Four Star Riot
Tonight & Tomorrow
I never get sick of FSR singer Steve Alex's voice. It's got that classic rock 'n' roll blend of sensitivity and swagger. That personality has always informed this Clearwater rock act's music to a certain extent as well, but the addition of veteran local guitarist and vintage rock/power-pop fanatic Finn Walling has brought it out in full force. Tonight & Tomorrow is a sweet, salty, and pretty much perfect marriage of character and sound. Virtually everything from the Cheap Trick-indebted opener "Get What U Give" through the powerfully aching closing ballad "Golden Age" does much more than work – this is the whole pop-rock package, without sounding too, you know, packaged. (www.fourstarriot.com)
1/2
Annie on Distortion
Warning Label EP
Bouncy Tampa-area pop-punk that doesn't sound like every other pop-punk band out there. These musicians still sound fairly green; the collision of widely disparate alt-rock influences is disorienting as often as it is interesting, and vocalist Tommy H.'s flat, nasally, one-dimensional delivery wears thin quickly. But the tones and harmonies are often pretty good, and there's some potential for decent original future songwriting here – check out how "Warning Label" splits the difference between The Descendents and Smashing Pumpkins. (www.annieondistortion.com)
Mohouse
Homemade
Singer-songwriter Michael "Mo" Morrison's full-band full-length is a straightforward collection of pop-rock whose rounded edges and keyboards lend it an engagingly dated feel – you could totally see this band supporting The Outfield or John Parr on the road. Morrison works a fairly narrow niche, but he works it well; there are some standouts ("Down in Mexico," "So Little Time"), and the utter lack of pretense or trendiness makes this particular vibe feel almost new again. (110 27th Ave. N.E., St. Petersburg, 33704)
Stone Soup
Dancin' Shoes
"I'm on a first-name basis with the birds," intones guitarist/vocalist Silas Durocher on "The Kind of Funk," the opening track on Stone Soup's self-released album Dancin' Shoes. It's one of many lines throughout the disc that summarizes this band's sound – natural, flowing, easy and never too introspective for its own good. The band's five members, all New College students (as though their hippie garb and taste for shoelessness aren't indication enough), slink their way through 49 minutes of laid-back acoustic funk, sometimes hinting at their love of bluegrass, Dixieland and even hip-hop. All but one of Stone Soup's members take turns on the mic, often harmonizing with each other; it's effective, if only to add variety to the extended jams (all but one track clock in at over five minutes). Tracks such as "Don't Shoot, I Said Just a Second Too Late" and "Chords and Rhythm," perhaps more than any other song, showcase the best qualities of this band – most notably, their ability to pen distinctive melodies with nary a hint of pretension. (www.stonesoupdancing.com) 1/2
-Mark Sanders
Spontaneous Habit
Sensual Side Effects
Spontaneous Habit's sound borrows liberally from blaxploitation movie soundtracks (complete with ghettofied flutes), lounge jazz, and a healthy dose of herb-infused jam music. I know; the word "jam" has plenty of negative connotations (to the point that jam bands themselves hate the term). But Spontaneous Habit, by virtue of vocalist Shannon Fortner's reverb-loaded scat vocals and Dave Murray's improvised sax lines, all but begs for the association. Check out a show, and you could well see some unfamiliar faces sitting in on a variety of instruments (didgeridoo, horns, keys, you name it). On Sensual Side Effects, however, the band keeps it simple, with few overdubs and a surplus of mid-tempo rhythms and space-age bass lines, the latter of which are as integral to the band's signature sound as Fortner's Nina Simone-esque vocals. Despite Spontaneous Habit's varied influences, this is a group that thrives on originality and atmosphere. (www.spontaneoushabit.com)
-Mark Sanders
Mants
Mants
This Clearwater outfit (which features a couple of the guys from the late, less adventurous Skyline) plays an idiosyncratic style of indie-rock. You can hear lots of influences, but Mants doesn't sound like anybody, thank you very much, and manages to come off as both meandering/angular/experimental and muscular/anthemic/melodic, occasionally within the same tune: "A Tin Deal" and "Svengali" best bridge both worlds. Those who like standard 4/4 riffs are gonna be confused, and the vocals are studiedly amateurish. Overall, however, this is interesting and above-average bombastic post-punk that follows its own muse. (themants@hotmail.com)
