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So here we have a double CD set – I don't know whether to laugh or cry, but that could be all the 5 HTP (nature's Prozac – better than St John's Wort, apparently) I've swallowed before attempting this month's reviews. It's a peculiar thing actually - a double album by what looks like one band, but going under two different guises. They are not the first to do this – The Damned had their Naz Nomad, The White Stripes their Raconteurs, and so on. It gives them a licence to try and new things under their other guise – then if it all goes wrong, blame it on the 'other' scapegoated band. Handy really, isn't it? It could all end up going horribly Jekyll and Hyde, but then again, that could be very interesting in itself.
Just to add clarity – there's four of them from Centro-matic in South San Gabriel, along with Matt Stoessel (pedal steel), Bryan VanDivier (bass guitar, baritone guitar, percussion), Robert Gomez (arrangements), Jeffrey Barnes (clarinet, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone, flute, throat singing), Buffi Jacobs (cello), Tamara Cauble (viola, violin), David Pierce (trombone), and James Driscoll (upright bass). Centro-matic's sound is quite MOR, easy-going, regular American rock. It would suit a long-distance lorry driver cruising across the Nevada desert, not creating the urge for road-rage at all. There's no angst in "Rat Patrol and DJs", "Two Seats Gold Reserved", "Quality Strange" or "Remind Us Alive", or any extreme emotion that I can guage, unless my Emo sensitivity sensors need cleaning and I'm ignoring all the subtle nuances and the hints of undying love behind the slightly apathetic vocals and laid back tunes. But I don't think so – if I did, I'd be reading far too much into it – like that drunk guy at clubs who ends up convincing themselves that the girl who drops her cigarette in front of him is actually in undying love. No, she's just being clumsy after all. "Strychnine, Breathless Ways" does not mean getting het up about a material that sounds related to polysteyrene – but it does have a punchy rhythm, and rather whiney vocals. I can't exactly say that the song titles are particularly catchy and roll of the tongue easily. 'Yes, this one's called "A Critical Display of Snakes", actually.' Anyway, onto the South San Gabriel side. Ohh yes. The opening to "Emma Jane" has some brooding strings, with acoustic guitar – beautiful and chilled out. The vocals are slightly growly – a bit like Jon Bon Jovi recovering from laryngitis. "When the Angels Will Put Out their Lights" is mellow, chill-out almost coffee table music. Very dark and moody for "Of Evil/For Evil", and the beautiful strings kick in again for "Trust to Lose". For middle-American chill-out, it's really not bad. In places it does sound a tad like the Raconteurs, and you could do a lot worse than that. If you ever become a long-distance lorry driver, this is what you might want to listen to. |
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