Roger Manning - s/t (SST #203~) (Shanachie #5718*)

Name: Roger Manning

Album(s): s/t & s/t (SST #203~, Shanachie #5718*)

Year(s): 1988~, 1997*

Style: Anti-Folk singer/songwriter, Blues

Similar Artists: Bob Dylan, Jad Fair,Neil Young, Violent Femmes

"One Word" Review: Nasally-Energetic-train-riding-solos

Based Out Of: NYC, NY

Labels: SST Records~, Shanachie*

 SST - Cover, CD

 SST - Liner Notes & Back

 Shanachie Cover, CD, Promo Mailer

Shanachie Liner Notes, Back, Mailer

S/T [SST #203] (1988)

1. The #14 Blues 2:23
2. The Pearly Blues 3:46
3. The Lefty Rhetoric Blues 2:19
4. The Hitch Hiker's Blues 3:10
5. The West Valley Blues 4:02
6. Strange Little Blues 2:23 / 
7. The Airport Blues 2:42
8. The #16 Blues 2:33
9. The #17 Blues 3:58
10. Blues For the Chosen Few 2:58
11. The 1010 Blues 2:47
12. The Sicilian Train Blues 3:59

S/T [Shanachie #5718]

1. Grand Teton Blues 0:15
2. The Driving Blues 3:43
3. The Pearly Blues #6 4:39
4. Loisaida Covers Billy Syndrome 0:30
5. The Bohemia Blues 3:36
6. The East 5th St Blues #5 3:30
7. The War Museum Blues 3:21
8. The Driving Blues #2 5:07
9. The Driving Blues #3 4:18
10. The Rearview Mirror  Blues 2:59
11. The Pearly Blues #8 3:52
12. The Hitchhiker Blues #5 (Midnight Blues) 3:32
13. The Hitchhiker Blues #4 3:36
14. The Projection Blues 4:10
15. Homer's Backyard 0:15
16. The Ios Blues #2 4:28
17. The Hitchhiker Blues #3 6:02

Album Rating (1-10): ~6.0

*6.0

Members & Other Bands:

Roger Manning - Guitar, Vox, Producer ~* Engineer* (Young the Giant)

Steve Dansiger - Drums~

Jason Goodrow - Bass~

John Gurrin - Producer~

Veronica Toole - Assistant~

Brenda Kahn - Assistant~

Patricia Lie - Cover Design~

Ilana Storace - Photo~

Ken Greenboy - Drums*

Laura Elmina - Bass, Word*

Conrad Cooper - Bass*

Casey - Word*

Amy - Voice* (Nausea)

Sasha - Fiddle*

Fly - Artwork & Design*

Joe Folk - Engineer*

Richard Joseph - Editing~*

Unknown-ness: Back in 1998 or so, before I had the internet to research or review things, I bought these two albums thinking I was buying Roger Joseph Manning Jr's (from the band Jellyfish) solo albums. I knew I was wrong nearly right off the bat, but I have since forgot what they sound like. I remember being disappointed, but that was just because whatever these are, they were not up to the catchy psychedelic power pop style I was expecting. All I can predict here is that these are not that.

Album Review: Manning is a subway troubadour, playing his acoustic anti-folk, folk songs on the streets, and these recordings pick up as you’d expect to hear him live, with a little drums and bass added sparsely. His website is pretty detailed and complex: he even offers capsulated movie reviews of everything he’s seen and he promotes inline skating.

~“The #14 Blues” Acoustic jangley guitars with minimal drums and simple bass line filling in the gaps. There are some progression changes in the song, but it is a straight driving song. Nasally vocals and fast sung lyrics drive this forward like a train.

“The Pearly Blues” is slower, but still has the same acoustic guitar and nasal vocals. No backing percussion and bass on this one. The song tries to capture a youthful intelligence and folksy plays on words, all the while depicting living in a white man’s idea of poverty. Saying this is not a folk song does not make it NOT a folk song. Because that’s what it is.

“The Lefty Rhetoric Blues” brings the driving guitar back as the percussive element to accompany the melody. It is fast sung to keep up with the guitar, and it rises and fades in nasally energy. This one is politically charged, as identifiable by its name.

