Rob Price
Gutbrain Records
rob + gutbrain.com = email

2013 December 18 • Wednesday

Here's more from the WFMU Record Fair.

Ah, the days when a band of teenagers with no original material could get a record deal! The youngest member of the band is the drummer, who's 14 years old. The lead guitarist is 18.

"Dance On" will be familiar to fans of The Shadows. This is a decent presentation. I like the drum sound and how the drummer isn't always exactly on the beat.

"Bachelor Boy" is a vocal number in 6/8 time. It's about a guy who will never get married, or so his father tells him. It has a quaint, folky sort of quality, especially when a second voice harmonizes with the first.

Then there's another 6/8 tune, "Last Date", with piano the featured instrument. There's a Memphis soul/pop feel to this and it has a stirring kind of quality.

"Turkey Trot": "Come on and turkey trot / Let's get it while it's hot". This is like very early Beach Boys on tranquilizers.

Then there's the classic exotica lounge tune, Arthur Lyman's "Yellow Bird". A fundamentally languid sort of tune, it's an ideal choice for this somewhat enervated band.

Side 2 opens with "Meet Mr. Callahan", a sunny, jaunty, swinging tune. It has an odd, cloudy feel in The Gemtones's interpretation.

"He'll Only Hurt You" is another vocal number, a lover's lament and perfect for this group. You can feel the profound misery of teenage love bleeding out of the grooves on the record (one of the advantages of vinyl). "Darling, I'll always love you / He'll only hurt you."

"Limbo Rock" is of course a very well known instrumental hit, less rowdy and rousing here than it usually is.

"Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain / Telling me what a fool I've been." "Rhythm of the Rain" is another broken-hearted vocal number and appropriately listless.

"Rumble" is not the Link Wray tune, but an upbeat instrumental that sounds like something The Ventures would have recorded. The drummer really shines on this one, rumbling on the skins and shooting lightning bolts with the cymbals.