Suzy Connolly – Night Larks (Laughing Outlaw)

Filing the debut solo album from Sydney guitarist and songwriter Suzy Connolly on the melodic guitar-pop shelf next to artists such as Aimee Mann and Matthew Sweet, who it turn draw their inspiration from Big Star and The Beatles wouldn’t be offensive to any of those artists. But there are moments on her debut album when she manages to transcend her musical lineage and come up with some surprising songs that stamp her as a distinctive artist in her own right, rather than simply a great new example of a very recognizable and well travelled sub-genre.

One of those moments is on the harrowing Company Man, when she dissects a failed relationship with a surgeon’s skill utilizing a sparse background that has a similarity with Adalita. A similarly dark mood pervades Faking Your Best, a song that offers a revealing honesty. Your Comedown has a knowing, sneering edge that belies its exhilarating pure pop melodicism, while Skydive is an unashamedly shimmering pop rock tune, slightly ‘by-the-numbers’, but hard to dislodge from the sub conscious.

Connolly’s golden voice is her cornerstone, but producer Josh Schuberth (Josh Pyke, Ben Folds) coaxes an intimate and sassy performance from her when she could have been satisfied with riding the wave of the irresistible melodies easily to shore. She is prepared to strive for more than the regulation guitar-pop parameters and is rewarded with an album with a deeper luster than mere surface sparkle.

 

Vessels – Bryan Estepa (Laughing Outlaw)

This is the third album from this Sydney based artist and although the first two have apparently attracted a sizeable following in Australia and internationally, he remains one of those “best kept secret” type artists.

Lets hope that changes.

Bryan Estepa is a tremendously talented pop songwriter – and by ‘pop’ I mean the sort of pop that owes its existence to writers like Lennon and McCartney, Ray Davies and Brian Wilson, rather than ‘pop’ that is currently exemplified by Justin Bieber or Katy Perry. (If you don’t know who they are, don’t worry)

Digging deeper into the Estepa lineage you will find traces of Difford and Tilbrook, Alex Chilton and more obscure influences such as Mitch Easter – that is to say his ‘pop’ is breezy and melodic on the surface but beautifully constructed and layered as you scrape that very same surface.

Thus, by definition, this album doesn’t consist of a collection of genre-breaking, revolutionary, new frontier type music – rather its an example of the fact that a lot can be achieved by those old faithful ingredients of sweet melody, memorable hooks, and spirited performances. Songs such as Alone, Tongue Tied and the closer Ball and Chain contain all three ingredients in abundance and are spectacularly successful as a result.

There are a couple of darker songs on the album, when Estepa channels Tom Petty in a more somber moments – one of these is Let It Go which also manages to rachet up the instrumental textures a bit.

As the album evolves there’s a lit more time spent on working a slower, slinkier groove into some of the songs with the soulful Shade being an example. Another strain of influences that might include The Raspberries and some Otis Redding may even come into play. The Raspberries and Big Star impact is best felt on Instincts which is the sort of song that would have held pride of place on a Matthew Sweet album a decade or so ago.

Obviously for reviewers of my vintage playing “spot the influence” is fun and instructive – and if you are a fan of any of the above-mentioned acts you will find a lot to like about Vessels and its creator.  But if you are a youngster taking your first tentative steps on a voyage of discovery that goes beyond Video Hits, then you couldn’t find a better roadmap than this album.

Sid & Susie (and The Hand Party)

There once was a time when I would have treated anything connected to “cover versions” with a fair amount of disdain. My rationale would have been simple – there is nothing creative about re-hashing a song that someone else had written and performed before you and the original, by definition, was always going to be the definitive version.

Very occasionally I’d find a cover worth a second listen. Bryan Ferry’s version of Dylan’s Hard Rain comes to mind, as does Springsteen’s take on Jersey Girl. REM doing the beautifully obscure Superman or even Love Is All Around also passed muster. Concrete’s Blonde’s version of George Harrison’s Beware of Darkness was wonderful but then so to was the original. And obviously Jeff Buckley doing Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah struck a chord – but he sure had a great song to work with.

I’m sure there’s more that don’t immediately spring to mind.

But outside of the odd example like this the whole “covers” thing kinda left me cold.

Thus it was with a strange sense of “huh?” that I found myself recently spending the best part of a day and night up to my neck in cover versions.

