By a River Burning Blue
(Orchard; 2004)

 
The front door swings open with a slow creak. This prohibition-era farmhouse hovering above the California cliffs had forced your car off the road and into park and now you find yourself peering into a house not quite alive though certainly not yet dead. Stroll past the front passage into the parlor where you find the huddled, shivering members of Calexico gathered, warming themselves by a flaming pile of broken furniture, peglegs, barstools and a ship's wheel. Further on into the kitchen you spy the lingering shadows where Charlie Parker shared a long-cold coffee cup with Mark Kozelic. A stream of smoke from the mouth of Tom Waits points you down the stairs where, intrepid, you peer into the long-forgotten world of Ray's Vast Basement. John Bernson, as much writer as musician, is behind the bar waiting to pour you a drink and tell you about his world.

This is the scene I entered when embarking on the 'musical fiction'that is Ray's Vast Basement's album, By a River Burning Blue. Conceived by Mission resident, John Bernson, the album is based on the fictional story of a speakeasy housed in a cave on California's coast and the history that surrounds it. Many of the songs on this album are related to the fictional town of Drakesville and its inhabitants. The music is captivating. Alternating between folk ballads, spoken word, sea chanteys, and Americana, By A River Burning Blue still sounds like a fully cohesive concept -- and a thoroughly enjoyable one at that. A large crew of local musicians lend their talents, which creates intriguing orchestration (the rasping violins on "Catriona" are nothing short of heartbreaking). And the lyrics are a book waiting to be written: whimsical, historic, and with a taste of the macabre. Not to gush, but seriously, I haven't been lost in an album like this in a while. ...

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By a River Burning Blue
(Orchard; 2004)

 
The front door swings open with a slow creak. This prohibition-era farmhouse hovering above the California cliffs had forced your car off the road and into park and now you find yourself peering into a house not quite alive though certainly not yet dead. Stroll past the front passage into the parlor where you find the huddled, shivering members of Calexico gathered, warming themselves by a flaming pile of broken furniture, peglegs, barstools and a ship's wheel. Further on into the kitchen you spy the lingering shadows where Charlie Parker shared a long-cold coffee cup with Mark Kozelic. A stream of smoke from the mouth of Tom Waits points you down the stairs where, intrepid, you peer into the long-forgotten world of Ray's Vast Basement. John Bernson, as much writer as musician, is behind the bar waiting to pour you a drink and tell you about his world.

This is the scene I entered when embarking on the 'musical fiction'that is Ray's Vast Basement's album, By a River Burning Blue. Conceived by Mission resident, John Bernson, the album is based on the fictional story of a speakeasy housed in a cave on California's coast and the history that surrounds it. Many of the songs on this album are related to the fictional town of Drakesville and its inhabitants. The music is captivating. Alternating between folk ballads, spoken word, sea chanteys, and Americana, By A River Burning Blue still sounds like a fully cohesive concept -- and a thoroughly enjoyable one at that. A large crew of local musicians lend their talents, which creates intriguing orchestration (the rasping violins on "Catriona" are nothing short of heartbreaking). And the lyrics are a book waiting to be written: whimsical, historic, and with a taste of the macabre. Not to gush, but seriously, I haven't been lost in an album like this in a while.

Descend the staircase my friends and order a drink. The music is intoxicating.

 [Ann Larie Valentine]

[STREAM] Ray's Vast Baement: "Sacrifice"

Boyskout released their sophomore effort, Another Life (Three-Ring Records), in October 2006, and I'm still not sick of it. Better yet, I'm still enthralled by it. Indeed, I'd say that Another Life was one of my favorite local releases of 2006. Wanna know why?

Another Life meets my need for rock, roll, synth, punk, and a veritable cornucopia of genres that don't usually mesh – or so you'd think. Retro boy band (think 1950s) meets Sleater-Kinney meets the Cure. It's all here and it's all good. Front woman Leslie Satterfield's velvety, throaty warble—along with the band's distinctive guitar riffs—tie it all together in a sweet little package.

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Boyskout released their sophomore effort, Another Life (Three-Ring Records), in October 2006, and I'm still not sick of it. Better yet, I'm still enthralled by it. Indeed, I'd say that Another Life was one of my favorite local releases of 2006. Wanna know why?

Another Life meets my need for rock, roll, synth, punk, and a veritable cornucopia of genres that don't usually mesh – or so you'd think. Retro boy band (think 1950s) meets Sleater-Kinney meets the Cure. It's all here and it's all good. Front woman Leslie Satterfield's velvety, throaty warble—along with the band's distinctive guitar riffs—tie it all together in a sweet little package.

I guarantee that you won't be disappointed. I guarantee.

Although the entire album is worth listen after listen, let me tell you about a few of my favorite tracks…

You've heard it before… save the best for last. "Track 12" ("Baby You Can Drive My Car"), takes the Beatles classic and does something, shall we say, postmodern. Indeed, "Track 12" is still uniquely a Beatles song, uniquely a product of its time. But some way, somehow, Boyskout makes it their own with Satterfield's affected deadpan and, again, those hooky guitars. It's Boyskout through and through and I love it.

And while we're on the subject of covers, let's discuss "The Model", borrowed from Kraftwerk's 1976 album The Man-Machine. Here, violinist/keyboardist Christina Stanley's detached, sultry vocals propel the song to a strangely compelling new level of post-industrial disaffection. The marriage of the lyric's postmodern ennui, Stanley's vocals, and the stripped-bare instrumentation provide fresh commentary about feminine ideals and consumer culture that are just as fresh today as they were 30 years ago.

But what of Boyskout's original work? Once again, the band doesn't disappoint. Another Life starts off strong with "Spotlight," which serves up guitar tricks and vocal shifts laid over a drumbeat that'll stick with you. Then, of course, the poppy, dancey 1950s lilt of "Everbody Knew" is there to remind you that Boyskout is no one-trick pony.

Boyskout rarely falls short, and never in a way that makes you want to cover your ears, turn off your iPod, and give up on indie. No, with a tweak here and a tweak there, Boyskout will be that band—the one whose work keeps you coming back again and again, year after year. And, really, what more could you want in a band?