“The Hitch Hiker's Blues” carries along with it the driving style of a few lyrics and a short guitar hook. But it quickly blossoms into a pretty catchy hook for its chorus. I don’t listen to much Neil Young, but from the little I've heard, his voice reminds me of Neil’s here. But phrases of lyrics are framed by music, which makes this a little different than the rest of the album.

“The West Valley Blues” has a bit of a waltz tempo. The lyrics are staggered along the melody of the song. The message is a personal and political history of the area Manning grew up, concerning nuclear testing, which ultimately is blamed for his father’s (and others’) passing.

“Strange Little Blues” drives from the get go, reminding me of the verse from Violent Femmes song “Lies” without the catchy chorus. Instead the chorus here is a Ho-Ohhhhh, similar to that of a train whistle.

~“The Airport Blues” breaks out the typical song style with obvious forward sounding drums, and a much more musical background, reminding me a little of the verse from James’ “Sometimes,” especially with the bass.

“The #16 Blues” starts with simple strummed chords with a bit of a sloppy sound. This song discusses escaping from NY, if there is perhaps even anywhere else to go for Manning.

“The #17 Blues” is another jangely story song with more dialogue than singing with some hippie contemplations and ideas.

“Blues For the Chosen Few” is a one dimensional chord change in the verse, and barely a difference for the chorus, which is mainly just an instrumental chorus. But the song is oddly relate-able and accessible.

“The 1010 Blues” starts off again, like James’ song “Sometimes” but the song does not paint the same lovely and deadly picture that “Sometimes” captures. And the song is all verse, split by acoustic sections.

“The Sicilian Train Blues” finally used the actual train lyrics over top a train, driving acoustic tempo & melody. The song is solid, featuring a fun, repetitive hook, with minor changes, before returning to the base hook. The lines and verses nicely complete themselves. The instrumental break is a country-ish jam, slightly changing up the familiar melody.

*“Grand Teton Blues” is just a couple of coyote howls

“The Driving Blues” Already this is a more ambitious album. The jangely guitar is less front and center, and the drums and bass take much more of a burden. The song still has a similar train, driving tempo, and yet his vocals have the same nasally tone. This feels like an introduction song, which makes it a good first real track.

“The Pearly Blues #6” ” has a smooth head-nodding rhythm for the intro, but the verses lack the music support, and are all percussive. But the song builds to an obvious chorus. The lyrics are more spoken than sung in this song, reminding me of Dismemberment Plan’s “The Ice of Boston” a little. 

“Loisaida Covers Billy Syndrome” is an answering machine recording with a lady’s voice, some guitar, and an explanation of “art” from Manning.

“The Bohemia Blues” picks up the driving baton and continues on with notable drums and a very Jad Fair/Gordon Gano style of singing.

“The East 5th St Blues #5” has a sleepy, slow start that matches the lyrics of 6am. Thing is, it never really gets going. It treads water in this anticipatingly slow stutter.

“The War Museum Blues” has a fuzzy acoustic strum melody, and a dark spirit. The fuzz makes the sound thick and complex, but really it is just a chaotic echo. Even the fuzz spills over to the vocals here and there, making the album really feel like it could have been part of the alternative craze a few years earlier.

“The Driving Blues #2” is a simple guitar riff with another answering machine message overtop. Then the music finds its hold and a catchy guitar loop plays through a few rotations. In this case, the momentum the beginning had is obliterated by the lyrics, as the song seems to take a different, generic folksy direction.

“The Driving Blues #3” starts with some electric guitar feedback, and then launches into a thick electrified acoustic jam. The music waits for the verse to finish before it kicks back in.

*“The Rearview Mirror Blues” is a catchy fast paced song that starts out promising, with the lyrics called overtop like an auctioneer. It is just not that complex, and leaves you hanging, waiting for a hook that never comes.

“The Pearly Blues #8” slows it down for a hand clap tempo song. But it never really goes anywhere, and hangs around in verse purgatory.

