Thomas Abban - A Sheik's Legacy (2017)

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Written by Frank McClure, posted by blog admin

Minneapolis guitar rock titan Thomas Abban may only be 21 years old but his first record A Sheik’s Legacy rings of a grizzled, hardened legend of the stage and studio.  This 15 song shambling beast of a debut feels like an album from a man AT LEAST twice Abban’s young age.  The enigmatic rock n’ roller of Welsh/Ghanian heritage also paints his face with strange symbols around his eyes and on his arms for performances and his music also possesses a wild, alien quality that is a wonderful yet rewarding challenge for reviewers, concert goers and listeners alike. 

“Death Song” comes off like a musical suite; several distinct passages are incredibly lush as they unfold in a storm of orchestral themed, multi-layered guitars parts from acoustic to electric, jazzy strutting bass lines, wild African vocal screams and chants, Abban’s breathtaking falsetto melodies, tom-tom leaned drum patterns that are gloriously wild and untamed…all wrapped up in a total package by the magical, darkness-charged lyrics.  By the time the song is over, you feel like you’ve listened to an entire album.  There are that many peaks and valleys in “Death Song.”  “Symmetry & Black Tar” further ascends the lofty ambition of the opening track by expanding on the same theme but consistently ratcheting up the tempos of the acoustic guitars while rifling off some deadly lead guitar sizzle played at a mountainous volume.  Abban’s vocal range empowers the ears and soul as he goes from trembling lower notes to sky high shrieks, as unusual facets like clavinets add a Spanish feel and classical strings whip up some truly provocative texture washes. 

A 4 second piano intro morphs into a hammering, arena destroying guitar riff during “Fear’s” no b.s., hard-rock assault.  Proto-metal progenitors like Led Zeppelin, Free, a fledgling Judas Priest and Bloodrock all made legendary albums completely culled from a similarly tattered, warts n’ all approach derived from the blues.  Thomas also has the danger in his voice to dive headlong into such material; he shows it in spades here and carries it over into the immediately following, gluey grooves of “Aladdin.”  The lyrical content switches to grand Arabian fantasy while the preceding “Fear” came from what seemed to be a very personal experience.  Just like the music, Abban’s wordplay and vocal delivery are constantly fluxing in a way that just cements your attention span to the stereo speakers.  For more big riffs, the shack shakin’ earthquake of “Uh” and the late game power-blues climax of “Black Water” practically declares Thomas Abban as a new age proprietor of the groove alongside names like Jimmy Page, Joe Bonamassa, Tommy Bolin and Steve Gould.  You even get a lead-loaded, spacey, up-tempo freak out as the acidic “Born of Fire” is no stranger to blasting volumes. 

Then just when you least expect it, Thomas will anchor the album’s mood to a totally different aura altogether.  There are largely acoustic numbers that meld folk-inspired harmonies to gritty blues or southern-fried country grace.  These traits appear in all sorts of mix n’ match road swerves on husky, dusky tunes like “Don’t You Stay the Same,” “Let Me Tell You Something,” “Lord” and the swift, harder-charging “Echo.”  Then these schematics will disassemble some of their darker qualities into bewildering, bewitching tenderness during “Horizons,” “Sinner” and “Irene’s” triumphant, heartfelt melodies where Thomas’ voice shows just how soft, subtle and contemplative it can get. 

A Sheik’s Legacy is nothing more than a triumph of breaking down genre walls.  Rock n’ roll is one of the biggest features but there is so much going on here that it’s impossible to truly nail down Abban’s sound.   This is a one of a kind record that no serious music fan should miss.

Ben Brookes - The Motor Car & The Weather Balloon (2017)

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Written by William Elgin, posted by blog admin

Ben Brookes is a renewing blast of fresh air in a staid popular music scene. The Motor Car & The Weather Balloon is a ten song collection that definitely embraces classic rock and pop themes while still shaping them in a distinctive way that speaks volumes about Brookes’ growing artistry as both a writer and performer. Brookes enlisted some heavy hitters to help bring The Motor Car & The Weather Balloon fully to life – chief among them is the presence of former Badfinger members guitarist Joey Molland and Mark Healey. The latter handled the production duties for the album and his contributions have an immeasurably positive effect on the overall quality. The Motor Car & The Weather Balloon is a polished sonic experience, but never so much so that it sacrifices its palpable human qualities. This is an invigorating and ultimately very human listening experience insofar as it pulls us into Brookes’ expansive lyrical and musical imagination with minimal effort.

