by The Frightnrs
The Frightnrs Nothing More to Say (PBS feature record)
First soul-funk reissue-label-supreme NUMERO releases an anthology on Melbourne post-punksters, The Scientists, and now DAPTONE is pushing a rocksteady album! 2016 has turned strange.
I say “rocksteady”, but the songs on Queens-NY band The Frightnrs debut Nothing More To Say aren’t strictly rocksteady in that they exhibit awareness of later styles of Jamaican music (e.g. lover’s rock, early dancehall, rub a dub) in both the production and performance. In particular, talented lead singer Daniel Klein’s phrasing and timbre bears a closer resemblance to 70s sweet soul singers like Pat Kelly and Cornell Campbell than to any earlier artist. The out-of-era effect is amplified by the heavy reverb applied to vocals and drums that verges on a dub-effect in places.
The playing is solid (if unremarkable) and the piano rhythm is particularly effective, but it is the interaction of lead and backing vocals that stands out. The era-appropriate lovelorn lyrics are delivered in the faux-Motown/Mayfield style evident in the 60s and early 70s pop reggae of both English and Jamaican groups. In that context, the sometimes heavy-handed production is forgivable.
Nothing More To Say is full of summer-friendly sentimentality with highlights including, “What Have I Done”, (the Pioneers-esque) “Hey Brother” and Treasure-Isle style of “Lookin for My Love”.
I would love to have heard The Frightnrs in the organic low-fi setting of a live performance, but that is unlikely to happen any time soon given that Mr Klein passed away in June this year due to ALS (aka Lou Gehrig’s disease).
Review by Mohair Slim (Blue Juice, Sundays 11am-1pm)
Scott & Charlene's Wedding Mid Thirties Singles Scene (Featured on The Breakfast Spread)
Melbourne jangle lords drop their third long player and keep it spicy. Scott & Charlene's Wedding have always been difficult to pin down and this album continues to complicate things. This year, albums have tended to be shorter in duration and narrower in scope – more direct and pointed, but with fewer contradictions. Scott & Charlene's buck the trend.
Rollicking opener ‘Maureen’ is a joyous tale of a bush legend and somehow ‘Distracted’ – a tune about the all-pervasiveness of depression – sounds just as upbeat. Craig Dermody's self-deprecating songwriting hits some beautiful territory on ‘It Don't Bother Me’; Jack Farley's bass playing turns it into an instant classic.
Never shy of discussing his struggles in life, Dermody fillets the complex interactions between people and their environments and lays them bare. Gill Tucker's lead shredding adds plenty of fire to the songs and helps convey the difficulties and tensions inherent in human relationships.
Boil the kettle, stick on Mid-Thirties Single Scene and get ready for an afternoon of melodic introspection and rough pop gems.
Review by Nick Brown (The Breakfast Spread)
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