| CHAINS On Top of Things! (Get Hip) | ||
| Fellow
Montrealers and pals of the Four, the five-piece Chains’ playground is an
intriguing mixture of Anglicized R&B and Blue-eyed Soul, kind of like an "indie"
Young Rascals. "Her Name Is Love" leads things off more towards the
R&B side, you can hear bits of the bin mined by the Black Crowes. The
peppy "Loving Man" adds in some faux-Sweet Inspirations (by guys)
backing vocals and borrows liberally from the classic "Mohair Sam" [Charlie
Rich]. "Look The Other Way" is a prime example of their work. The verses
are throaty, growling R&B, while the choruses are smooth as chocolate milk,
sweet harmonized segments; the pounding drums propel the whole thing along
and the guitar solo is a big buzzing, terse, melodic nugget. The band offers up three covers here: a tight, stompin’ (at least as stompin’ as these guys get, because raucous isn’t really in their vocabulary, yet) reading of Jimmy Reed’s "Baby What You Want Me To Do;" an average version of Aaron Neville’s classic "Fortune Teller (it’s a bit two-dimensional, not enough movement or swing); and the one that doesn’t work at all, "Nervous Breakdown" [Eddie Cochran] (without a raw, sharp edge the song doesn’t amount to much of anything). But the originals more than provide sustenance. "Nothing Left Behind" is a solidly packed, Pop-tinged, Freakbeat number. "It’s Not The End" is a jangly, echo infused, Power-Pop ballad out of the Dwight Twilley Band playbook. While the closing "Soulin’" is a taut, driving, two-minute and change Rock and Roll tune with superb mix and match backing vocals, a rumblin’, twangin’ guitar solo and a pounding five second drum/bass segment which continues under a chorus refrain with only vocals added, all cut through with a buzzsaw tambourine. (5/03) David M. Snyder
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