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Published
by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. CLICK FOR NEWSPAPER DELIVERY
Tuesday, October 9, 2001
Outside the box
Various artists
“The I-10 Chronicles 2” (Back Porch Records)
2 and one-half stars
The second volume from Back Porch Records to celebrate the interstate that runs from Southern California to Florida doesn’t really capture a particular regional sound. Its artists (some of whom are from nowhere near I-10) and offerings (covers of Bob Dylan, Neil Young and the Rolling Stones, among others) are as different as, say, El Paso and Los Angeles. Just because both cities sit aside I-10 doesn’t mean they share a common musical bond.
The sloppy conceit aside, the album is actually good. The musicians — everyone from the Blind Boys of Alabama to Adam Duritz of Counting Crows fame — play roosty folk rock or acoustic blues, and while just a couple songs are originals, the covers are songs that never appeared on the original artists’ greatest hits album. John Hammond’s cover of Tom Waits’ “Fish in the Jailhouse” is a joyful highbred of Delta, jump and boogie blues and Garrison Starr’s version of “Isn’t Gonna be that Way” features accordion playing by ex-Texas Tornado Flaco Jimenez.
The Apex Theory
“The Apex Theory” (DreamWorks)
2 stars
The self-titled, major-label debut from these Southern California hard rockers strikes a nice balance between Matchbox 20-style power pop and harsher, heavy-metal sounds. Three of the members of The Apex Theory are of Armenian descent, and vaguely Mediterranean sounds pop up throughout the EP. But the Near-Eastern riffs serve more as the icing on the baklava, not the foundation of the band’s sound — for that the group seems more indebted to early ‘90s Metallica.
The five songs on the album range from the slightly psychedelic to sparse and dry, but the group is at its best when it is most straightforward. Lyrics about nationalism and other heady topics may be a little overly ambitious, but the attempt at cultural relevancy is admirable.
Craving Theo
“Craving Theo” (Columbia)
1 and one-half star
While hardly groundbreaking, the debut disc from Portland, Ore.-based Craving Theo is in line with the tradition of hard rocking bands from the Pacific Northwest. That is, they rock hard, they use fuzzy distortion pedals, and vocals are soaked in reverb. Think of a less groove-oriented Alice in Chains, or a less self-conscious version of Pearl Jam. Boosted by the song “Stomp,” which has already received generous airplay, the album contains 10 more tracks that don’t veer far from the single.
Craving Theo’s ballads (“When” and “Alone”) are sappy and predictable, the somewhat mystical numbers (“Lie” and “Welcome You”) benefit from inventive percussion, but the group’s best are the blues-based hard rockers like “Stomp.”
— Staff writer Brendan Walsh
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