“The Hitchhiker Blues #5 (Midnight Blues)” has a pleasant driving melody, again, and I know I’m saying it a lot, taking me back to the jangle guitar of James’ “Sometimes.” Then a deeper bass line adds some darkness to the song, and the verse begins loosely following the melody. Suddenly out of nowhere there is a chorus of items followed by the phrase “Very Small” but it loses that momentum and steps back into the safety of verse.

“The Hitchhiker Blues #4” was theoretically written before the previous tune, but was placed on the album after #5. It begins like a ramble-y non-directional chain of thoughts. The music is a little of chaos in the fuzzed jangle guitars.

“The Projection Blues” is a liquid sounding, shuffling acoustic song. It too is kinda of directionless and ramble-y. I could even be interpreted as a little whiny.

“Homer's Backyard” is a home recording of one or two young kids singing, with a proud parental laugh to cap it off.

“The Ios Blues #2” is just acoustic guitar strummed and about 1:15, the drums kick in, but only last for a few seconds for an instrumental chorus before returning to the acoustic verse. The instrumental chorus holds a nice head nodding hook, but it comes off pretty typical.

“The Hitchhiker Blues #3”starts with a poetic verse rushed through by Manning for 1:15. There is then a break of silence, and by 1:50, a fiddle begins playing a nervous melody. It levels out into a melancholy display, as only a fiddle can portray. The tune is changed slightly by a higher pitched segment, and a brief moment of optimism comes in, only to be banished by a return to the same melancholy melody. The process repeats four times, and the instrumental ends with the fourth flourish of optimism. 

Stand Out Track: ~The Hitchhiker's Blues

*The Driving Blues #3

Links:

Website

The Deli Magazine

Allmusic

Wiki

Discogs

Flesh Eaters - Destroyed By Fire (Greatest Hits)

Name: Flesh Eaters
Album: Destroyed By Fire (Greatest Hits)
Year: 1987
Style: Punk, Gothic Rock/Metal.
Similar Bands: Cows, X, Social Distortion, Dead Milkmen, Iggy Pop, Bay of Pigs, Danzig
"One-Word" Review: 3-chord-Chaotic-Jagger-Punk
Based Out Of: LA, Cali
Label: SST Records, Shakeytown Music BMI

Destroyed By Fire - Cover, Liner Notes, Tape

Destroyed By Fire (1987)

1. See You In The Boneyard 3:29
2. Cyrano De Berger's Back 3:20
3. Dominoes 1:58
4. Impossible Crime 1:53
5. Secret Life 4:54
6. Hard Road to Follow 5:25
7. Divine Horsemen 7:07 /
8. The Wedding Dice 4:16
9. Pony Dress 2:31
10. We'll Never Die 3:20
11. Everytime I Call Yr Name 4:07
12. Lake of Burning Fire 7:41
13. Drag My Name in Mud 6:33

Album Rating (1-10): 6.0

Members & Other Bands:
Dave Alvin - Guitar (Blasters, Knitters, Dollar Store)
Bill Bateman - Drums (Blasters, Red Devils)
Steve Berlin - Saxophone (Los Lobos, Blasters)
D.J. Bonebrake - Marimba (X, Original Sinners)
Chris Desjardins - Producer, Vocals Composer (Divine Horsemen)
John Doe - Bass (X)
Robin Jameson - Bass
Jill Jordan - Vocals (Background)
Don Kirk - Guitar, Composer
Christopher Wahl - Drums, Composer
Ed Colver - Flesh Eaters Picture

Unknown-ness: I don’t believe I’ve heard of them. The name is very symbolic with a type of music, that I could only assume this is going to be dark punk, perhaps with Gothic tones. Maybe I’ve heard of them before, but I can’t really recall what the music is like or where I’ve heard of them from. So as this is a greatest hits collection, I do not expect a cohesive album, but a good introduction to their sound.

