Blues And Ballads Flavor Tom Waits' Bad As Me

Bad As Me is the first album of all new material from Tom Waits in seven years and it is well worth the time spent. Waits tries on a myriad of hats, pulling styles from all parts of his forty year career for this music while following a path of blues and ballads.

"Chicago" has a rhythm track like a gyrating factory machine. It helps to accentuate the lyrics that appear to be about the great Southern migration from the farms to the more Northern factories. An interesting mix of banjo and saxophone achieves this. Rolling Stone Keith Richards provides those Chicago blues guitar riffs he's so good at. Waits employs one of his many voices, the one like he's guzzling gravel.

Another interesting mix of sounds, Indian tabla drums, played by Waits, and spiky electric organ, played by Augie Meyers (Sir Douglas Quintet, Texas Tornados, Bob Dylan), provides the main rhythm on "Raised Right Men." A Chicago blues shuffle played with these instruments is certainly odd but it works. The drums sound like industrial machinery or metal trashcan lids, a style that has become synonymous with Waits and, as of late, played by his son Casey. Waits is wailing and moaning urgently here. Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers plays bass but it is not distinguishable.

An undulating Eastern European gypsy rhythm meets the old west meets 1920s jazz on "Talking At The Same Time." Waits uses his falsetto here but think more delta bluesman Skip James and less Robert Plant. Meyers provides some bluesy piano. The guitar playing has a lonesome surf/country echo. "Face To The Highway" is similar but slower and doesn't stand out as much. The percussion stomps but softly. Clean, jazzy little guitar fills give a slight Steely Dan meets Chris Isaak feel in parts. Bells and a somber violin break add dirge elements.

"Get Lost" has that '50s rock n' roll thing going for it. Waits yelping vocals overlay a simple but solid rhythm backbone with some sax flourishes. A great, bright energetic guitar solo with bite is played by either longtime Waits axeman Marc Ribot or David Hidalgo (Los Lobos), who plays on almost every track.

"Back In The Crowd" is a romantic ballad with a Mexican feel. The acoustic guitar riffs and the waltz-like rhythm help to achieve this. Brush drums and electric guitar fills complete the song.

Two songs have an Italian ballad feel. "Pay Me" uses accordion, vibes and violin to get this. Waits uses his "real" voice. Some piano adds to a melancholy feel. "New Year's Eve" is a fitting bookend to the album. This is a story-song in the best Tom Waits tradition, recounting the tale of imperfect family and friends on an imperfect holiday fraught with disaster.

"Back In The Crowd" is a love ballad with a Mexican feel. Acoustic guitar plucking and a waltz-like rhythm help to achieve this. Brush drumming and occasional electric guitar fills complete the song.

The title track, "Bad As Me" definitely seems like one that a record company would put out as promotion. Waits is being the quintessential howling madman that people expect him to be. His vocals invoke Screamin' Jay Hawkins' here. The instruments, jagged guitar, undulating sax and piston drumming, sort of roll off each other in waves. Chicago by way of Mississippi blues harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite gets a solo.

"Kiss Me" has an appealingly sparse arrangement. The upright bass, piano and vocals structure invokes the smoky after hours jazz club and coffee house feel of Waits' early '70s music. "Last Leaf" is similar but feels like a song friends would sing together after having had a few at a dark Irish pub. Lyrically, it has an obvious but appealing metaphor about staying true to who you are. Keith Richards provides slightly ragged but earthy background vocals.

On "Satisfied" Waits channels his inner Howlin' Wolf and once again, Richards brings the blues. Les Claypool (Primus) plays bass on this song but like with Flea on "Raised Right Men" you can't really hear it.

In the beginning it might appear as if Waits is attempting to rap on "Hell Broke Luce" but its nothing so pedestrian. This song imitates the "left, left, left, right, left" military march. Lyrically the song is about how war is hell and for many soldiers, the hell is carried with them when they come home. This song has a hammering rhythm and blues guitar fills.

Tom Waits has always made music about the seedier side of life, the ne'er-do-wells, the misfits, and the scalawags and thankfully that hasn't changed on Bad As Me. Even his love songs aren't maudlin. In the world of a Tom Waits song, you can't know happiness if you haven't first experienced sorrow first. The only downside to this album is that at times the tracks vary too wildly so a cohesion is lost.

His cigarette and alcohol flavored voice is also in fine form. Unlike some other gravely-voiced singers, Waits clearly recognizes that his is an instrument unto itself and has taken care to cultivate it as such as opposed to fighting it. He has also never been a flavor of the month type of musician. Fleeting trends do not enter his equation. He is a genre unto himself, which is why his records continue to be significant achievements amidst a cookie cutter landscape.

Long-Awaited New Primus Album Full Of Extended Jams And Social Commentary

Primus is back with their first full-length album of all new music since 1999's Anti-Pop. The band's lead singer, principal songwriter and bass wizard Les Claypool has spent much of the last decade steeped in the jam band scene and this shows itself, for better and for worse, on Green Naugahyde.

"Lee Van Cleef" has somewhat of a quick and repetitive reggae/ska beat with little cymbal fills, bouncy bass and a herky jerky extended guitar solo.

"Green Ranger" has the swirling, slightly unsettling style that is Claypool with a bow on a stand-up bass. The guitar is mostly comprised of harmonic, single-note bursts. Eerie, distorted vocals languish mid-mix. This is more of a drug trip than an actual song.

Theremin-like flying saucer effects define "Moron TV." Deep but treble-heavy bass riffs anchor the song to Earth amid fast drumming. "Jilly's On Smack" is lyrically a typical Claypool-penned song where he takes a random name and attaches some kind of problem to this person. Like with "Moron TV" a musical sound effect is employed, here one like helicoptor blades turning. The instrumentation overall here is like evil jazz-fusion with ghost-like vocals. It's a little over-long.

