SADO-DOMESTICS
Two-Egg Scrambler (2013)
Self produced www.sadodomestics.com
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The Sado-Domestics titled their debut release Two-Egg Scrambler, but by my reckoning
they broke considerably more eggs and raided the nests of a variety of chickens
to make this tasty musical dish. The fourteen tracks are cleverly divided into
a "Side A" and "Side B" with the recorded drop of an
old-style record changer appearing between tracks seven and eight. This is more
than a device–the first seven tracks are more acoustic based and the remaining
seven edgier and more electric.
The Sado-Domestics are built around the singer/songwriter
partnership of Chris Gleason and Lucy Martinez, both of whom also perform as solo
acts and with other bands. The ensemble is fleshed out by other veteran Boston
musicians, including Bruce Bartone, Shamus Feeney, and Paul Stewart from
Gleason's roots band Los Goutos. "Mule in a Swamp" sets the tone for
Side A in that many of the tracks are soaked in a Southern brine that's part
swamp water, part skillet-licking Appalachia, part acoustic country blues, part
folk, and part traditional. Martinez has a voice that impresses by both its
power and its sweetness. Her "Dragonfly" is bluegrass influenced, but
more fragile, and "Weeds" evokes the reflective melancholia of a Mary
Chapin-Carpenter offering. Gleason is a more ironic songwriter. If you can
imagine a snarkier version of Steve Goodman, Gleason's "Badly Paid"
fits those parameters. "Dahlia," a musing upon the gruesome 1947
Elizabeth Smart murder, is a dark country blues offering in keeping with
Gleason's tendency to opt for realism over metaphors.
Side B plugs in. Gleason's "Waiting" reminded me
of one of the lush songs Tim Buckley used to write, but with the studio string enhancements
stripped out and replaced by Bartone's crystalline electric guitar
atmospherics. Gleason seems to delight in messing with our perceptions. His
"January" rocks, but in a nostalgic, bright way that defies the way
most of us think about that month. Similarly, "Together in You" is
the only time I've heard the following mentioned in the same song: Skip James,
Kurt Cobain, Emmylou Harris, Husker Du, Tom Verlaine, and Richard Nixon.
Speaking of Verlaine (Television), Martinez airs her punk sensibilities on Side
B. On "Tainted Windows" she juxtaposes bouncy vocals with crunchy
power chords, fuzzy feedback, and energetic percussion. Then she goes new wave
Devo-like on us on "Bull in a Cage." Think you've got these guys
figured out? Uh huh. Listen to Gleason's "At Night We Fall" and get
back to me. The tune riffs off of The Beatles' "Let it Be," but the
material is country western confessional, including the line, "the road to
redemption/Is paved with the best intentions." I can't say whether these
folks are as badly housebroken as the band name implies, but I sure can
recommend you invite them to your musical table.—Rob Weir
Here's an acoustic version of "January."
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