And liking it.

How did this happen?

The first part of the cover version voyage of discovery came courtesy of an album called Under the Covers recently released by Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs. Sweet is a pop rock semi–icon while Hoffs is the lead singer from The Bangles. They refer to themselves as Sid and Susie – and so shall I.

The second part of the journey came via a covers band called The Hand Party, who were playing one of their very irregular gigs at a local pub to a sizeable audience that mainly reflected that they have a lot of friends. There’s no big names, or even medium sized names in The Hand Party. In fact the band consists of a bunch of forty-something amateur musos who definitely all intend keeping their day jobs.

The thing that links Sid & Susie and The Hand Party is the fact that they both are proudly and affectionately providing an album (or a gig) full of very well chosen covers that makes them both difficult not to enjoy.

This is actually Sid and Susie’s second shot at this and they have gone to the 70’s for their song list. They’ve picked some absolute gems, In fact there’s hardly a clanger on the album. After opening with a breezy take on The Grateful Dead’s Sugar Magnolia, they launch into a cracking series of songs including Go All The Way (The Raspberries), Second Hand News (Fleetwood Mac), Bell Bottom Blues (Derek & The Dominos), All The Young Dudes (Mott The Hoople) You’re So Vain (Carly Simon) and Here Comes My Girl (Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers). They are all winners but the stand out is Susie singing Bell Bottom Blues. The gender switch completely transforms the song and with Greg Leisz taking Clapton’s lead role the song soars. Sweet channels Bowie more than Ian Hunter on Dudes and he relishes the role.

Meanwhile back down the pub, Ian Hunter has popped up at The Hand Party gig as well. After opening with Happy and Lets Spend The Night Together they have segued into Once Bitten, Twice Shy, Hunter’s biggest solo hit. It too benefits from a gender switch and leads into a couple of Divinyls songs, including the always welcome Only Lonely.

Things are getting weird back in Sid and Susie world. A couple of Todd Rundgren songs get a guernsey alongside a Yes song. Under The Covers has taken a prog-rock turn and is in danger of meandering into very strange territory. It takes the Big Star song Back Of A Car and Susie’s adorable reading of Little Feat’s Willin’ to get the show back on track.

The Hand Party have taken their own turn down a darkened street. A Skyhooks double of Balwyn Calling and You Just Like Me Cos’ I’m Good In Bed has the suburban seventies sexual innuendo thick on the ground and the punters up on the dancefloor.

Another point of intersection occurs when Sid and Susie decide to close their album with Blondie’s  Dreaming. The Hand Party have already visited Deborah Harry land with Hangin’ On The Telephone (which I suddenly remember owning on clear vinyl).

Before getting to Dreaming though Sid & Susie have taken a few more detours. Sid has snarled his way through Lennon’s Gimme Some Truth and Susie gets all husky on Maggie May. One of the highlights of the album soon appears with Beware Of Darkness (well how about that!). They are joined by Dhani Harrison on George Harrison’s chilling cautionary tale.

There’s no celebrity guests to be found back at The Hand Party show. The closest we get is a visit from the spirit of Elvis Presley via Viva Las Vegas. From there the Handies decide that an English/American/Australian triple treat should finish their set. Gudbuy T’ Jane  (Slade), Rock N’ Roll All Nite (Kiss) and Goodbye Astrid (Cold Chisel) – all closing songs that could only have been added to by Cheap Trick’s Auf Wiedersehen.

As I pull out of the carpark and head home Sid & Susie offer up (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding.  This melodic tour de force suits Sid’s vocal perfectly and when the pair harmonise on the chorus the Nick Lowe/ Elvis Costello song has never sounded so fresh.

All up I’ve been subjected to 35 covers in one day and lived to tell the tale. My ability to survive has nothing to do with the musicianship on offer although both the album and the gig were performed with skill and dexterity. No, rather, it was about the obvious fun that was being had. Neither Sweet and Hoffs nor the members of The Hand Party actually need to be doing this and it shows. They select their songs because they are fans of them and they play them because they are fun to play. Sure Sid and Susie have the luxury of being able to pick some relatively obscure songs and get away with them because they have quite a few runs on the board, but The Hand Party didn’t exactly pick top 40 either – and they have a live audience to contend with.

Perhaps I’m mellowing in my middle age but maybe there is a place for good covers, lovingly performed.