BLOODY RED BARON
July reviews
by Mike Baron
LISA MYCHOLS: Above, Beyond & In Between
Effervescent pop delight hooks you through the gills on the first song and never lets up. Lisa Mychols sounds a little like Hoku and a lot like all those great girl groups from the sixties such as the Shirelles, the Shangri-Las and the Ronettes. Her producer/mutli-instrumentalist Tom Richards plays the Svengali-role much like Jon Gordon for Marco Joaquim and Eytan Mirsky. “Hearts Beat in Stereo” is the best pure pop single this year. The vibes on “Make Believe” harken back to the Shirelles while the song cops a verse from “Don’t Worry Baby” and sashays into the distance on a grandiloquent outro.
“Summertime Dream” mashes Brill Building conventions with the Beatles featuring pizzicato strings and Richard’s most Beatlesque guitar work. There’s a touch of reggae in Mychols’ “Pass Me Some Hope” before sobering up with the darkly throbbing “Another Side of Time.”
Five stars.
STRANGELY ALRIGHT: The Time Machine Is Broken
This is less power pop than lush rock pop in the vein of Fallon Kush, Captain Wilberforce and John Hiatt. Singer/songwriter Regan Lane has a knack for the bridge ably abetted by guitarist Jeff Reiner. “Just How It Goes” has a James Bond vibe mixing major and minor chords. Lane works that major/minor thing on virtually every song, particularly the flickering “So Right” and “Crying Shame.” “If I Don’t Laugh” has an anthemic, Neil Young feel.
The second half is particularly powerful, “Before the Fall,” “Crazy Ride,” “Direction Home” and “You And Me” all packing a punch.
Three and a half stars.
ROCKBOTTOM: Live At Shelter (Target Earth)
This Tokyo-based trio wears their hearts on their sleeves and bleed all over the stage. Drawing inspiration from the Plimsouls, Red Kross, the McCoys, Big Star and a thousand other garage rock warriors they display superb dynamics, lead guitarist Tatsuya Inagaki eschewing pyrotechnics in favor of a fiercely rhythmic approach that delivers huge dividends. They are like a more passionate Cheap Trick bristling with punk energy.
There’s a touch of rockabilly in “Script Trap,” but for the most part these three minute rave-ups exert a straight-up hortatory rock vibe that will leave you gasping. The Flamin’ Groovies’ “Shake Some Action” is the only cover and fits perfectly. The recording quality could be a bit better but when there’s so much passion on display it seems harsh to quibble.
Four Stars.
GLEN CASE: Throw Money
Throw Money flashes by in thirty minutes like a carnival train, each car showing a dazzling cartoon that ends too soon. Case is a one-man band from the same school as Greg Pope, Ed James, Broken Promise Keeper, and Kurt Baker. Okay Baker has a band, but the point is Case is a master of his instruments, dynamics, and song-writing. Smart lyrics and first-rate songwriting. “OK Cupid” is so radio-friendly it’s stupid.
Case hits the ground running, segueing one song into the next for a seamless, breathless pop tapestry. When he sings a song like “Need Stilts” with two voices, acoustic guitar and bass you have everything you need. “Take a Pill” switches from major to minor to chromatic like a silver salamander flashing in the sun and should be sung at Passover along with the Four Questions.
Four and a half stars.
