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Twin Town High (vol. 8) |
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Tommy Keane: Pop for the Ages
Wednesday 21 August @ 10:18:24 |
 by Rob van Alstyne
The annals of rock history are filled with countless disaster stories of bands and artists who seemed on the cusp of great commercial success only to have it all go terribly wrong. After hearing the eight hundredth ‘almost famous’ tale connected to an obscure artist, it’s easy to become desensitized to the ‘should have been a star’ tag. Then one hears an artist like Tommy Keene, forty-something creator of some of the most instantly accessible and chart-worthy pop/rock of the last twenty years—not that you’ve ever had the chance to hear it on the radio.
Keene first rose to prominence back in 1984 with the release of the stellar Places That Are Gone EP, a six-song platter of slick pop that still had substantial grit thanks to Keene’s memorably reedy voice and remarkable lead guitar work. A cover of Big Star leader Alex Chilton’s “Hey! Little Child!” included on the album left no doubt that Keene was the next great hope in the classically melodic power-pop tradition. Rave reviews in Rolling Stone and the Village Voice followed, as did the usual major-label come on. The stars seemed aligned for Keene to be a major player on the commercial landscape. Sound familiar?
Keene wound up with Geffen records and recorded two solid full-length albums (1986’s Songs From the Film and the now out of print ’89 release Based on Happy Times), which were, tragically, over-produced and poorly marketed (never a great combination). After Based On Happy Times Keene was shown the door and laid low, not releasing a record for seven years before returning with 1996’s Ten Years After on indie heavy hitter Matador Records. More records followed, along with stints as a touring lead guitarist for Paul Westerberg and the Velvet Crush. Now Keene’s returned with The Merry Go Round Broke-Down. The new album is a nice encapsulation of all things Keene—crystalline rhythm guitars, bouncy keyboards and fiery lead riffs—while also stepping into new territory (notably the prog-like 16 minute opus “Final Hour”).
It’s clear that Keene overcame his bout with the major label beast, and he’s able to speak reflectively about the curse that seems to befall all ‘power-pop’ artists (the seemingly pre-destined critical enshrinement and simultaneous inability to capture any commercial audience). “I think the thing that all of us, be it Big Star or the Velvet Crush or the Replacements had in common was a lot of bad luck and bad timing in their careers. There’s no reason why we all couldn’t have been really commercially successful, but at the same time there are a million reasons why,” explains Keene via telephone from his Los Angeles home. “I just think it’s always a matter of being in the right place at the right time. I think critics are drawn to it because it’s pretty academic pop songs. You’ve got the encyclopedia of rock that a lot of people draw from, the Beatles, the Stones. It seems like ,with a lot of these power-pop style bands now, the critics are digging the influences even more so than the actual band.”
Stuck with the power-pop tag for going on twenty years, Keene is understandably ambivalent about the label. “I think power-pop sort of occupies a part of the musical ghetto,” says Keene. “I mean, when I think of power-pop, I think of a lot of different acts I love—Elvis Costello, the Beatles, the Who—and in that spectrum, I obviously don’t mind being lumped in. But when I start to think of a million Beatles copy bands with bands, singing songs about girls and cars—that’s where the label gets a little more uncomfortable.”
If Keene belongs in any section of the ‘power-pop ghetto’ it’s undeniably the hall of fame. Still writing songs graced with more melody than nine thousand rap/metal acts combined, Keene continues to create for a small but rabid fan base that he clearly appreciates. Fifteen years on from his own brief stab at the spotlight and subsequent ‘almost famous’ tragedy, Keene remains standing, and clearly committed to music making. “I think there’s something to be said for sticking around,” says Keene. “A lot of people sort of come and go, and I’m just too tenacious a person to do that. I’m really glad that I didn’t just crawl under a rock and die after things didn’t go my way. I think I’m probably still as crazy about music as I was when I was a little kid. A lot of people move on and get married and sort of get past music being a big passion. It’s funny, because I run into people from high school or my childhood and they always react like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe you’re doing the same thing!’ It’s really an irresponsible sort of adult life, running around in vans, working in bars all the time, playing the guitar. At this stage of the game though I still love it. I think that means there must be something to it. Or maybe I’m just a glutton for punishment.”
Tommy Keene plays Sat., Aug. 31, at the 400 Bar with 6th on the Bill. 9 p.m. $8. 21+. 400 Cedar Ave. S., Mpls. 612-332-2903.
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