STRANGEFOLK
''COAST TO COAST: LIVE FROM MAINE TO CALIFORNIA''
JANUARY 1 2002
70:22
1. First Time /8:58
2. Leave A Message /8:17
3. In Deep /16:14
4. Anchor /7:45
5. Get You Movin' /4:40
6. Come On Down /11:56
7. Water /12:29
REVIEW
BY Jason Gossard
Coast to Coast, is the first release to showcase the current Strangefolk line-up. New keyboardist Don Scott lends quite a bit to the sound, taking some of the soloing duties away from guitarist Jon Trafton. But while this release emphasizes the group's live jamming prowess, the band's true strength still lies in the
songwriting. The highlight of the album is "Anchor," which, apart from the country throwaway "Get You Down," is the shortest song on the disc. It is in "Anchor" where all of Strangefolk's strengths come to the fore. It is a strong rhythm-based song flavored with melodic guitar, a strong vocal presence, and a solo section that allows the soloist to stretch but not extend too far. The song sounds like a mutant hybrid of Marshall Tucker's "Can't You See" and Level Forty Two's "Something About You," and has the
potential to be a AOR radio station mainstay.
The most obvious influence heard here, made explicit in the "Cocaine"-based "Come On Down", is Eric Clapton circa the mid-'70. Clapton's live shows during this time essentially consisted of three and four minute pop songs expanded into eight and nine minute guitar feasts. At the core of each Clapton song, and similarly at the core of each Strangefolk track included here, was a three minute pop song stuffed to the gills with lengthy solos.
Unfortunately, neither the guitarists nor the keyboardist in Strangefolk have Clapton's chops, and thus the results of each extended solo, and thus each song, are mixed.
Like Clapton, Strangefolk works best when the rhythm section is laidback and mellow, and not too aggressive. "Leave A Message", "In Deep", "Come On Down", and the aforementioned "Anchor" take the laidback approach, and as a result, are the better tracks on the album. The opening "First Time" fails to catch my interest, and comes across as a clichpop song with an unnecessary jam. "Get You Down" sounds like "Big River" until the vocals come in, and then it sounds like "Too Much Nashville", whose trite lyrics fail to redeem the song. The closing "Water" introduces a little funk into the mix, but with not too impressive results (though the last couple minutes of the jam do contain the most interesting improvisation on the album).
However, all in all, while the musicians all contribute competent and, at times, inspired performances, but none of the solos explore any new or particularly surprising territory. At its core, Strangefolk is a solid rock band whose members can play their instruments and have the ability to write a catchy hit or two.
BIOGRAPHY
by Mike DaRonco
Formed together by two college students from the University of Vermont, Reid Genauer (vocals/ guitar) and Jon Trafton (guitar) spent the first year together under the name Stranefolk while performing in pubs and coffee houses all throughout campus. Armed with only their acoustic guitars and distortion pedals, Genauer and Trafton eventually recruited Erik Glockler on bass and Luke Smith on drums, fulfilling the line-up as a four piece. With their own style of merging bluegrass, folk, rock and blues, Strangefolk had the chance to document this in the studio and eventually self-releasing their self-titled first album in 1994, followed by "Lore" the next year. After a hefty touring schedule across the United States in support of these two albums, Flat Earth Records took notice and put out "Weightless in Water" in 1998.
