GOT MUSIC NEWS? DAN@SEVENDAYSVT.COM
REVIEW this
Crazyhearse, Tornadic Beige
(SELF-RELEASED, CD, DIGITAL DOWNLOAD)
Every now and then, even the savviest local music fans run into a band they probably should have caught years ago and, when they finally do, can’t believe they’ve missed for so long. For this reviewer, such is the case with Middlebury’s Crazyhearse. Over the years I’ve noticed the name around — it is a pretty cool band name, after all — but for whatever reason, our paths never crossed. That is, until they released their latest record, Tornadic Beige. The band’s fifth
Black Rabbit, Lipstick and Dynamite
(SELF-RELEASED, CD, DIGITAL DOWNLOAD)
DAN BOLLES
SCAN THIS PAGE WITH LAYAR TO LISTEN TO TRACKS
YOUR TEXT HERE
SEVEN DAYS
assaults the ears with a tsunami of guitar crunch and thundering drums — the latter courtesy of drummer Mark Tomase, whose performance is understated but wildly effective throughout. Tomase has since left the group and was replaced by the excellent Jane Boxall, of Doll Fight! and Steady Betty renown. Given Boxall’s aptitude for punk drumming — not to mention her general elite musicality — we might assume the improvement found on Lipstick and Dynamite is only the beginning for Black Rabbit. Stay tuned. Lipstick and Dynamite by Black Rabbit is available at blackrabbitvt.com. Black Rabbit play the Monkey House this Thursday, July 24, as part of the Girls Rock Vermont! showcase.
SCAN THIS PAGE WITH LAYAR SEE PAGE 5
07.23.14-07.30.14
DAN BOLLES
AN INDEPENDENT ARTIST OR BAND MAKING MUSIC IN VT, SEND YOUR CD TO US! GET YOUR MUSIC REVIEWED: IFDANYOU’RE BOLLES C/O SEVEN DAYS, 255 SO. CHAMPLAIN ST. STE 5, BURLINGTON, VT 05401
MUSIC 67
opener “Black Cat,” he snarls with quiet menace over an insistent punk groove. This eventually steamrolls into a proggy, psych-rock breakdown that comes out of left field yet is not too jarring. “Tarpaulin” coalesces around an efficient guitar riff that sounds like an outtake from the Strokes’ Is This It — and that’s a good thing. The song itself has more in common with Surfer Rosa-era Pixies, especially in the call-and-response section between the Scaranos. “Mark My Words” may be the most bracing two minutes of music you’ll hear from a local band this year. It’s followed by the equally aggressive “Rejected,” on which Darlene Scarano tempers her husband’s sneering vocals with poppy, beach-blanket backing vocals. Lipstick and Dynamite vastly improves on its predecessor in production. While Black Rabbit’s debut had a degree of lo-fi charm, Robot Dog Studio’s Ryan Cohen masterfully tweaks the knobs and faders this time, presenting the band with greater fidelity without losing any of its grit or punch. Nowhere is this more evident than on the album’s last two cuts, “The Invisibles” and “Carnage.” In particular the aptly titled closing track
progression that shades songwriter David Kloepfer’s searching lyrics in a sinister gloom. Following that cut, Crazyhearse get rowdy on “A Bottle of Whiskey Later,” a rollicking gypsy-punk number that GB’s Eugene Hütz himself would have been psyched to pen. Crazyhearse showcase uncommon versatility with “$19.95,” a song whose numerous shifting movements nod at both Primus and Strangefolk, which shouldn’t work yet somehow does. “All OK Now” is a pretty countryrock ballad that seems to take cues from the Byrds, but washes Kloepfer’s Chris Hillman-style melody in ghostly atmospherics. It’s blissful and sweet, but the contentment is short-lived. “Oklahoma Road Rage” shatters the serenity with blistering punk, bringing Tornadic Beige to a bruising, thrilling conclusion. Crazyhearse play the Monkey House this Saturday, July 26, before touring the Midwest. Tornadic Beige is available at iTunes and Amazon.
SEVENDAYSVT.COM
On their 2013 self-titled debut EP, Burlington punk trio Black Rabbit offered a glimpse of the band they might become. Though a tad derivative in moments, the brisk, five-song recording suggested a budding promise within the minds of husband-and-wife duo Marc and Darlene Scarano. On their latest effort, the recently released Lipstick and Dynamite, Black Rabbit take a bold, steel-toed-boot-clad step toward realizing that potential. As on their first record, Black Rabbit remain rooted in 1970s punk and bands such as the Ramones and New York Dolls. But on their latest, they use the iconic sounds of those bands merely as a launching point to explore new avenues. The result is a self-assured and markedly improved album that finds Black Rabbit beginning to truly forge a unique identity. In particular, front man Marc Scarano boasts a previously unseen swagger. The easy confidence of his disaffected drawl is compelling and infectious. On
album is a cleverly conceived and expertly executed work that meshes an array of sounds and influences, from swamp rock to punk to psychedelic country and beyond. And it makes me wonder how the hell I’ve overlooked Crazyhearse for this long. Album opener “Demon Moon” is built around a Middle Eastern-style riff that winks at Dick Dale’s version of “Misirlou” but then romps toward unhinged, gypsy-punk high jinks. It’s difficult to pinpoint any specific influences on any of the songs on Tornadic Beige, which is a credit to the band’s technical ability and compositional ingenuity. But “Demon Moon” somehow evokes both the ethereal rock of Blue Öyster Cult and the ragged, gleeful aplomb of Gogol Bordello, without sounding derivative of either. Neat trick. “Moral Panic” begins as a lilting acoustic number that pays homage to the antiwar folk of the 1960s and songwriters such as Phil Ochs — and probably that Dylan dude, too. But it quickly builds into something else entirely as a shimmering wave of psychedelic sounds flits in and out of the speakers. It culminates in a minor