Deja vu!
If Wednesday night's modern music concert seemed a little familiar, maybe it's because the two headliners are both from California and are making commotions with a folk, pop and rock blend - something bands like the Mamas and the Papas did almost a quarter of a century ago.Spearheading the movement is Santa Barbara's Toad the Wet Sprocket, a four-piece band that took its name from a Monty Python skit. Unlike the name, though, the quartet takes its music very seriously.
Apparently trying to address some critical notices that have called the band's sound lightweight and have compared it to the bland California light rock of the '70s, Toad actually rocks up its arrangements in concert.
For example, their "Hold Her Down," the smash single that has Toad on the top of many college radio charts, took on hard edge very similar to that of the Rave-Ups, a band that blended folk sounds and rock much like Toad currently does. That edge added a power to the oft-misunderstood song.
Instead of being insensitive to women, as many have claimed, the song is an apology from men to women because of rape and similar sexual-oriented violence (as demonstrated by its bridge "And I would have a hard time facing you/This crime, the shame of what a man can do").
But despite the protestations of guitarist Tood Nichols, who granted the Deseret News a telephone interview a week before the concert, the song is not the only political statement the band makes. In fact, many of the numbers from the band's "Fear" CD address social ills ("Before You Were Born" decries the neglect of impoverished children, and "Nightingale Song" bemoans the environmental abuse our Mother Earth must suffer at our hands).
But Toad never gets too heavy-handed with its messages. Actually, it conceals them nicely in simple acoustic guitar arrangements that borrow from the early Athens, Ga. rock movement that spawned R.E.M. Typical of that sound were the lovely "Come Back Down" and the somber and atmospheric "Stories I Tell." The latter spotlighted Glen Phillips' heartfelt vocals, while the former allowed Phillips a chance to showcase his mandolin playing skills.
One problem with the band's set was the fact that many of the songs from its three albums sound so similar to each other, and after a while the songs take on a bland edge. Fortunately, their earnest playing and sense of humor (how many other bands would make up a "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" song and set those lyrics to Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" smash single?) made up somewhat.
And while members of Toad perhaps need to experiment with their sound to avoid pigeon-holing themselves, they needn't go to the ridiculous extremes of San Francisco's the Origin.
Once a cuddly four-piece pop band that employed acoustic guitar and piano in its enjoyably lightweight songs, the band has decided to introduce rock elements into its numbers. Aptly titling their new LP "Bend," the Origin has overcompensated for criticisms that it was bland, twisting and mangling its characteristic sound into a nearly laughable parody of itself.
Typical of the problems facing the band were "Candy Bar," in which Michael Andrews shockingly used his 12-stringed guitar for volume's sake rather than any subtlety, and "Everyone Needs Love," an early band favorite that the band extended with self-indulgent instrumentals and Andrews' melodramatic vocal grandstanding. (Was it really Andrews or was it U2's Bono who was adding pseudo-soulful "hey-ays" and "whoa-ohs" to the chorus?)
The departure of former keyboardist/pianist Daniel Silverman (over an apparent disagreement over the direction the band was taking - and who can blame him?) has robbed the band of much of its charm. Todd Davidson, a friend of the band who replaced Silverman for the tour, simply doesn't have Silverman's skills.
Also in the instrumental skills department, Andrews has evidently felt the need to showcase his electric guitar playing (as he did on the OK "Waiting"), but his psychedelic touches prove he's no Jimi Hendrix.
And speaking of Hendrix, opening act Marvin Etzioni aped Hendrix's "Star-Spangled Banner" routine with an electric mandolin rendition. Despite such endearing traits, the audience didn't seem to warm much to the former Lone Justice member, and that's a pity.
Etzioni's set included folk-based numbers such as "The Mandolin Man" (the title song from his recently released and wonderful debut album) and "Leap of Faith," both of which allowed him to use his reedy Bob Dylan-influenced vocal style and more-than-adequate mandolin skills.
Unfortunately, after just five songs, negative crowd reaction forced Etzioni off stage, something that happens far too often in local concerts (such as 1990's They Might Be Giants concert - in which the crowd jeered the talented Carmaig deForest - and last year's Neil Young show that featured the admittedly out-of-place-but-extremely-talented Sonic Youth). Let's hope that this trend doesn't continue.