THE SAFES
Winning Combination
(Action Weekend)
The Safes have always been about
family - featuring The O'Malley brothers
(Frankie, Sean, Michael, and Patrick),
with deep roots in garage rock and a
touch of Brit-pop. The band is blessed
with a Chicago-Irish heritage that looks
like it was cast straight from a Scorcese
film, but with a midwestern power pop
blueprint. Like turn-of-the-century immi-
grants that have arrived from Ellis Island,
powered by their work ethic (constant
touring) and ability to write a gorgeous
melody. On Winning Combination, the
O'Malley brothers call on MORE extend-
ed family (19 family members appear on
the record), taking their punk roots to a
new level with chamber pop stand-outs
like the quirky sing-a-long "It's True"
which features barroom piano and stacca-
to string bursts. "Baggage Claim" is a
Nuggets-era acoustic pop ditty yolked
with
modern
touches.
Winning
Combination is heavy with Flo and Eddie
weirdness ("Dreams That Ignite,") and
Robyn Hitchcock pop intelligence ("The
Rest of My Life").
Credit the O'Malley brothers, they
know how to mix it up and keep their
discography engaging.
Appearing 11/27 at Beat Kitchen, Chicago
- David Gedge
7
JULIANA HATFIELD
Sings The Police
(American Laundromat)
Hatfield follows January’s solitary and
confessional Weird by paying tribute to
another favorite artist from her youth.
Juliana Hatfield Sings the Police taps the
spirit of 2018’s Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia
Newton-John, but goes further beyond
radio singles while exploring favorite
Police fare. The manic punk of Regatta de
Blanc track “It’s Alright for You” was
never released as a Police single, but
Hatfield rides its cathartic adrenalin rush.
She also taps the menacing mood of polit-
ical chiller and B-side (included on the
Synchronicity CD but not the LP) “Murder
by Numbers,” recasting the Police’s dark
jazz with a feral guitar. Hatfield chooses
other songs that speak to the current cli-
mate, including early Stewart Copeland-
penned single “Landlord” and the wither-
ing critique of toxic nationalism in Ghost
in the Machine track “Rehumanize
Yourself.” One of the deepest cuts may be
the album’s best. “Hole in My Life” is
reinvented with a swinging triplet rhythm
and features Hatfield’s most vulnerable
and emotive vocal. The former Blake
Babies frontwoman performed the bulk of
the album’s instruments herself, with help
on particular bass or drum parts.
Copeland’s slinky percussion on “De Do
Do Do, De Da Da Da” into what Hatfield
calls her own “rudimentary, caveman
style.” That primal sound focuses tracks
like “Hungry For You (J’aurais Toujours
Faim De Toi),” where Hatfield drops
Sting’s saxophone for a treatment that
blends the laid-back smolder of Françoiz
Breut and the anxious minimalism of
Spoon. The playing on Sings the Police
may veer toward rough-hewn garage rock
while tracing lines drawn by an original
trio of players’ players, but the album
overflows with spirit and a fan’s enthusi-
asm. Hatfield throws herself into Sting’s
portraits of romance laced with danger-
ous obsession, including “Every Breath
You Take,” “Can’t Stand Losing You,”
“Next to You” and “Roxanne.”
– Jeff Elbel
6
THE KINKS
Arthur (Or the Decline and
Fall of the British Empire)
50th anniversary deluxe
box set
(Abkco/BMG)
Although the Kinks’ groundbreaking 1968
LP The Village Green Preservation Society
gets more attention from the public at
large, 1969’s Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall
of the British Empire) is a parallel master-
piece and an essential extension of its
predecessor. While songwriter Ray Davies
memorialized a vanishing version of
England with Village Green, Arthur picks
reproduction tour posters, and a metal
lapel pin. Four 7” singles reproduce the
original single releases for “Drivin’,”
“Shangri-La,” “Victoria,” and “Hold My
Hand.” A 64-page book includes photos,
essays, and new interviews with Ray
Davies, Dave Davies, and drummer Mick
Avory. Arthur also comes in standalone
2LP and CD versions. If you’re a fan and
Arthur has somehow slipped past your
radar, it’s time to hear what may become
your new favorite Kinks album.
– Jeff Elbel
9
picks up the thread with a gritty, docu-
mentary-styled story. Arthur is a disillu-
sioned post-war Brit whose family splin-
ters when his son seeks new opportunities
far from home. The songs originally were
intended for an unproduced BBC TV play.