The album opens with a brief swath of sound effects to set the scene for “I Wanna Go Home”. There’s a strong sing-a-long quality to the song’s vocal melody and a gradual escalating quality to the vocal that builds numerous small peaks into the performance. There’s shades of both former Marillion vocalist Fish and Cat Stevens in Brookes’ vocal tone, but the phrasing is all his own and sustains a high level of attentiveness to the arrangement. Inhofer’s keyboard work adds crucial color. “Asleep in Galilee” definitely has some obvious commercial appeal from the first and the acoustic chiming carrying listeners through the opening expands across an even wider melodic canvas once the song is moving along in earnest. There’s some nice steel guitar fills coloring the song at key points. The lush, languid sound of “Crack a Smile” gains even more thanks to the patient sway of the vocal melody.. Brookes takes on each line with consideration, never belaboring it, but investing it with every bit of passion he can muster at a given moment. The lyrics are among the album’s finest and convey heartbreak in an understated way.

Another high point comes with the song “Before Sunlight” and it rates as one of Brookes’ best vocals on the album thanks to his phrasing and the spot on beauty of the song’s vocal melody. He amps up the rock muscle on the track “Look Through My Eyes” and the nimble stomp of its mid-tempo march packs enough melody that it makes for a thoroughly enjoyable listen. The electric guitar has enough bite on it to catch and hold your attention without ever attempting to dominate the song’s sound. “Siren” has some strong electric guitar work as well while still retaining many of the balladic elements distinguishing so many of Brookes’ songs on The Motor Car & The Weather Balloon. There’s a little bit of everything powering “Somewhere Around Eight” and it definitely transitions into a raucous, mid-tempo rocker by the song’s second half. There’s a strong bluesy influence spiking this track for a positive effect. Brookes ends the album with the gentle lope of “Shackles” and it makes for an effective, perfectly modulated conclusion with just a hint of the rustic influences we heard in the previous song. The elegiac mood is punctuated by some lovely, even lyrical lead guitar. Ben Brookes has talent that comes along only a few times per generation and it’s heartening to see him receiving the support he deserves from some important and talented collaborators. He’s come through with a debut release that poises him to be a major talent for years to come.

Elliot Schneider - Don't Put All Your Eggs in One Basketcase (2017)

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Written by Pamela Bellmore, posted by blog admin

Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Basketcase ranks among the more creative albums in a singer/songwriter vein released in recent memory and Elliot Schneider’s seemingly effortless mastery of the form isn’t particularly surprising. Schneider’s musical and life education are inexorably dovetailed into one another and from a youthful encounter with Les Paul in the early 1970’s that nearly led to Paul producing Schneider, Schneider’s later appearances in iconic views and slots like debuting at historic New York City punk/New Wave venue CBGB’s on a Saturday night (a rare distinction only shared by the likes of Patti Smith, Television, and others), and a decision to later step away from the world of popular music in favor of a teaching career. Health scares and retirement from teaching inspired Schneider, in part, to resume the musical career he left behind long before and his four release shows that his talents never laid fallow during the years he spent teaching – he kept growing, developing, and has some claim to being one of the more interesting songwriters working together.

Experienced listeners will know they are in for something special the first time they hear “The Moon Has Flown Away”. The relaxed and buoyant guitar work chimes in over a lightly propulsive percussion track – it strikes a hopeful air that cuts against the darker implications of the lyric. Schneider excels as a writer for the first of many times on Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Basketcase. There’s a light poetic veneer laid over this song that never risks cheapening its impact that works well with the musical arrangement. There’s a lot to admire about “Diehard Killjoy” and the lyric certainly draws some blood while still showing off some charisma and humor, but the arrangement never really grabs you like one might hope or expect it to. “Captain Argent” is another of those relaxed, guitar driven numbers with just the right spaces between the notes and a strong enough bottom end that gives the song some additional gravitas. Schneider has a talent for balladry coming through on tracks like “In a Sense Innocence” that never deserts the quirkiness defining many of his lyrical inventions. It has a strong electrified folk vibe and ethereally slanted multi-part harmonies that sweeten any rough edges.

“Overruling Neo-Fascists” brings social criticism together with another of his invocations of a classic rock sound. He does this sort of pose with such stylish regard, never pushing things in a crass way, and the players show taste in how the music is orchestrated. There’s a surprising amount of punky attitude coming into the song as well that Schneider gets over quite believably. Another of the album’s more vulnerable moments comes with the penultimate tune “First Day of Summer”, the second of the album’s more ballad-geared material. The presence of backing vocals isn’t quite as heavy as what we hear in the earlier “In a Sense Innocence”, but it brings a lot to the performance. Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Basketcase concludes “I Just Don’t Really Know If You Exist” has suggestions of a ballad, but it comes off as something closer to songs like “Captain Argent”, albeit with a very different lyrical point of view. Elliot Schneider’s new album is a winner from beginning to end and even the addition of some extras, namely old demos and a live recording of Schneider performing with The Pitts, never upsets the balance of this fine recording.