The Hiatus

Hey all, I’m back.  Sort of.  I do wish I could say that in the past couple of months I was occupying one of those two chairs in that picture, but in fact I was in the same old place of frigid New England.  I suppose I took a self-imposed vacation from a few things, mainly due to work and the upcoming baseball season.  Yeah, I’m a big baseball fan.  Not sure what I like better actually … music or baseball.  Well, that’s an article for another day, right?  In the meantime, if you had heard rumors that a band that broke up in 2005 that got a golden trash can award abducted me and made me listen to their subsequently horrid albums, it is not true.  I keep my doors locked at night just in case, though.

Bullet Lavolta – The Gift

Taang! Records, 1989

Aside from the colorful red and yellow cover that pops out at me, I don’t really have a whole lot to say about why I bought this record (aside from its affordability, that is).  Maybe I thought that Bullet Lavolta was sort of close to ‘John Travolta’ … though why I would list John Travolta as a reason to buy a record is beyond me.  Maybe I thought the flowers were really pretty in the ultra-pale lady’s hands.  Or maybe I was shocked to curiosity when I saw the same woman bound, gagged and getting strangled on the back cover.  Okaaaay Bullet Lavolta, what is your game?

It turns out that Bullet Lavolta were a relatively long-staying hard rock band in Boston back in the late eighties.  If I had opened up the art booklet before purchasing the record, I would have noticed five very gruff-looking dudes in leather and flannel jackets.  These gruff-looking dudes don’t get cute with the music with their rumbling opener of “X Fire”.  It’s got the heavy, blended guitars, the driving drum beat, and what sounds like a repetition of “tapioca” during the chorus.  Well, that can’t be right.  Unless, of course, tapioca is rock ‘n roll pudding to you and Bullet Lavolta.

Like “X Fire”, most of the songs on the record are hard, heavy, and straight forward.  “Chalkdust”, “Over the Shoulder”, and “Off Kilter” are very similar sounding tracks with the same guitar tones and three minutes or less clock time.  Lead vocalist Yukkie Gipe nearly gets drowned out by the band most of the time.  There’s also not much of a chance to pick up any of the lyrics either as Gipe mumbles or screams his way through most songs.  Even when he sounds more coherent on songs like “One Room Down” you can barely hear him.  Whether it was a production gaff or not, the back burner treatment of the vocals proves Bullet Lavolta is all about the maximum rock ‘n roll volume anyway.  I guess take your deep lyrical interpretations and poetic rhythm elsewhere.

However, if you’re looking for a band comparison of Bullet Lavolta, “Mother Messiah” gives off a Dictators impression mainly due to the song’s composition and Yukkie Gipe’s vocals.  It helps that Gipe’s singing voice is actually a speaking/singing hybrid, which essentially means he’s yelling rather loudly.  Something along the lines of the punk side of the Dictators is “Dead Wrong”, which is a really great rousing song after the epically awful ‘faux death metal’ of “Birth of Death”.  Unlike most records these days, “Dead Wrong” proves that some of the better tracks on albums can be found near the end.  It’s the eleventh track of a mostly hard rock collection, so although it came late it leaves the listener with a pretty good impression of Bullet Lavolta’s well-rounded rock out capabilities.

A few articles and Youtube videos can be found to get to know Bullet Lavolta, but at least Last.fm has some songs from them to spin.

Although “The Gift” is rather middle of the road, Bullet Lavolta can give anyone the heavy rock dose they need to pump their fist in the air once in awhile.  Apparently they were big in Boston during their five year existence, so maybe the record doesn’t do the band enough justice for what they could actually do onstage.  (sigh)  I suppose that constitutes some of the painful aspect of reviewing old albums and wishing you could instead be reviewing it at the time of release.  I imagine that if I had been around Boston back when Bullet Lavolta were thrashing about the local clubs, I would have donned my fashionable jean jacket and lumbered on over to see them a few times.

Various Artists – The Rocky Horror Show (Original London Cast 1973)

Rhino Records, 1991

You either saw the title of this review and got a little ill or got a little excited.  To all of you sweet transvestites out there, this here musical is legendary and reminds me of some of those really fun, eclectic people that still go out and see the movie version at midnight in full character.  For me, after years of listening to songs from “The Music Man”, “Phantom of the Opera” and “Guys N Dolls”, this showtune slapped me in the face when I first heard it.  Traditionally showtunes have been wholesome, family shows with the usual love, loss, dance, and ensemble number.  Simply looking at the cover shows you that there’s nothing typical about this production.  Given that this is a recording of the original cast before the show got to be a household name, I couldn’t pass up the chance to hear how it all started.

Since this is the original London cast, this recording came out two years before the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” movie in 1975.  Therefore, if you’re used to that polished sound then this version is going to sound seriously stripped down.  The classic opener of “Science Fiction-Double Feature” is still quite charming even if it’s a little less sensual.  Patricia Quinn, who played Magenta/Usherette in the cast, has a very quivery if not feeble voice, so when she sings this song it could come across as endearing, cute, or grating.  Given the quiet nature of the song, one is likely not going to get too critical of it with some of the more active numbers coming up.

