------Spins------Wooden Nickel Mark Thacker & Jeff McDonald CD of the Week Over on Paint Street BACKTRACKS Imagine driving down a less- Albert King traveled road in a vintage car, win- Born Under a Bad Sign (1967) dows down, no particular destina- tion or deadline or agenda to worry Having Booker T. and the MG’s about. You see the details that you’d backing you up gives an artist immedi- been too distracted to notice before. ate credibility. But Albert King already You see the leaves, the neat rows had a record under his belt and was rec- of corn, the way the trees far in the ognized as one of the better bluesman of $11.99 background move more slowly than the period. At over 6’5” and 250 pounds, the ones in front. You might even he was a large man (sometimes called ‘The Velvet Bulldozer’) take enough of a mental deep breath to reflect on a bittersweet mem- with an even larger sound. ory or two. Mostly a collection of singles (and covers), this was the first of That’s the vibe you get from Over on Paint Street, a relaxed col- his seven albums on the brilliant Stax Records label. It opens with laboration between Mark Thatcher and Jeff McDonald. Thatcher, a the title track, a song that has been covered by Cream, Hendrix, southern Ohio native whose Goosetown Astonishers play some of Blue Cheer and many others. “Crosscut Saw” is textbook Delta the most captivating Dixieland music in the Midwest, is also a gifted blues, as it was originally done in 1941 by Tommy McClennan. THE WHY STORE solo performer. McDonald’s decades-long solo career has put him Jerry Lieber’s “Kansas City” follows, which was also covered by VIM on stages with some of the biggest names in folk and country music. many, most notably Fats Domino and Wilbert Harrison. Booker Finally getting its proper national release, Having played together off and on over the last 10 years, Thacker T’s “The Hunter” closes side one, and it’s just the appetizer. The Why Store’s VIM dishes up more of and McDonald finally took their act into the studio and emerged with “I Almost Lost My Mind” kicks off side two, and the Joe what fans have come to love about the this accomplished disc of 17 originals and covers. Their chemistry is Hunter version rocks its way into “Personal Manager,” followed band – all while expanding the Chris readily evident, with interweaving guitar lines that never threaten to by “Laundromat Blues.” Don Robey’s “As The Years Go Passing Shaffer-fronted band’s universe with a step on either artist’s vocal. By” is also one of the better blues songs from the late 1950s,and is mix of ballads, Southern rock and a hint “Two Lane” is an easygoing folk-blues shuffle with a hint of probably more familiar to those who heard it covered by The Ani- of alt-country. If you liked The Why Store mals a year later. The record closes with “The Very Thought Of Willie Nelson and a healthy dose of acoustic hooks. The bucolic title before, you’re going to love them on this You,” a beautiful version of a song originally published in 1934. track benefits from its brushed drums, mandolin drizzle, and small album. Pick it up at Wooden Nickel this town reminiscences. Elsewhere, though, all is not idyllic. However King would go on to record over 16 studio albums throughout week for a paltry $11.99. pleasant and pastoral this album appears on the surface, Over on his illustrious career as well as a dozen or so live releases. I would Paint Street isn’t lacking in emotional depth. When the line “How recommend I’ll Play the Blues for You from 1972. It is essential could you just get onboard that plane and fly away from a man who for any blues album collection and may be one of the better live TOP SELLERS @ held you in his arms just yesterday?” pops out of “The Airplane blues records ever released. Albert King, simply put, is a legend. Song,” its straightforward emotion resonates more within its pleas- King died in 1992 from a heart attack in his Memphis, Ten- Wooden Nickel ant musical surroundings than it would against a minor-key dirge. nessee home. (Dennis Donahue) (Week ending 10/30/11) Thacker and McDonald trade verses on John Hartford’s “Natural TW LW ARTIST/Album To Be Gone” which balances bluegrass-y banjo and mandolin with “The Beer is Gone” and you’re in for the unholiest combination of 1 3 MEGADETH undeniable 60s pop underpinnings. “Anything for Love” and “Hard Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Black Flag, Horton Heat and even Thirt en Road” showcase shimmering, soulful country, while the jaunty, high-octane Thunderhawk you can imagine. Singer Kennedy blurts 3 sweet “Annie May Loves You” has the power to melt even a hard- out the title with such dismayed conviction that you’d swear he just 2 1 FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH ened cynic. opened the fridge and the song spontaneously wrote itself as it was American Capitalist Recorded at Sweetwater Productions in Fort Wayne and at recorded. Elsewhere, the sadly swinging “Kathleen, Please Come Thacker’s Nashville studio, Over on Paint Street boasts polished Home” is no less immediate, but the manic-ness is rooted more in 3 4 CHICKENFOOT production that’s never slick — it complements the songs perfectly. desperation than anything. “Marianne” tosses a perfectly crafted slab Chickenfoot III (CD & LP) The duo’s easy delivery and knack for seamlessly bridging stylistic of well-constructed guitar pop into the middle of the album, follow- gaps make Over on Paint Street an enjoyable, compelling and yes, ing the frenetic, sweaty, self-explanatory “I Got Drunk.” 