Feature Crush: C.D. on Songs, 07/14/09

The Blizzard of ’78 – “Mercy”

No one really believed that the snow-bearing Blizzard of ’78 was coming; people doubted the weather forecasters and went to work anyway – a costly mistake that stranded many, killed some and generally bummed out the entire local population.

You probably still don’t want to sleep on this band either, judging by this song, anyway. They certainly won’t bum out the entire population; in fact they should have the opposite effect on anyone who finds themselves within earshot.

Much like any self-respecting storm, “Mercy” starts off with an initially sparse approach – a five-note piano phrase that states the general motif of the song. The quiet moodiness of the introduction gives way to a more energetic form of moodiness expressed mainly through the vocal presence, yet belied by every sound on the track. Even the drums seem a little forlorn, if that is indeed possible through drum technique. The vocals rip a hole in this song, starting with the initial refrain and maintaining velocity all the way through a bona fide breakdown right through to the bitter end, a series of explosive “Have mercy!” call-and-response exclamations over the band’s final stand of defiance.

This song frowns, furrows, swings, gnashes its teeth and comes back for more. While they may not cancel school for this particular storm, it’s still something worth staying inside for.

The Sneaks – “Monuments”

This song starts with a Guitar Center employee’s worst nightmare – a full 30 seconds worth of loud noise and gnarly feedback that sounds like millions of guitars have just been set against their amplifiers. “Uh-oh,” thinks the listener, “Is this one of these noise bands that only friends of the band are into?” In a word – no.

The Sneaks adoration of the occasional fit of crazy noise notwithstanding, the band actually seems very into the idea of pure melody and hook, always balanced by edgy, ready-to-be-set-off-at-any-time guitar work. If the anxious guitar work sets this song's melodic teeth on edge; the vocals remain a reassuring presence, kind of like a reassuring wink from The Sneaks that says “We’re under control here. Maybe.”

The joyful exuberance of “Monuments” lies in its spunky execution: This is music to do jumping jacks to or at least drive your bike around at high speeds to, maybe swerving this way and that, but always staying on the recommended pathways and arriving at your destination safely and in one piece. The Sneaks play this Thursday, July 16 at TT's. See our show preview.

The Cinnamon Fuzz – “Reboot My Heart”

If bands still made 1980s-style music videos where the singers’ heads get superimposed onto flies’ bodies and the bassist’s jacket changes color twelve times in one shot and other such antics, then the Cinnamon Fuzz’s “Reboot My Heart” would be a perfect candidate for a wacky video featuring the band standing on a motherboard or something, their circuit-ties getting blown about by processor cooling fans.

This is definitely one of those fun songs from a bygone era, replete with computerized puns and electronic instruments and even the occasional wacky computer sound effect. All of this electronic set-dressing would be just plain old silly if its base platform wasn’t up to snuff, and “Reboot My Heart” meets and exceeds all system requirements. In terms of production, this song is a fully realized and well-polished joy to hear. The Cinnamon Fuzz seems to be a rather musically stylish bunch, but they also refuse to take themselves too seriously. And this is good when your bassist is standing on an oversized heatsink and your drummer is spinning around on a floppy disc. The reboot complete, the system runs smooth and clear, ready to tackle whatever full-color VGA game you wish to play.

Wonder Catapult – “The Moon Versus Us Ever Sleeping Together Again”

The Hot Box era sadly over, bassist Amanda Dellevigne has gone back to the drawing board, or in her case, back to the bedroom with an untolled number of cats.

This particular track was admittedly captured on a computer microphone on a laptop sitting somewhere on the bed; “The Moon Versus Us Ever Sleeping Together Again” shows that a well-crafted song and performance can trump any form of recording technology that makes songs “good” or “bad” in the eyes of the recording sound elitists (usually the people who stand to make money from recording your project).

Wonder Catapult, recorded somewhere in 2009 on 2009 equipment, seems to call back to multiple eras. Dellevigne’s voice harkens back to the velvet/satin-scarf wearing songstresses of the 1970s, showing some of the wood-paneled shiny goodness of a Stevie Nicks vocal track, or at least something similar. “The Moon…” is an honest performance with none of the usual adornments or set-dressing outside of the electronic metronome that starts the track. The guitar wanders, the vocal sound gets fuzzy here and there, but “The Moon” is an over-all genuine performance from an artist welcoming the listener inside. And the listener is better off for it.

Chris Pureka – “Wagon Wheel”

There are a few things in this world that it seems like only Chris Pureka could do. While in reality she is probably not the only one in the world that can do such things, it’s possible that she is maybe the best at them, or at least in the top 5.

Pureka’s number one skill is making it all sound so easy. Her voice and guitar playing come so natural that it’s like she exhales and music comes out. She gestures while speaking and the gestures just happen to fit around a guitar. Pureka never fails to satisfy, and she does not with her interpretation of “Wagon Wheel,” which is itself an interpretation of an old Bob Dylan bootleg by a band called Old Crow Medicine.

According to management, this cover is actually sanctified and ratified by the original artist, but then again we’d all probably be pretty psyched if Pureka were to cover any song that we wrote. Pureka’s effortless style makes it sound like she sits in the bathtub with a few chord charts and her foot hanging carelessly outside, a-swinging to the rhythm. If she sounded any more relaxed, she’d be asleep, and she probably even snores in key and tempo. These summer months finally turning into “summer,” one could possibly sustain the better part of one’s afternoon structured solely around this song on repeat.

It is impossible not to like Pureka’s dusky, crisp voice. It is impossible to not feel her loosey-goosey guitar playing. It’s impossible to dislike this song; throw it on repeat, lose an afternoon in some whiskey, and see for yourself.

Bridget and the Squares – “Left for Dead”

Sounding all too much like a nursery rhyme heroine, little Bridget has lost her Squares, found new ones, and now feels comfortable wandering into the woods either Squar-ed or Square-less. Laura “Bridget” Regan seems to mature with every musical release.

Regan has an inviting and reassuring presence on record, her voice somewhere between the sinking weight of Fiona Apple and the “faeries alight on my shoulder” whimsy of Regina Spektor. Regan sounds perfectly balanced between the two vocally, but her songwriting and piano playing seems to come from somewhere else.

Regan’s songwriting seems to come very much from a “band” place and not a “solo artist” place. “Left for Dead” is a full-on band effort, complete with non-piano instruments and some nice backing vocals performed nicely by non-Regan voices. “Left for Dead” is a fairly swinging tune, in the sun-shiny pop spirit of older groups such as The Zombies, if only The Zombies were led by a strong-voiced young woman in a shiny dress.

Want to submit your band's song to C.D. On Songs?

To be reviewed in a C.D. On Songs column:

• Be a Boston-based band/artist.
  
• Email a single mp3/m4a/etc. (or a download link to one) to cdonsongs (at) gmail (dot) com, with the subject line "C.D. on Songs" (DO NOT send us a bunch of songs and make us pick, we will ignore you). We require a file – not a streaming link.
• Include album cover art if you have any. If you don't, a band photo or logo is acceptable.
• We will assume that we have your permission to make the song downloadable on Boston Band Crush (readers will want to hear it, after all).
  
• If that's not ok with you, say so and provide us with a link to the song on an embeddable player like ReverbNation – something we can include in the post (and not just link to).