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Twin Town High (vol. 8) |
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Round the Dial
Wednesday 28 August @ 09:49:42 |
 by Tom Hallett
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Have The Rolling Stones killed.”
-—Crotchety billionaire C. Montgomery Burns, from Fox TV’s “The Simpsons,” after hearing The Ramones play “Happy Birthday, You Bastard.”
SONG OF THE WEEK: “Pantyhose & Paper Cuts”
-—Seth Hogan & The Black Lashes
Round The Dial dives back into the vaults of Backburner Records this week with a look at albums from Cafeteria and Vic Chesnutt with Kelly and Nikki Keneipp.
Cafeteria
Knee Deep
2001
Personnel:
Taylor Joiner—guitars, vocals, harmonica, bass
Kelly Keneipp—piano
Kevin Lane—lead guitar
Matt Lane—bass
Brad Morgan—drums
Adam Musick—pedal steel
Kelly Noonan—cello
Bob Spires—bass
William Tonks—dobro, lead guitar
Wayne Wilson—banjo
Jack Logan—backing vocals
Melissa Ball—backing vocals
Recorded and produced by Kelly Keneipp at Backburner
Track Listing: Polaroids / Gorgeous Friend / Drunk / At 24 / Out Walkin’ / Do You / Stones / Right / I’m Running / Run For Cover / Condemned Man / Everything’s Fine / Fallen / Started Off With Cocaine
Whew! The first thing ya notice about Cafeteria’s debut album is how many people contributed to it—two Possibilities (the Lane brothers) ,label owners Keneipp and Logan, and several members of Logan’s Compulsive Recorders band, to name but a few. Such a large (and stellar) group of “special guests” usually spells trouble for a touring band—few can live up to the expectations of such finely crafted studio fare—but thankfully, Cafeteria steers clear of that common pitfall on Knee Deep, their debut album for Backburner. The outfit (still not exactly compact at six members) made a lasting impact when they hit the Twin Cities in 2001, and brought the 14 bittersweet, rural pop nuggets on this album to impressive, technicolor life.
Led by charismatic singer/songwriter Taylor Joiner, Cafeteria was actually spawned from the roots of Georgia up-and-comers The Possibilities. The star-struck youngster started out bringing his songs to the band, and eventually ended up briefly playing bass for them. A superb wordsmith, Joiner’s one main weakness seems to be his rakish propensity to fall for his back-up singers—the vocalist on this album, Melissa Ball, had been replaced by the sultry Sia Grable by the time the band hit St. Paul last year—and the pair were hot n’ heavy post-shows during their 2001 tour. Unfortunately, word has it that the couple—and the group—are no more. A shame, (about the band, I mean) considering the promising songwriting talents of Joiner, the sublime musical union of the musicians, and their position at such a free-thinking, artist-friendly label.
At any rate, these songs stand as a worthy testament to an outfit that might’ve given Slobberbone, Wilco, or The Driveby Truckers a run for their money these days. “Polaroids,” “Gorgeous Friend,” and “Drunk” capture the absolute despair of twentysomething romance and dating, while “At 24” could be the follow-up to Janis Ian’s “At Seventeen,” Alice Cooper’s “I’m Eighteen,” and The Beatifics’ “This Year’s Jessica.” (“What else could be expected/from a 23-year-old method actress?”) “Out Walkin” takes the listener on a softly-lit evening stroll down a sweet Georgia backroad; “Do You” is a sweet/sour triumph over young lust,;“Stones” a Keef-inflected romp through a lonely night; and album closer “Started Off With Cocaine,” a moody, reflective study of a wasted life. Too bad Joiner didn’t take his own advice and “Run For Cover” at the sight of that last pretty face. Instead, as he so accurately puts it, he (and Cafeteria) are “just another one of the fallen...” Ah, well, the kid’s still learnin’. Here’s to hopin’ he gets it together and brings us another fine collection like Knee Deep sometime soon.
Backburner staff comment on Cafeteria’s Knee Deep:
Kelly & Nikki Keneipp: “What started as a good pop record, mid-way took a country turn and suprised us both, but we’re happy with the end product.”
