Dave’s Picks: Year-End Grab-Bag

New releases slow down to a relative trickle in November, but there are always a few that merit notice and repeated listens. Here are but three.

LUCIUS is a Brooklyn-based coed band with the prodigious talents of co-lead singers and writers Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig front and center. Their instruments are full bodied and nuanced, and they are not shy about using them to the fullest. No wistful, ethereal mumblings for these two. They sing directly into the mic with a minimum of reverb, letting us revel in their harmonies and powerful unison singing. The rest of the band are no slouches, either – two guitarists, bass and drums keep the sound simple and mostly synth free, an anomaly in today’s pop landscape. But the focus is always with the two women and their marvelous gifts. That they co-wrote all of these compelling songs further justifies the attention.

Their first full-length is here, WILDEWOMAN, and it’s a stunner. The album has a cohesive sound, but the program’s got much variety and dynamic range. The first element that jumps out is ‘60s girl group exuberance, prominent in the opening title cut. Finger-snapping, swinging, the song serves notice that the band is out to entertain on a large scale. “My Boyfriend’s Back”-vintage sass informs “Turn It Around” (as in, “She’s looking through the wrong end of the telescope”), but the chorus, bridge and chugging organ keep it grounded in adult realism.

The next song, “Go Home,” underscores my use of the opening “stunner” description. A spare slide guitar girds the ladies’ measured command to a rejected lover. The stately pace jacks up the drama, and the abrupt splitting of their unison singing into splayed harmonies jolts the spine. That bit of noir-ish Americana is followed by the huge R&B sound of “Hey Doreen,” whose pounding drums announce a shout-along made for cruising the back roads. Other tunes roll out with country, dance-pop and singer-songwriter flavor, and there’s not a throwaway in the bunch. They all have sharp hooks and their own charms.

This is the kind of unexpected gem that more than makes up for all the dross and disappointments I wade through in search of gold.

LINDA THOMPSON has recorded sparingly over the years, releasing her last record more than six years ago. She’s one of Britain’s treasured folk singers. Ex-wife of the legendary folk-rocker Richard Thompson, she recorded several revered albums with him. (If you don’t have Shoot Out the Lights, remedy that.) She suffers from a rare condition called dysphonia, a disorder that renders her periodically mute. Fortunately, she can still work around it enough to record fine records like WON’T BE LONG NOW, her brand new one. Her voice has lost none of its plummy richness.

It’s a bare record. Most songs are adorned with only minimal accompaniment – acoustic guitar, fiddle, banjo and one or more backing vocalists, with the occasional polite drum or austere cello. And what backing vocalists – her ex-husband and her children, Teddy, Kami and Muna, as well as her grandson, Zac Hobbs, and Levon Helm’s daughter, Amy. While Thompson’s rocked well and hard in the past, here she’s squarely in folk mode, and more in the traditional vein than modern.

Probably owing to the damn-well-do-as-I-please status her age (65) bestows (and maybe because record companies don’t have any more veto power or don’t care), she starts with the deeply sad, beautiful and funny “Love’s for Babies and Fools,” which she wrote for the flamboyant singer, Rufus Wainwright. Its surface cynicism is belied by its bleeding heart at the core. A sea chanty comes next, “Never Put to Sea Boys,” but that’s followed by the great “If I Were a Bluebird,” co-written with the songwriter’s songwriter, Ron Sexsmith. Its story of separated lovers is as poignant as the melody is gorgeous.

The McGarrigle sisters wrote the next one, “As Fast As My Feet,” and it’s the closest thing to a rocker on the program. Daughter Kami is graciously given the lead vocals while the family and friends backing her showcase why they call it “blood singing”– its timbre is utterly unique and transfixing. Two more trad songs follow, “Father-son Ballad” and “Nursery Rhyme of Innocence and Experience,” which are precisely as advertised. A rousing and rowdy drinking song, “Mr. Tams” comes next, and the family chorus is in full-on wake-the-neighborhood mode. A large ensemble stars on “Never the Bride,” a gorgeously played and recorded lament (which turns out untrue for Thompson, as she admits in the liner notes). An abusive murder fantasy is behind “Blue Bleezin Blind Drunk,” and its a cappella reading before a live audience is chilling. The title tune closes the album with a sweet but stern message of getting on with life while there’s still time.

Ms. Thompson is a treasure and one worthy of your precious time.

THE LIL’ BAND O’ GOLD is an Acadiana supergroup spanning generations, genres and gene pools, who someone dubbed “Buena Vista Social Club on the Bayou.” Spawned in the late ‘90s by accordionist Steve Riley (who played the BoB Fest this year) and bad-boy guitarist C.C. Adcock, the group achieved supernova status when the legend Warren Storm agreed to join. Other notables soon signed on, including Dave Egan (keyboards, vocals, songwriting) Dickie Landry (sax, Cajun renaissance man), Richard Comeaux (steel guitar), Pat Breaux (saxes), Dave Ranson (bass, with John Hiatt an Sonny Landreth), with sometime contributions from Tommy McClain and Lil’ Buck Senegal.

Their self-titled debut was a blast of rockin’ swamp pop. It showcased the vitality still left both in the music’s form and the pipes of septuagenarian Storm. They made periodic appearances at festivals, and infrequently recorded but never released anything except on compilations like the excellent Fats Domino tribute of several years ago (An album with all Fats covers was made earlier this year, but is only available as a pricey import.)

Now we have THE PROMISED LAND – A SWAMP POP JOURNEY, a collection of an entire album cut in 2006 (but never released) and three more cuts from 2002. It comes out now after a short tour opening for Robert Plant this summer (with whom LBOG collaborated on the Fats tribute) and after Storm quit the band (to be replaced by another swamp pop legend, Clarence “Jockey” Etienne).

Storm still amazes with his ageless sound, both singing and drumming. From his sly emoting on opener “Spoonbread” (where Adcock and Riley each take a verse, also) to his country crooning on “Hard Enough” (“I’m not made of stone, I’m stoned enough already.”), Storm delivers. Adcock is the clear driving force behind the proceedings, however, producing and playing and singing his ass off whenever the spotlight’s on him. All present have a chance to shine, and nobody flubs opportunities.

The pacing of the album is superb (although I’d quibble with putting “I Don’t Wanna Know,” Bobby Charles’ showstopper, in the two-hole; later would be better). Standout cuts include “Spoonbread,” “Teardrops,” “Runaway’s Life” and “The Last Hayride,” the lacerating takedown/homage to EWE and by extension, the constituents who kept electing him.

Never mind all the commotion, the missed opportunities and deadlines, the defections – get this. As the insert says at the bottom on the back: “8 members, 25 egos, 6 livers.” The least we can do is support our boys and men trying to keep the flame alive.

– Dave Norman is a local attorney who has been smitten with music since he could hear his first transistor radio turned to WTIX, and is thankful for his ability to share his love with you.

“Wildewoman”

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“Won’t Be Long Now”

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“The Promised Land – A Swamp Pop Journey”

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