From: owner-jinglejangle-digest@smoe.org (jinglejangle-digest) To: jinglejangle-digest@smoe.org Subject: jinglejangle-digest V5 #59 Reply-To: jinglejangle@smoe.org Sender: owner-jinglejangle-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-jinglejangle-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk jinglejangle-digest Saturday, April 20 2002 Volume 05 : Number 059 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [MLL] Speedy Motorcycle: A Review, sort of... [Recordings@aol.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 19 Apr 2002 16:34:33 -0400 From: Recordings@aol.com Subject: [MLL] Speedy Motorcycle: A Review, sort of... Got SPEEDING MOTORCYCLE. I like it, but also find it frustrating. On the one hand, I think it's a nice handful of tunes. The title track is fleshed-out with bass, keyboards, and acoustic lead, but is otherwise very close to the version on MARY LOU LORD. (ML even slows down in the exact same spot, right after "...the road is ours.") More commercial? Certainly. An improvement? Not really; I think the achingly spare performance on the MARY LOU LORD EP serves the song better. Still, a nice recording. What follows are two outtakes from the demo sessions for Got No Shadow: DRIVEN AWAY (which was actually recorded in full-band mode for GNS, then misguidedly dropped) and RIGHT ON 'TILL DAWN (also recorded for GNS as a projected duet with Ben Lee, with disappointing results.) These two tracks - which seem to be 8-track demos by Nick Saloman, plus Mary Lou on vocals - are the grungiest, rawest rock songs Mary Lou has released since the original JINGLE JANGLE MORNING vinyl EP. Meant only to be heard by Big-Record-Label Honchos, these tracks are only as good as they NEED to be to get the songs across. Mary Lou's voice is lovely, yet also naked and untreated, and definitely not worn down by endless overdubs and pickups. Of the two demos, RIGHT ON 'TILL DAWN is definitely the most bootleg-like. Nick's cranky pop guitar is dead-center, his drumming is hasty and uneven, and his sonorous, heavily-accented lead vocal steals the sonic elbow-room. Mary Lou's shimmering harmony provides essential contrast and perfectly captures the surf-bunny persona celebrated in Nick's lyrics. I can't understand half of what Nick's singing, but that's the fun of demos - some of these lines might have been cleaner on an "official" release, but with this version we're free to attach our own meanings and subtexts. On the other hand... 1) Would it really have killed Rubric to release this CD in a jewel box? Unlike THE PACE OF CHANGE, this isn't a freebee. Why does it feel like one? Don't they know what a pain in the ass it is to file these skinny carboard sleeves? Don't tell me jewel boxes are too expensive - you can get 'em bulk for almost nothing. I paid $10 for Speeding Motorcycle! 2) Would it really have killed Rubric to give us some SONG INFO? Like, who is playing backup on Speeding Motorcycle (the song)? If it's Mary Lou, that's very cool - she rarely plays lead (trivia question: on what release did Mary Lou actually perform fuzz lead guitar?) If not, WHO WAS IT? And besides the instrumentation, how about a little history? "Unreleased demos for GOT NO SHADOW - recorded on 8-track by Nick Saloman, Spring '96." Don't they think we'd like to know that? Neophytes who purchase the technically superior MLL/SEAN NA NA and then move onto SM might think Mary Lou has become a lo-fi grunge rocker, when in fact these tracks are 7 years old. And how about a few words about ML & Nick's collaborative method, of which these are obvious fruits? I have to say (especially in light of the nice packaging for LIVE CITY SOUNDS) that I am really pissed at the cheapness of SPEEDING MOTORCYCLE. It's as if they didn't think it was worth the effort (hey, they're just demos, right?) when, in fact, every other Mary Lou release has led one to believe that SOMEONE cared about appearances. It almost looks like one of those "fake" albums that get put out when an artist retires or leaves a label: repackaged old stuff with no photos, no liner notes, no gatefold. Mary Lou and her music deserve better. Dino ------------------------------ End of jinglejangle-digest V5 #59 *********************************