The album is often noted for barnstorming
rocker “Victoria,” but that single’s B-side
and
companion
album
track
“Brainwashed” arguably provides an even
bigger adrenalin rush. Driven by Dave
Davies’ sinewy guitar lead, “Brainwashed”
is punctuated by brash horns and given
bite by Ray Davies’ scathing lyric. The
hook “get down on your knees” suggests
both desperate supplication and Arthur’s
unrewarding job as a carpet-layer. Wistful
waltz “Young and Innocent Days”
deserves higher ratings among Ray’s pop
treasures like “Waterloo Sunset.” “She’s
Bought a Hat Like Princess Marina” shows
the band’s breadth, as its hapless tale of
post-war austerity erupts into cartwheel-
ing music hall mania akin to the Bonzo
Dog Doo-Dah Band. “Mr. Churchill Says”
provides another description of British
resolve, while “Australia” alludes to
brighter possibilities abroad for working-
class Brits with equal measures of hope
and naivete. The album gets its due with a
lavish box set, including 88 tracks. The col-
lection features Arthur in remastered mono
and stereo mixes alongside B-sides, rari-
ties, related singles from the period like the
observational sarcasm of the irrepressible
but phony “Plastic Man,” theatrical ver-
sions of non-album songs like “My Big
Sister,” and more. The Great Lost Dave
Davies Album included here is a previously
unreleased collection by the Kinks’ lead
guitarist and second songwriter, who had
found solo success in 1967 with his #3
charting UK single “Death of a Clown.”
Davies has stated in recent interviews that
the set went unheard (like songs from his
recently released collection of worthy ‘70s
tracks Decade) because he took pride in his
crucial role as a Kink, and didn’t see the
point of releasing a solo project until 1980s
AFL1-3603. Great Lost Dave includes main-
stays of Davies’ solo performances like
“Mindless Child of Motherhood” and
“Creeping Jean.” All of the tracks have
seen prior release on 7” B-sides or Kinks
collections, but never offered as once
intended for a 1969 release variously spec-
ulated to be entitled Lincoln County, A Hole
in the Sock of Dave Davies, or The Album That
Never Was. Of the 12 tracks, the only
notable absence is UK #20 single
“Susannah’s Still Alive.”
Arthur was the Kinks’ seventh album
and the first without founding bassist Pete
Quaife. Replacement John Dalton acquits
himself admirably on his studio debut,
providing a stable foundation for songs
like the summery “Drivin’” and resolute
“Nothing to Say.” In addition to hours of
music, the box includes glossy photos,
TOUCH TONES
Virgo on Virgo
(The Quiet Life)
The kaleidoscope-like music on the
Touch Tones album is meant to arrive ex
nihilo - out of nothing. No musicians
names are listed. No song titles are given.
Even the album title and band name are
absent from the traditional location on the
front cover and spine, although you can
learn a bit on the back cover. We know
from the visual connection with
Sonnenzimmer’s colorfully askew artwork
and the production partnerships that the
project is tethered to Chicago and talented
members of the local independent music
community. The aim seems to be clearing
distractions to make direct emotional con-
tact for interpretation by the listener. These
songs and sounds should appeal to fans of
adventurous instrumental music, with
loose connections to groups like Tortoise or
Brokeback - without being that similar to
either.
Virgo on Virgo’s first track features
twanging, minimalist guitar in unison with
deep bass, a restless and martial drumbeat,
radio sonics, synthesized flute, and
sparkling, ethereal electronic textures. The
second track veers into soul and dub while
suggesting influences such as Daniel
Lanois’ “Flesh and Machine,” the odd
Police b-side, and David Byrne and Brian
Eno’s “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts” or
Talking Heads’ “The Listening Wind,” sans
vocals. The time-twisting third track adds
obscured male-female vocals and subdued
jazz trumpet. At this point, a reasonable lis-
tener gives up expectations of pinpointing
the group’s aesthetic. It’s not ambient,
post-rock, jazz or any one thing. It becomes
most satisfying to appreciate whatever
happens next simply. What follows
includes hypnotic calypso and bass ostina-
to that underscore slashing spy-guitar
twang, spectral organ, oblique-but-warm
keyboard pads juxtaposed against icy syn-
thesizer leads, and deft, non-linear jazz
rhythms. Muffled drums echo like distant
tympani while looped guitar feedback and
gliding bell-like tones swell, evoking the
dawning sun — the overall sound arcs
between unnerving tension and pastoral
calm. And then side two opens with a
straightforward disco beat and a promi-
nent vocal - albeit one with off-kilter elec-
tronic harmony. Another track boasts a
rhythm section in tune with early ‘80s King
Crimson, colored by impressionistic and
watery, Andy Summers-styled guitar.
Elsewhere, melody and rhythm coalesce
into a more conventional form with piano,
drums, and electronic parlor-organ
rhythm. Afterward, wind chimes clank
against a formless structure of improvised
b a s s ,
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Continued on page 44
28 illinoisentertainer.com november 2019