4 – COLDPLAY relaxing listen. A release party for the CD will take place on, No- The Buddies are raucous, sure, but they also know exactly how Mylo Xyloto vember 18 at Come2Go in Fort Wayne. Thacker and McDonald will to deploy a great melody. Had The Arcade Fire grown fond of sea 5 5 METALLICA/LOU REED showcase their songs with a full-band lineup. (D.M. Jones) chanteys, they might have written something akin to the nuanced- Lulu yet-anthemic “Catching Bones on a Saturday Night.” The band take The Buddies it on home with the aptly titled, “Home, James.” Sings Kennedy: 6 6 DECEMBERISTS “I’m so tired.” He should be, following the huge expenditure of ener- Long Live the King The Buddies gy he and the band put forth on this kinetic album. Twelve numbers, I’d like to take credit for the not a dud in the bunch. (D.M. Jones) 7 9 FLORENCE & THE MACHINE fact that The Buddies are now called Ceremonials The Buddies after dropping “Candy Tame Impala 8 10 I.C.P. Apple and” from their name (see the Innerspeaker Featuring Freshness review of their 2008 album and my only real complaint about it: their The technicolor sounds of Tame 9 2 JOE BONAMASSA/BETH HART name). But, I’m sure they had other Impala’s first full-blown U.S. re- Don’t Explain motivating factors. lease, InnerSpeaker, became largely This Chicago-based rootsy rock known last year, as the band released 10 – TOM WAITS crew certainly didn’t drop the rough-hewn style and crackling energy the 12-song record via iTunes. Now Bad As Me that made the previous album (Country Record) such a refreshing finally seeing a proper stateside re- spin. So, now freshly shorn, The Buddies proceed to rock our socks lease on beautiful gatefold LP, the Sat., Nov. 12 • 7 p.m. • All Ages • Free off on this new self-titled album with all manner of guitars (both album stands to find an even wider acoustic and electric), banjos, drums, basses and even squeezebox- audience in the U.S., their light, Live AT OUR N. Anthony Store: es. dreamy vocals and thick, guitar-heavy sound made perfect for rock Witness the opener, “The Admiral.” A sprightly tune driven most- n’ roll ears worldwide. ly by a banjo and an insistent kick drum beat, it’s a compelling and I can’t help but link Tame Impala, in theoretical appeal at least, FATIMA relatively nuanced introduction to a barn burner of a disc. “Now that to Oasis and The Strokes. Those two bands released very different you’re gone / I will sing your song the whole night long,” sing Coley retro-tinged records whose sound seemed to hit at the perfect time. WASHINGTON Kennedy and crew — not with sadness but with gusto. By the time For Oasis, it was a Beatles and Stone Roses hybrid sound; for The 3627 N. Clinton • 484-2451 the accordion comes in and the drums start swinging, you’re hooked. Strokes it was a Stooges-meets-Cars thing, with all the pop and 3422 N. Anthony • 484-3635 This opening track is over before you know it, despite its healthy style you’d hope for. With Tame Impala, the sound is thick and hazy, 6427 W. Jefferson • 432-7651 three minute-plus length. Then, it’s on to “A Lifetime at Best” which drenched in reverb and drive-by (similar to Oasis and The Strokes) We Buy, Sell & Trade Used CDs, LPs & DVDs sounds ready made for punters to sing at the tops of their drunken www.woodennickelmusicfortwayne.com lungs at the pub. And the fun only picks up from there. Listen to Continued on page 16 November 3, ’11------www.whatzup.com------9 SPINS - From Page 9 Don’t Miss It! clear pop melodies and nuanced vocal performances by a frontman with personality to spare. The Impalas, I suppose, take influence from any number of psych-rock bands, but in a more faithful way than, say, The Beta Band did a decade or so ago. On “Solitude is Bliss,” one of the record’s instant standouts, we’re greeted with gallons of reverb and a trippy production style that comes off like a British version of David Frid- mann. Just as the first minute of reverb-buried verse ends we’re hit with a big, long hook that feels right out of 1967 – back when even The Stones were getting their psych-rock on. It’s a killer track that’s ornamented nicely and held together by juicy riffs and big, perfectly recorded drums. Unlike The Strokes, who had “Last Nite,” or Oasis, who had “Wonderwall” (and “Shak- ermaker” and “Supersonic” and so on), Innerspeaker doesn’t really have a big single-type of song that offers crossover appeal and could thus push them into mass markets. And even if it did feature such a song, in the year 2011, would that matter? Bands like Tame Impala are made by reviews, YouTube videos, Twitter accounts and opening slots on tours. And, for the most part, they can only get so far unless they’re hit with the luck bug. