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One Man Wrecking MachineGuster7 June 2006 |
Remember what it's like to discover something really cool for the very first time? An amazing person… an out-of-the-way restaurant or bar… a book store with all the books you could never find elsewhere… the stunning beauty of a foreign town… a band that no one has heard before…
I bought the third Guster cd, Lost and Gone Forever (1999), because a) I thought the photo on the front cover looked like Belfast and I thought the band was Irish, b) the disc was produced by Steve Lillywhite (famous for producing U2 (among others) and being married to Kirsty MacColl) — a producer whose studio wizardry I implicitly trusted, and whose name I had not seen on anything in a long time, and c) one of the songs was called “Fa Fa” and basically any song with “fa-fa” or “la-la's” in it is almost always brilliant in my opinion.
Needless to say, Lost and Gone Forever, did indeed turn out to be a worthwhile purchase, and Guster was one of those special discoveries that I, of course, believed was all my own — until I corralled a bunch of folks into going to see them at the 9:30 Club with me and found out that at least a thousand other fanatical fans regarded Guster as their very own special discovery too! Alas…
Interestingly, once I began to wear out the 1's and 0's on Guster's third disc, I ventured into their back catalog with Goldfly (1996) and Parachute (1994). Both were gifts and both were disappointing; offering few glimpses of the infectious, sonic majesty that the band finally nailed on their third release with it's catchy tunes, nasally harmonies and totally unique percussion. Typically a good band with potential will release an ear-catching unique debut, and then follow it up with a second CD cobbled together with left-over bits and pieces that either didn't make it on the first CD or were written in the back of the tour bus over the past two years of being on the road and hastily recorded and released in an effort to keep the buzz from the first release humming. As avid fans hang on — worldly critics crucify and chastise the band for having nothing new to say, and only having one good album's worth of material in them. Then comes the “make-or-break” third CD. All or nothing. Stardom or eternal anonymity… For all intents and purposes, (the one exception being perhaps “The Airport Song” on the second cd), Guster's roaring ascent began with their third release. (I have a hard time imagining anyone championing Parachute or defending Goldfly) Lost and Gone Forever, features the band in exceptionally great form; their trademark sound revealed and perfectly executed. The fourth CD, Keep it Together is “more of the same,” but even better somehow. The band and the music seems more mature and polished — but undeniably still Guster. The addition of Joe Pisapi as a floating fourth member of the band on keyboards, banjo, guitar and harmonica further solidified that maturity and musical refinement.
Needless to say, Lost and Gone Forever, did indeed turn out to be a worthwhile purchase, and Guster was one of those special discoveries that I, of course, believed was all my own — until I corralled a bunch of folks into going to see them at the 9:30 Club with me and found out that at least a thousand other fanatical fans regarded Guster as their very own special discovery too! Alas…
Interestingly, once I began to wear out the 1's and 0's on Guster's third disc, I ventured into their back catalog with Goldfly (1996) and Parachute (1994). Both were gifts and both were disappointing; offering few glimpses of the infectious, sonic majesty that the band finally nailed on their third release with it's catchy tunes, nasally harmonies and totally unique percussion. Typically a good band with potential will release an ear-catching unique debut, and then follow it up with a second CD cobbled together with left-over bits and pieces that either didn't make it on the first CD or were written in the back of the tour bus over the past two years of being on the road and hastily recorded and released in an effort to keep the buzz from the first release humming. As avid fans hang on — worldly critics crucify and chastise the band for having nothing new to say, and only having one good album's worth of material in them. Then comes the “make-or-break” third CD. All or nothing. Stardom or eternal anonymity… For all intents and purposes, (the one exception being perhaps “The Airport Song” on the second cd), Guster's roaring ascent began with their third release. (I have a hard time imagining anyone championing Parachute or defending Goldfly) Lost and Gone Forever, features the band in exceptionally great form; their trademark sound revealed and perfectly executed. The fourth CD, Keep it Together is “more of the same,” but even better somehow. The band and the music seems more mature and polished — but undeniably still Guster. The addition of Joe Pisapi as a floating fourth member of the band on keyboards, banjo, guitar and harmonica further solidified that maturity and musical refinement.
Guster
In less than two weeks, the band's “make or break” fifth (read: third) CD will be released. I may be going out on a limb here, but I predict that Ganging Up on the Sun will be the CD that finally, and well and truly propels Guster into the upper echelons of the stardom that they deserve. The Happy Medium Song of the Day is a sneak preview from the new CD and it's an ever so slightly Snow Patrol-ish (but nonetheless superb and catchy as hell) sounding tune called “One Man Wrecking Machine.” Seriously, who can ignore this band any longer? (Please use the comments box to share your thoughts.)
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