Album Review: “See You In The Boneyard” begins with a jazzy sax and rocking, driving drum beat. The vocals are gloomy but cartoonish with a side of evil. There is a Stray Cats big band element to the music, but the energy from the rambling lyrics and the shriek energy at the end of each verse gives is a classic dirty punk element. Like an organic Social Distortion.
“Cyrano De Berger's Back” feels like a 50’s greaser love ballad, full of sax and rock-a-billy qualities covered by a morbid punk act. The vocals are raw and full of emotion while the music is just a repetitive canvas for the poetic vocals to flow across.
“Dominoes” starts out as a lazy side swaying melody, but you can feel the tension building, and it launches into a faster, straightforward punk song. It lacks the brass or jazzy backing instruments. But it goes back and forth between the two sections of slow catch-your-breath sections and fast-forwarding circle pit action.
“Impossible Crime” is a nervous, speedy three chord punk song. It changes key for the chorus but quickly changes back for the short verse sections. It is repetitive and driving, never letting down like a good short punk song should be. It actually reminds me of “Tiny Town” by Dead Milkmen. “Secret Life” starts with a nice bouncy bass beat. And the vocals sound drunk, and tripping all over the place up and down off key. But the shrill expression reminds me of Mick Jagger at his most chaotic, and more so, Iggy Pop. The sax is back, but not as produced and prevalent as the start of the record, and it feels less Americana punk, and more smooth jazz.
“Hard Road to Follow” is another drunken King Missile sounding song with minimal, actual singing, and a more slurred tempo. But the range of vocal styles and pitch changes keeps it very interesting, and the music is less punk, and more dark, heavy rock. This reminds me of the other album I reviewed by Bay of Pigs. The guitar has a sounds that is like “Money for Nothing” but heavier.
“Divine Horsemen” starts with some sort of sax sound that reminds me of Akira Kurosawa’s film Dreams, specifically the Peach Orchard sequence. But the music is just a repetitive back and forth guitar and bass section, with a repeating 2 note xylophone bit. The vocals are erratic and agitated, good for the dark punk atmosphere they like to project. The instrumental section at the end just goes on without much variation, to the point where I’d assume it would be quite boring to play.

“The Wedding Dice” starts out with dark prog, like Black Sabbath. And then the pace picks up to a driving punk pace. The vocals lack sobriety, but they parallel the melody to the point of repetitive boredom. During the instrumental break, we revisit the slow prog guitars, which are backed by a squealing sax loop.
“Pony Dress” revisits the short speed punk with erratic singing. It is a simple fast verse, rearranged melody for the chorus, and return to the verse. The monotony is broken up with a bit different section referring to the title of the song at the end. It is repetitive in itself, but as a whole it is refreshing.
“We'll Never Die” starts with a guitar hook that is quite catchy, and then the vocals range from deep, nasally and yowling all in the same lyrical line. At their darkest, they are deep and nearly crooning, like Danzig; at their highest they are raspy and a bit screechy. But there is an undeniable energy the entire time.
“Everytime I Call Yr Name” begins with a fuzzed out metal guitar played at a punk rock pace. The deep vocals again remind me of Danzig or X at their lowest and like an angry feral cat at their highest. Like most other songs, the music does not diverge much from the initial melody, so you have this long song without much change, except it acts as a blank canvas for vocal experimentation and exaggeration.
“Lake of Burning Fire” sounds like it should be a prog song, and it comes off that way with an unconventional beat and a backing sax. The vocals are whine-yelling at first, I’m guessing like they are stuck in hell. It feels a little like a Half-Japanese song. The vocals are the same cadence, but lower than Jad Fair. Then they surpass Fair, and resemble Megadeath’s shouty vocals. The repetitive loop of jazzy prog continues and more yelling moans overlap and feels like an unsupervised jam session. The song then comes back to more lyrics, but nothing new is brought to the song. And they revert back to the howling jam session which is very tedious and extended.
“Drag My Name in Mud” is a heavy sax influenced metal stomp. The drums kick in and it begins at a fast, driving pace, but the vocals feel like they are constantly trying to catch up to the music. This is three chord metal-punk. The slower stomp-tempo is brought back for a breakdown section about 2 min in. By this point, listening to this much, the song feels like it is just rehashing everything that has come before, and the result is a forced feeling, like ideas have all been used up and that well is dry.

Stand Out Track: See You in the Boneyard

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