Impeccable production, slice-of-life content
A little over six years ago I wrote my first piece for The Pulse. It wasn’t my first stint writing for a paper, but it was my first in so long that I adorably set out to arrange a convenient time to meet with the band leader at a local bar.
We had some beers. I furiously scribbled notes (eight or nine pages worth) in a small spiral bound notebook while a meter maid put a parking ticket on my car. I went home and spent the evening laboring over a piece that was dutifully submitted the next morning ahead of deadline.
Two things came from that first endeavor. First, it went over well enough that I’ve managed to somehow stay gainfully employed by the paper ever since. Secondly, it dawned on me that in an age of texting, instant messaging, email, Skype, and, god forbid, picking up the phone, the complications of scheduling and rescheduling sit-down interviews on the other side of town are hardly efficient or necessary.
Also, to paraphrase the great Douglas Adams, deadlines make really cool noises as they go whizzing by.
That first interview and article was with and about Endelouz and what a pleasure it is six years later to revisit my old friend, his band, and their newest EP.
Mama’s in the Backstreet is slated for release on September 20th, and the trio of Jack Kirton, Dennis Hubbard, and Joey Berkley (along with featured guest Randy Steele) has demonstrated why they are, and have been for many years, some of the most respected performers in the area. The title track is more Elvis Costello than Elvis Costello has been in decades.
A bright, poppy, upbeat tune, “Mama’s in the Backstreet” is a classic switcheroo whose party anthem style belies its grim subject matter. Extremely clever in its writing, performance, and production, the tune features what I can only describe as “rock and roll banjo”.
Yeah, yeah, I know what that looks like on the page, but give it a listen and you’ll be genuinely impressed by the range of an instrument too often regulated to very predictable status.
“Get Her Back Again 2019” features an organ and rhythm guitar that give it a distinctly reggae feel, though more in the style of certain new wave Brit bands influenced by reggae than an actual reggae band. Like the title track (and every track for that matter) it features a level of production almost unheard of on a hometown band’s album. I simply cannot envision a more professional arrangement or recording. These guys know their business like no one else.
If those two tracks evince a certain retro new wave flavor, “Bad Advice 2019” eschews that for a classic blues-driven rock and roll style, a la early Rolling Stones. From a personal perspective, lines like “I got some bad advice, I tried it twice” resonate ferociously with MY misspent youth. I have a feeling that plenty of listeners will have no problem hearing their own story in this sweet tune.
The EP rounds out with “I Remember Our Home”, a relaxed ballad that seems wistful without delving in to the maudlin. It’s a classic “one in the morning” tune, the sort of show closer you expect when the crowd is tired but happy, couples get in a slow dance before the lights come up for the night, and the morning isn’t as far away as one might like.
One of the true marks of the band’s skill, both in writing and performance, is that this collection of tunes doesn’t hold back on the emotion, but avoids the pitfalls of predictable sappiness. The EP isn’t sad, it’s just life with its ups and downs that in the end adds up to a familiar, relatable, lovable picture.
It’s a work of art, and you can preview some of the tracks on Bandcamp now ahead of the release later this month. It is an especial high water mark in a scene that is bristling with talent and a treasured addition to any collection.