches them playing in her hair. She also has the power to make things alright: “When the hate is running/When the crazy’s coming/Makes no difference to us/We’ve got our universe.” The song is a great rocker with an Attractions-like feel and some fine lead guitar from John Encarnacao.

Marley cranks up his bass and provides a monster riff on the dark “Bright Lights Of Despair.” With lines like “I hate myself/I love myself/I’ll be drinking nothing but top-shelf“ it sounds like a companion piece to “Gonna Get Myself A Demon“ except the demon is already there. The upbeat “Another Perfect Day” appears to be anything but: “I see you hiding there/Where hope meets the horizon/I sighed and gave it up/Pride leaks away/Another perfect day.”

“Made Of Stars” is a wonderful pop treat that recalls XTC’s “We’re All Light:” “We’re all made of stars/So I know what you are/And I like it/We’re all elements, spun around, slightly bent.” The guitars in the middle bit just rock like crazy. 

Like “New Thing” on Wooden Box With Strings, the sad, lovely “In The Garden” is a Marley and Encarnacao co-wrote. The lonely fellow in the song is not far from being a male Eleanor Rigby: “He’s sitting in the garden/Guarding all the flowers/Finally found something useful again/He doesn’t need much money/Just enough for beer and biscuits.”

Next time: Trip and Ellie's burst of color