Jack Logan: “This was the most time consuming record that Kelly produced and the extra work made for a good sounding record. This one did pretty well on college radio, I think. Taylor Joiner has a knack for hooks, and the only thing I wasn’t crazy about was the decision to take it in an alt-country direction as opposed to a more Who-like, aggressive pop direction, which is what Cafeteria struck me as when I first saw them live as a three piece.”
Bob Spires: “PPPFFFFFTTTT!!!! Whoops, excuse me.”
Vic Chesnutt And Mr. & Mrs. Keneipp
Merriment
2000
Personnel:
Vic Chesnutt—vocals, guitar
Kelly Keneipp—guitar
Nikki Keneipp—piano
Curtiss Pernice—guitar, backing vocals
Jack Logan—bass
Aaron Phillips—drums
Bob Kimbell—piano
The Pans—backing vocals
Track Listing: Merriment / Fissle (Vapor And Soot) / A Feather At A Wall / Sunny Pasture / Preponderance / Haiku / Mighty Monkey / DNA / You May Not Be Interested (Deeper Currents) / Merriment Reprise
Merriment, quirky Athens, Ga. singer/songwriter Vic Chesnutt’s debut album for Backburner and his first official collaboration with label owners Kelly and Nikki Keneipp, is a wonderfully upbeat addition to the usually melancholy Southerner’s already formidable catalog, and probably Backburner’s most popular release to date. Sure, the album has its darker moments, (it wouldn’t be a Vic album without ‘em) but there’s a thread of hope and illumination running through this record that’s conspicuously absent on his earlier releases. That’s probably due to both his personal situations while recording and the fact that the Keneipps co-wrote all of these songs with him.
Musically, Merriment breaks new ground for Chesnutt, (and Backburner itself) with singer/songwriter/label co-owner Jack Logan taking on bass duties, Kelly adding sublime guitar textures, Nikki bringing a classical tinge to Vic’s witty wordplay, and absolutely heavenly backing vocals courtesy of The Pans. The title track showcases Chesnutt’s superb mastery of the songwriting craft with surreal lines like, “An old woman in a wig/And a mule eating a fig/Caterpillar on a twig shouldn’t flitter/Fella hanging from a clock/Someone falling from a dock/Little ripple showing shock and then we titter...” Timeless, must-have tunes from some of indie rock’s best and brightest—highly recommended.
Backburner staff comment on Vic, Kelly, & Nikki’s album Merriment:
Kelly & Nikki Keneipp: “Very near and dear to our hearts. It was an absolute blast working with Vic...but Vic could sing the phone book and we’d put it out. One in a billion.”
Jack Logan: “Well, as I’ve said, this is really the record that sustains Backburner’s pulse. It is the result of an extremely gracious gesture on Vic’s part. Vic has a sizable and loyal following worldwide from years of touring and putting out amazing records, so it has sold considerably more than any other BB release. Aside from that it’s a wonderful record. I think Vic enjoys himself recording with Nikki & Kelly, and it really comes across in the results. I understand they have plans to do another in the next year or two.”
Bob Spires: “Really cool. They were trying to go for something different than Vic’s other albums. More quirky instrumentation. Kelly has a really good ear for stylistic sounds, and Nikki is a great piano player/all around musician. I took piano lessons from her for a while.”
One last note—Chesnutt is currently working on his long-awaited new album with longtime admirer Peter Jesperson for New West Records, so fans should keep an ear out for that in the coming months. Next time we visit Backburner—reviews of guitarist / songwriter / producer David Barbe’s BB debut, Comet Of The Season, and The Roach Brothers’ (who, incidentally, will be playing two shows at St. Paul’s Turf Club on Sept. 17th and 19th) most recent effort, Pure And Simple. Until next week make yer own damn news.
If you have local music news/gigs/events that you’d like to see listed in this column, or you’d just like to share suggestions on how we might get all of the members of N’Sync, The Dave Matthews Band, and The Backstreet Boys on board an upcoming, one-way Russian space flight, send replies to: TMygunn777@aol.com.
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