March 2022 Reviews: David Franz ELDR Roger Friedman Myles Travitz DLU

 

 

David Franz is a Berklee School of Music grad, but he’s a California dude and it’s from there that he makes and produces music. His own material plumbs electric traditions such as blues, blue-eyed soul, desert rock, and psychedelia. “Baby Please” is pleading electric blues: Baby, baby please/Don’t let me miss out on your mystery. Call it the semi-optimistic bookend to “For My Own Health,” which is a growling Bad Boy admission: I’m beginning to think my optimism is a disease. That would be about right for the desperado into whose skin he crawls. “The Unknown” is written as a self-explanatory confessional with a soulful tune faintly reminiscent of the Classic IV’s hit “Spooky.” Franz impressively switches hats. “Nothing Is Meant to Last” has the sonic explorations of an acid rock jam band. Like “Tree Pose,” the vocals are subsumed in the mix, though the latter is hardly for the yoga crowd with its dramatic swoops that intentionally veer toward a retro early 60s film score direction. Franz is an impressive hombre and apparently others agree. Some of the guests on his tracks have connections to acts such as John Mayer, Supertramp, Sting, and Wilco.

 

Jameson Elder and his wife Hannah Rae are your classic cute couple. As ELDR they’ve released their debut recording My Love Looks Good on You. The title track is typical of their straight-ahead folk approach to the love songs that dominate the collection. It’s a pledge of eternal bonds: One day our bones won’t hold the weight they used to/The lines around our eyes will start to show through/But the words I’ve always spoken will still ring through/My love looks good on you. This is duo music in the truest sense in that they trade lead lines. Rae’s voice is higher than my usual taste, but she balances with Elder’s voice, which has more bottom. Most of the songs spotlight acoustic guitar, but Elder also plays electric, bass, keys, and synth. “Coming Undone” is about how love’s sudden blossom is an undoing if ever there was one. My favorite track, though, is “Safe with You,” for its catchier melody and cadence. At some point their repertoire will need more variety, but this will do just fine for now. ★★★ ½

 

Roger Street Friedman hangs out in Nashville these days, a place not known for subtlety. It helps, though, if you get Larry Campbell to co-produce an EP like Come What May. Instead of the glitz of the bright lights, Friedman retreated to his home studio to make a homespun record. It’s spare, but not barebones; Friedman accompanies his voice with mandolin, squeeze boxes, harmonium, and acoustic, baritone, and electric guitars, plus he invites some friends to join in. Musicians have tons of on-the-road songs, but Come What May is about love, healing, and coming home. The other original is cut from a different cloth. “Big Truth” is about Big Lies, the ultimate fake news: I see your color rise as you growl and rage/When history chooses sides you’ll go down in flames/You say that 2 plus 2 make 3/When big lies spread like a virus through the air/Big truth cures the disease. You might recognize Teresa Williams and Lucy Kaplansky adding harmonies. He also covers Bruce Hornsby’s “Mandolin Rain” and Shawn Colvin’s “Cry Like an Angel.” Each is quieter than the original. What I really like about Friedman is that he stays within himself. He has a strong voice, but knows when to add power, when to tamp things down, and when a little bit–like the dab of falsetto in his Colvin take–is enough.  ★★★★

 

I couldn’t help contrast Mother Moon, an EP from North Carolina native Myles Travitz with Friedman’s lighter touch. Travitz used to produce electronic dance music and counts among his musical heroes Mumford & Sons, The Lumineers, Cold Play, and Billy Joel. Those are not necessarily compatible influences. The Billy Joel connection comes when Travitz puts down his guitar and sits down at the piano. You’ll hear his keyboard in “Glow” and again on the title track, on which he also mans an acoustic guitar. I liked Travitz, but I think maybe his heart is still more Cold Play than Mumford & Sons. Travitz has a big voice, but at times it’s too big for the song. “Mockingbird” doesn’t need a Cold Play arena rock voice to carry it, whereas it works really well on “To Happiness,” on which really does rock. More control would give his quieter songs far more impact than belting them out. ★★★

 

I wanted to love Moch from the Scottish sextet DLÙ (Dawning). Moch lives up to its Gaelic term for a tight weave, but the music is all over the place–in good ways and bad. The heart of the band is fiddler Moilidh NicGriogair and accordion artist Zach Ronan, but the two tracks that most impress come from guest vocalist Joseph McCluskey: “Ràcan” and “Bràighe Loch lall.” These are more traditional and less tarted up with attempts to sound hip. The plucked fiddle strings evocative of a ukulele of “Am Politician” (the name of a pub) give way to accordion, but does a café-style tune need a full drum kit and electric guitar or detract from it? The latter, IMHO. In like fashion, the fiddle and guitars of “Anthem” are like oil and water in that the strings set a misty tone and Aidan Spiers’ wah-wah and Jack Dorrian’s bass pull it in a cacophonous direction. “Donalda’s” is upbeat and fun, but again there is more going on than needed and it makes the tune feel cramped. Don’t get me started on the disco opening of “Blue Reef;” it’s the wrong mood for what is at heart an introspective composition. "Moch" is another that’s bifurcated. It steers us through melancholy seas but plunges us into because-we-can rough waters, then sets us adrift with a pounding beat and sprayed accordion notes before docking with another loud passage that’s on-melody but out-of-synch with the overall composition. There is talent here, but right now DLÙ is too much of a young-folks-mucking-about band. Unplug, hand Spiers an acoustic axe, Gossart a goatskin, and build tunes to last, not hopped up for hipsters. ★★

 

Rob Weir