“Dammit Janet”, one of my favorites from the show due to its geeky duet, lacks some of the more dramatic elements than what one may be used to.  There’s no breathy, overbearingly passionate Susan Sarandon (Janet) nor the amusingly stiff Barry Bostwick (Brad) as in the movie.  Instead, these parts are sung by two people who sound like an ordinary couple who are prone to wearing polo shirts and sweater vests.  Thankfully Richard O’Brien (Riff Raff) and Tim Curry (Frank-N-Furter) are noticeably and wonderfully in full, recognizable character.  Like the couple, however, Curry is not as pointedly erotic on “Sweet Transvestite” as he is in the movie, but remember that he had two years to get his black corset and fishnet stockings to fit right and tight.  These songs almost sound like a dress rehearsal than an in-your-face production.

This isn’t to say that the songs aren’t nearly as enjoyable.  “Time Warp” still has that rollicking party atmosphere while “Touch-A-Touch-A-Touch-A-Touch Me” effectively reveals the sexual restraint that Janet is now breaking free from.  “Rose Tint My World” features Rayner Bourton’s Rocky Horror who sounds a lot like an early Bob Dylan when reflecting on only being a couple of hours old.  I suppose the laid back choice that Bourton makes seems to fit given that Rocky Horror is already well aware of his Adonis-like features.  One of my favorite songs, “I’m Going Home”, doesn’t carry as much of the drama as on the movie version of the show, but I suppose that is just across the board at this point.

Two songs that are not featured on the original movie soundtrack but are included here are “Sword of Damocles” and “Once in a While”.  “Sword of Damocles” is a fun pop rock song involving the ‘birth’ of Rocky Horror while “Once in a While” is about Brad’s distress at losing a wayward Janet.  The song really doesn’t do very much amidst the crazy atmosphere of the rest of the album, so although it is included here to add completeness to the cast recordings, it likely won’t stand out as anyone’s favorite.  However, for Rocky Horror fans it may be a treat to hear a song that was completely left out of the movie but fits into the storyline of the show.

Why don’t you stay for the night, or, maybe a bite … :

If one can get used to some of the original voices, as well as the more restrained Curry, then this version of “The Rocky Horror Show” will still be a great listen.  Even though one has to look for it more than hear it deliberately from some of the actors, the sexual subject matter is still all over the place.  Given that it was the seventies and that this was truly an original musical of sex, space, and oddities, “The Rocky Horror Show” took off with immense cult popularity during 1973.  Though there are now more modern shows that have broached either serious or comical adult topics (“Rent”, “Avenue Q”, etc), having a copy of “The Rocky Horror Show” to grin during the more campier parts is always nice to have on one’s shelf or database.

Marxy – Kyushu Nostalgia

Beekeeper Records, 2004

Brand new.  Fifty cents.  Giant cat playing the piano.  Either this record was going to be an epically excellent find or a trap for bargain CD hunters.  Man, I’ve fallen into too many traps in my searches so I was really hoping this was going to be a good one.  Since it was wrapped I had nothing to go on aside from the cover and the back cover.  Would you know that the back cover had, ah, two cats playing the piano?  No track listing, no band information … just cats.  Well, when only two quarters stand between me and my curiosity you know what’s going to win out.

Marxy is actually a nickname/moniker for W. David Marx, who is an American musician and writer that happens to reside in Japan.  I have to say, that’s quite a background!  Instead of dragging the rough and tumble American rock Marx opts to infuse all sorts of pop elements into his music.  He also doesn’t wish to stop at straight pop tunes and is prone to be a bit random in his attention.  This can prove to either be a nice, casual listening experience or a head shaking one.

The songs on the record are primarily sung by Marx, but “Make It Through Today” utilizes the light vocals of Miho Takashima.  This only adds some true Japanese cred to the album even if her voice isn’t particularly strong.  It doesn’t have to be with some of these lightweight tracks, since Marx is definitely going for as soft as possible on hugworthy pop songs like “Let’s Be On Our Way” and “Ashika Love”.  Honestly, with his keyboards and precious composition choices, I would be astounded if Marx hasn’t considered trying out the children’s TV show music circuit over there in Japan.

To highlight the randomness of this pop experience, the third track (written in Japanese … but let’s just title it “Game Over”) is a short bit involving an 8-bit gaming experience that doesn’t end well for the player.  That’s it.  Then there’s the ‘oooooh’ outtake track that doesn’t make it to thirty seconds and “Be In Eleven-Eight, Man”, which is pure nonsense.  Although these have to be better than those skits on hip hop records, they’re not much more than filler.

Check out all the rest of the stuff by W. David Marx on his website, which has his discography as well as a few tunes to listen to.

As cute as Marxy’s music is, I can’t help but feel that this is an incomplete album.  It probably has a lot to do with those short ditties and interludes, because even though there are twelve listed tracks only five of them last past two minutes.  It’s almost as if Marxy couldn’t stand to merely create something that could be listed as an EP, so extra bits were thrown in to technically extend the record into a full album.  Oh please.

I do like the music and approach of Marx’s effort, though, and those Japanese artists (even if they’re from America) always intrigue me with what they’re thinking of next.  Marx has released a few more records past this one but nothing since 2008, but if one goes by the three year rule there is still hope he may have something else in store.  Yes, I’m making up the three year rule, but I have to say that it’s a good point of reference to determine if there’s more to come or the artist is done.  C’mon Marxy, break out some more cats.

Addendum:  I will say that Marxy’s “Cat vs. Mouse” from their most recent release is actually quite good, so go check it out if you want a more electronic pop experience.