|
The hour may be near. For years, those that have held slots in Frank Zappa's bands have found success with other groups or through their own music. Adrian Belew with King Crimson, Trent Reznor or his own "Inner Revolution."Warren Cucurullo with Duran Duran or "Thanks To Frank." Terry Bozzio with Missing Persons, Jeff Beck and his drum-ostinato studies. Steve Vai with David Lee Roth, Whitesnake and his numerous awards and magazine covers. I suspect guitarist/composer Mike Keneally may not like that line-- oh no, here comes "that Zappa guy" --but hey, there's a point. Robert Fripp said Keneally's talent is "severely underrated." Bullshit. It's 'underheard'. Anyone with half-an-open-ear can't help but be astounded by this clever, multi-faceted soul. There's always the train of thought where Zappa fans like myself digress, the "let's see how bad he can confuse the Berklee grads with the big IQs." Then there's that moment when the real inner-voice is found, the one that's sprinkled with the past without being dwarfed by it. "Dancing" is Mike's moment. Sure, he's put out several albums, from "hat." and "Boil That Dust Speck" to "Sluggo," all of which showcased the appropriate individual and group chops. But there's such a relaxed, happy feel to "Dancing." The chops certainly have their moments, but there's some lighter fare - oh can't we just say "listener friendly" without it sounding dirty? It's pop, progressive, twangy, classically through-composed and swinging like mad all at the same time. There are a couple of key differences from "Dancing" to other Beer For Dolphins albums. One is that instead of essentially featuring a guitar-bass-drums format, this is a full eight-piece band, complete with horns (Evan Francis on sax, Chris Opperman on trumpet), keyboards (Marc Ziegenhagen), mallet percussion (Tricia Williams), another guitarist (Rick Musallam) and the most striking vocals of any BFD release to date. From the dense four-part harmonies of the a capella "Poo-Tee-Weet?" to Mike's joyously belting out the opener "Live In Japan," everybody came to really play, in both the confuse-Berklee-students and kids-in-the-sandbox ways. The other difference is, simply put, the production kills. Keneally is the producer/culprit, but the curious will notice the album was recorded at Signature Sound with engineer Mike Harris, not the usual Double Time studio. Whatever the logistics, the technology is truly equal to the material underneath, rivaling Steely Dan in its crystalline perfection. Of course, the power trio within the group-- Keneally, bassist Bryan Beller and drummer Jason Harrison Smith --could probably destroy you by themselves, but that doesn't seem to be the point anymore. Everybody gets the spotlight, from the flute/percussion intro to "Pretty Enough For Girls" to Beller's low-sounding Les Claypool-hopscotch on "Ragged Ass." Mike had a lot of fun putting these puzzles together. There's a few reading that think it's overboard to talk about vocals, production, and "listener friendliness." What about the guitar? Obviously with more players, there's a tad less spotlight on the green Clapton Strat. But what's there, whether soloing or supporting, is a marvel. There's nods to Eric Johnson-echo in "Taster" and Belew (with real horns though) on "Backwards Deb." And with "Deb" and "Japan," Mike proves he can write a mucho-catchy riff. But the real coup de grace is the mesmerizing solo on "We'll Be Right Back," where you can feel the blank stares from his bandmates in the control room (think Joe's last imaginary guitar solo "Watermelon In Easter Hay.") With all the respect in the world given to Vai, Fripp, Johnson, Belew, et al, that Keneally doesn't have that level of attention is criminal. Hopefully, the hour is near. Review by Don Zulaica For more information: |
 BACK TO REVIEW DIRECTORY |
|
|
Mike Keneally & Beer For
Dolphins