Harry Dash
Momentum
The Hardest Working Band in Pasco delivers an hour-long full-length whose energetic, pop-informed rock 'n' roll far surpasses anything it's done so far. The Dash has shed some of its jammy, bluesy dead weight along the way, and now delivers 16 crisp, hooky pieces of hard candy. Some of the touchstones might be a little too obvious, and guitarist/vocalist Richard Wise sometimes settles for a lyrical cliché, but I'd much rather hear any one of these infectious, earnest tunes on the radio (particularly the deceptively named "Sad Ending") than most of what's on there now. (www.harrydash.com) 1/2
Fall on Purpose
7-song Demo
During its tenure as house band for Open Mic Night at downtown St. Pete's Fortunato's After Dark, Fall on Purpose has built both a rotating membership numbering in the low teens and a wildly eclectic sound incorporating elements of funk, hip-hop, folk, punk, ska and reggae. What hasn't developed, yet, is the songwriting – while many instrumental performances on these mostly live tracks are impressive, the few structured, non-jammy songs in evidence are characterized by sub-par lyrics and overly simplistic arrangements. The group would do well to get off of the stage, and into the rehearsal space for a while. (www.fallonpurpose.com) 1/2
Steve Robinson
Away for the Day
This one might be a bit out of place, seeing as Robinson was a principal member of semi-legendary Bay area band The Headlights, who achieved national recognition for backing The Byrds' Roger McGuinn. But Robinson is totally independent these days, and the top-notch, lush-yet-folksy Britpop (Robinson's an expatriate Englishman) of Away for the Day was recorded at his home in St. Pete. Some rock fans may find these immaculately constructed tunes a bit precious at times, but there's no denying their poetic slices of life. Every tune's a highlight. (www.geocities.com/steverobinson9/)
My Enemy
Your Hero
Besides being almost, but not quite, a palindrome, My Enemy is a neo-pop-punk quartet from somewhere around here that seems content not to offer much that you haven't heard at any show headlined by Midtown or New Found Glory. Same vocal style, same melodic guitar lines, same gallop-to-groove dynamic shifts. They're better than most at it, but a couple of more straight-up rock riffs and mildly different semi-ballads ("Testament") aren't really enough to set them apart when those familiar harmonies and choruses kick in. (www.myenemy.net)
1/2
Dan Hill Hoopes
Right as Rain
Though fairly lo-fi and unarguably awkward at times, this collection of mid-tempo classic-country numbers nonetheless gets you rooting for it. There's a nice low-key vibe, like a bartender running through some of his own compositions with the house band after some roadhouse's last call. Lyrics that might otherwise sound trite come off as endearingly sincere when delivered by Hoopes' scruffy-guy-being-sensitive tenor. Maybe they're guilty pleasures, but ballads like "Little Angel" and "Love Walks In" work surprisingly well, and could be the soundtrack to long-married couples discovering they still love each other somewhere in Oklahoma. (www.amazonmoone.com)
New Crash Position
Music to Rob Banks To
Serviceable, populist heavy rock by former members of Bradensota favorites E3, Neurotica and The Chase Theory. This sort of riffy, groovy, melodic modern rock always runs the risk of cookie-cutter anonymity, and this disc falls into that trap ("This Time," "Wind Up," "Rise") a little too often. It's far from bad, though, and the poppy "DopeSick Girl" and Queens of the Stone Age-esque "Hwy Dk (Hate What You Don't Know)," "Save" and "Foolish Tank" are pretty damn good. There's not much here that you haven't heard before, but there's some, and all of it is admirably well-executed. (www.handoutrecords.com)
Cuban Sandwich Crisis
Half Full
There's a lot of talent on display here by former members of Pinellas jam-pop favorites The Gita: Jason Merritt's clear, strong vocals; Dave Russell's equally adept harmonies; Joe Terranna's flawless multi-instrumental accompaniment; Tony Dolan's snappy, syncopated drumming. Unfortunately, the songs only occasionally transcend mediocrity – they're mostly competent but insubstantial tunes comprised of too-familiar strummy chord patterns and lyrical clichés that never suck, but never really hit a nerve. Merritt's got better material in him, and the players to bring it out. Let's hear it. (www.cubansandwichcrisis.com) 1/2
SCOTT.HARRELL@WEEKLYPLANET.COM MARK.SANDERS@WEEKLYPLANET.COM
This article appears in Mar 30 – Apr 5, 2005.
