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Published
by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. CLICK FOR NEWSPAPER DELIVERY
Tuesday, September 25, 2001
Outside the box
HARD-DRIVING GUITAR BUILDS REVEILLE'S SOUND
REVEILLE
"Bleed the Sky" (Elektra)
** (2 stars)
The music is unapologetically angry, aggressive and full of more testosterone than a professional wrestler. All the macho posing aside, it's hard not to be drawn in by Reveille's hard-driving guitar, furious percussion and occasional electronic effects. The Boston natives know how to meld rap and rock by using guitars for not just screaming solos, but also as rhythm instruments and pacesetters. In effect, they've replaced the traditional turntables with devices equally capable of both rhythm and melody.
There might be some lyrics worth listening to, but it seems best to appreciate Drew Simollardes' raps as instrumental accompaniment - not as anything worth reading into.
Reveille opens for Godsmack tonight at Concrete Street Amphitheater.
GOOD TONYAS DRAW ON, REINVENT FOLK TRADITION
THE BE GOOD TANYAS
"Blue Horse" (Nettwerk)
*** (3 stars)
The all-female, Vancouver-based trio has its heart in the American South, playing music that's reminiscent of traditional Appalachian folk songs - plenty of plucky banjo, mandolin solos and amazingly lush soprano harmonies - but that also seems fresh and new with its electric guitar, modern laments and youthful spirit.
The Be Good Tanya's "Blue Horse" is just now being distributed in the United States, but was released over a year ago to our neighbors to the north. The debut album made several prominent Canadian critics' Top 10 lists and won the group a large following on the folk-music circuit in both countries - for good reason.
The majority of songs on the album are of the group's own composition, but even the trio's takes on traditional songs like "Lakes of Pontchartrain" and even "Oh Susanna" are surprising. The group joins Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch and others as musicians that both draw on tradition and reinvent it.
'WONDERLAND' EXCESSES MAKE FOR BORING EARFUL
THE CHARLATANS UK
"Wonderland" (MCA)
** (2 stars)
After 10 years of releasing albums, the Charlatans UK should take delight that its sound, combining jangly pop music with baggy beats, loops and samples, is back in vogue. Credit (or curse) David Gray's hit single "Babylon" for reinvigorating the technique, which has now been adopted in new albums by Grant-Lee Phillips, and Ben Folds, among others.
But that isn't to say that the British band is simply rehashing what's already been done. The Charlatans UK approach the melding of electronica and pop with gusto, going all out on some songs by employing more scratches, looped vocals and machine-generated sounds than most Brit-pop bands would have the confidence to use.
Unfortunately, every song on the album is longer than four minutes (a couple approach six) and the looseness and excess gets frustrating by the time the chorus has repeated a dozen times.
- Staff writer Brendan Walsh
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