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if the juicy, psychedelic pop sounds of InnerSpeaker continue to find new listeners for years to come. Now fully available in the U.S., don’t be sur- prised if we look back on this hazy, trippy, fully rocking collection as one of the cult albums of its time. (Greg W. Locke) Metallica Lulu This wouldn’t be the first time Metallica combined two unlikely things that didn’t go together well. Their live sym- phonic album, S&M, might have been well-intended, but the result was a ho-hum novelty whose monstrous length de- fined indulgence. Cut to 12 years later, and Metallica prove the old adage that those who do not know their history are condemned to repeat it. Lulu, their collaboration with glam rock god and ex-Velvet Underground leader Lou Reed, is like combining a mellow root beer float with a fiery spicy steak taco. When I first heard about this collaboration between Lou Reed and Metallica, I thought to myself, “What’s next? David Bowie deciding he wants to jam with Slayer?” It just seemed like such an unlikely combination that it would be hard to take their project seriously. An- other possibility was that this could have been the set up for an elaborate prank pulled by musicians who themselves who were either relatively obscure or just tired of being the butt end of jokes. Lulu is neither. While it’s no joke, it’s nothing to take seriously either. A lot of it relies on repeated phrases, both lyrically and musically. At times Metallica seem to plagiarize them- selves yet again (a trend started by Death Magnetic) by having familiar riffs be the only source of inspiration in the songs. “Mistress Dread” is nothing more than a re-hash of the furious rhythm to Master of Puppets’ “Disposable Heroes.” “The View” and “Junior Dad” sound like B-sides from their Load and Reload days, and the main riff from “Dragon” bor- rows elements from their rendition of “Whiskey in the Jar.” This whole self-plagiarization of music is either their narcissistic tendencies allowing them to borrow from old ideas, or sim- ply a complete lack of new ideas. Sadly, these songs are some of the only tolerable tracks on the whole album. Even St. Anger leaves stains on Lulu, as Kirk Hammett gets lost in the fury • of guitar noise with James Hetfield, and rarely gets to let loose with his signature solos. November 8 7:30pm As Metallica belts out its monotonous fury, Lou Reed speaks, rasps, chokes, gurgles, cracks, wheezes, and only occasionally sings his absurd lyrics. The most laughable lyric, though, comes from Hetfield, who at one point screams, “I AM THE TABLE!” Ultimately, trying to decipher dry and confusing lyrics while the same riff is being hammered out is just asking too much, considering its overall length. Monotony, thy name is Lulu. Clocking in at nearly an hour and a half, the 10 songs on The Embassy Theatre this album average over nine minutes each. This might have worked if Metallica were cre- ative enough to play derivatives of riffs and maybe change riffs half way through songs, but since they stuck to the same riffs throughout each song, their performance is calculated and unimaginative. As the first half ofLulu rambles on, we are grimly reminded that we are only 800-745-3000 about halfway through this journey; that the real tedium is yet to come. The second half is arguably the tamer half as the music focuses more on atmosphere and, on occasion, avant-garde techniques that nod to early Velvet Underground. While this half can be written off as the sleeper half, under the right circumstances the droning effects can Tickets also available at the Embassy Box Office, be enjoyable. While Metallica do manage to play good riffs on “Dragon” and “Junior Dad,” All outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com they’re still not likable enough to be tolerated for 11 and 19 minutes, respectively. As “Junior Dad” slowly fades away into an endless lull of orchestral strings, we can’t help but wonder who is going to suffer more from this misadventure. Will this further plunge Metallica into fanbase hell as hardcore admirers turn against them, or will it tarnish Lou Reed’s reputation as a legendary poet that once jammed with the Velvet Underground under Subscriptions Still Available. Call 260.424.5665 the wing of Andy Warhol? In certain circles, Lulu can effectively do both. Discounts available for groups of 20 or more. However, I’m going to throw out the possibility that maybe Lulu is just too far ahead of its time, that it will all seem right in a few years. I will also go so far as to predict that work- ing with Reed will have an impact on Metallica and will ultimately lead to direction for them (much like how their self-titled black album marked a new chapter for the band as they began a presentation to play slower songs). Maybe we can expect more of this avant-garde approach to metal in the future from Metallica. For now, the exact consequences of this album remain to be seen, and Loutallica just seems like a match that just wasn’t meant to be. (Colin McCallister) 16------www.whatzup.com------November 3, ‘11