by
Paul Hanson
http://www.southerngentlemen.com
I've listened to a lot of the projects that David T. Chastain releases
on his Leviathan Records record and I've finally concluded what these
releases have in common. Remember in the 80s when Shrapnel Records would
release all these 'guitar hero' bands, predominantly solo discs from
Vinnie Moore and Tony MacAlpine. You knew that when you unwrapped the
plastic and put a Shrapnel release in your cassette deck, you were going
to be blown away by the guitar playing.
Two decades later, when I put in this Double Your Pleasure, I was expecting
to be blown away by the guitar playing and that's what I got. Unlike
the Shrapnel releases, Leviathan Records have a slightly more diverse
catalog, mainly because of the two Southern Gentlemen releases. They
have Joe Stump, they have the progressive band CJSS, the guitar master
series (I've only heard the Michael Harris release in this series),
and the power metal of Zannister. All of these releases have stoked
guitar players that make me want to tune up an air guitar. Double Your
Pleasure, the follow-up to the Southern Gentlemen debut Exotic Dancer
Blues, continues the trend of Leviathan releases wanting me tune up
an air guitar, its songs featuring more of the successful formula that
made their debut a breath of refreshing air. Guitarist David T. Chastain
returns as the front man for the band and bassist Kevin Kekes returns,
but they have replaced Dennis Lesh with drummer Mike Haid. This is blues
that grooves.
Opening track "My Best Friend's Girl" starts the release off with an
up-tempo guitar stretch. It becomes obvious very quickly that this is
Chastain's showcase. These songs have a jam band feel and Haid and Kekes
provide the foundation for Chastain to solo over and groove over. Chastain
also handles vocals and has a "dirty" gravelly voice. The lyrics he
sings are typical blues fodder, singing about relationships and women
in practically all the songs.
What could have made this CD better would be to re-arrange the order
of the songs. This CD grinds to a halt with the third track "I Languish
for You," a slow ballad that just comes too early in the CD. I know
that there are many releases that put a ballad as the third track, but
on this release, it just doesn't flow. The first two tracks are two
upbeat, too rock 'n roll tunes and the switch to this ballad is jarring,
almost unsettling. In a perfect world, I would have put track 4, "Not
Worth My Grave" as track three. It is a slower shuffling blues. It is
not a full-fledge ballad but my recommendation is to play track 2, then
4, then 3 on your CD player. In my ears, the songs flows better. That
is until track 7, a wretched 6:36 long track called "Slutovirgin" which
does nothing for me. It sounds like something Poison would write: "She
has the look/ She has the style/ She has the way/ That drives men wild/
She'll lead you on/ She'll play the part/ She'll show her skin/ She'll
break your heart." The music can barely, barely, save the track. It's
one of those AC/DC-ish [AC/DC again?] riff tunes, like "Back in Black",
with a solid drumbeat and a sparse guitar part that lets the lyrics
'hang' in your ears between riff. Still, if I had my druthers, this
track would be on the cutting room floor. The songs are predominantly
in the 6:00 range, carrying forward a characteristic of their debut.
It's like they turned on the recorder in the studio and started jamming.
I really like that live vibe. The drums and bass parts are solid. The
rhythm section reminds me of AC/DC. There's not a lot of flash from
either instrument, a few brief 'licks' on the snare or toms, but for
the most part, the purpose of the Kekes/Haid rhythm section is to groove.
This CD would be a good example of how drummers and bassists can play
together for beginning musicians.
© 2003, BBHrdRpt
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