The feel of "Eyes Of A Squirrel" expertly reflect the frenetic nature of that titular animal. The bass and drums have a start-stop-start rhythm. Short lead guitar breaks explode every now and then. The vocals are hard to understand except in the chorus. The song also features a long instrumental outro.

"Hannepin Crawler" and "The Last Salmon Man" are both more traditionally Primus than the rest. The latter has more space between each instrument, an undulating guitar riff and fuzz bass. The former has less effects on the bass and a big, loud guitar solo. Overall, it has similarities to classic Primus song "Those Damned Blue Colored Tweakers."

"Tragedy's A Comin'" is probably the funkiest, of the Bootsy Collins variety, song on the album. An Indian-like opening guitar riff gives way to slap-happy bass.

One of the weirdest songs on an already weird album, "Extinction Burst" has an over-the-top vocal intro like someone singing opera in the shower. Then the vocals turn into the phrase "hop hop hip hip" repeated over and over again. Machine-like drums and unrelenting bass and guitar add to an overdriven factory feel.

Two political-themed songs on the album are "HOINFODAMAN" and "Eternal Consumption Engine." Speak the Led Zeppelin-like first one's title out phonetically to get a sense of what its about. Hint: It has something to do with selling out. The second song also has a commercialism theme, about how everything is made in China. Music-wise, it has gypsy touches mixed with old, bouncy cartoon music.

With Green Naugahyde, lushness is the new name of the game for Primus. It's actually quite amazing how great the amount is of and the varied nature of the sounds coming from just three musicians. With this new jam-heavy nature, guitarist Larry LaLonde has more to do and this helps showcase what a great musician he really is. Drummer Jay Lane is a new/old hand, having left Primus is 1988 and returning in 2010. His work with various jazz bands and Bob Weir, of The Grateful Dead fame, in his band RatDog add to the jammy sound. Claypool's lyrics have always reflected his off-beat sense of humor and skewed worldview but this is the first time with Primus he's been bluntly political. This isn't a bad thing though for it simply reflects the tense times we live in - in a wonderfully Claypoolian way. While the new Primus status quo has created some great music, the mountains and walls of sound have somewhat buried and closed in the power trio "limitations" that made Primus so great in the first place as more emphasis was put into instrumentation over effects.

The Decemberists are an American Folk-Rock Band and Prove Just That on New Album

Portland-based The Decemberists have been experimenting with the concept album format since 2006 with The Crane Wife. Then came the epic story in The Hazards Of Love, where none save "The Rake's Song" could stand by itself unaided by the others. But now the band is back to creating songs that are musical statements by themselves. With the help of, on select tracks, Peter Buck of R.E.M. on guitar and folk musician Gillian Welch on backing vocals, The King Is Dead showcases the classically literary folk-rock The Decemberists are famous for, this time with an Americana bent.

"Don't Carry It All" has Bob Dylan-like harmonica playing with slow jackhammer drumming. The chorus is melodic and filled with fiddle. A mandolin break, probably by Buck, that has Italian and Chinese hues.

Buck appears on two other tracks as well. "Calamity Song" has an early R.E.M. feel to it, unsurprisingly. Acoustic guitar strums over Buck's chiming electric. The song is laid back i a swirling and lush way. "Down By The Water" proves that The Decemberists could be a great backing band for Neil Young. It captures the grungy folk-rock beast that early Crazy Horse was, full of aggressive harmonica and strumming, a good chorus hook and jangly guitar from Buck. Accordion adds a uniquely Decemberists touch.

The two songs with the most country flavor are "Rise To Me" and "All Arise!" The former is driven by piano and a big vocal track. The acoustic guitar, soft horse trot drumming and pedal steel guitar add the mournful country quality. The latter starts out with a fiddle hoedown and even has a bit of honky-tonk style piano playing.

Despite the silly title, "Rox In The Box" is a great addition to the band's collection of sea shanty/Irish folk ballad/pirate songs. It undulates along with an acoustic guitar riff combined with prominent violin and accordion.

The only aspect of a concept album still around here are in the songs "January Hymn" and its counterpart "June Hymn." The song about the first month of the year is mostly just complex acoustic guitar picking and voice, with some icy glass-like pedal steel. The odd breathy background vocals and arrangement recall Simon & Garfunkel. The song about the sixth month of the year is fittingly warmer. It has an early '60s Dylan-like guitar arrangement accompanied by simple electric organ and harmonica. Both songs have slice-of-life lyrics.

"This Is Why We Fight" is the most straightforwardly rock and roll song on the album. Driving drumming anchors the rhythm for distorted harmonica and jangly guitars. A feeling of dread permeates this song. Its a little too repetitive and could use some oomph.

"Dear Avery" ends the album on a fade out of sorts, which is fine if you like that sort of thing. But there's something to be said for a grand finale. This song is sparse, slow and sleepy but mostly in a beautiful, not boring, way.

Many bands fail in their attempt to downsize effectively after ever escalating the epicness in concept albums. Often times the resulting new album will feel boring in comparison. The Decemberists have avoided this trap with The King Is Dead because they have focused on simply creating fantastic songs, musically and lyrically, that aren't necessarily trying to prove some lofty point. The band members, pretty much all multi-instrumentalists, work as parts of a whole and what they do best is taking older musical styles and transforming them into something that is truly unique but with a warming familiarity at the same time. Introspection housed in organic, woody American folk-rock is the name of the game here and it works splendidly.