Brad Kleiman ~ Shoeprints (album review) ... Romance & memories in this quasi-concept album!

Style: singer/songwriter, acoustic folk
Label: self-released
Home: New Jersey
Year: 2019

Member: Brad Kleiman ~ vocals/acoustic guitar 

This is Brad with just his voice & acoustic guitar for some stripped down versions of his songs away from his bands Jackie Puppet & Jackie Town & his earlier electric guitar laced solo work. I've reviewed a few of his albums, & Jackie Puppet, as I found them enjoyable due to Brad's witty lyrics. I also really like the weaving nature of the electric guitars on his songs, which I've compared to fave musicians Lou Reed & Ace Frehley, thus I came at this acoustic album with unsure footing of if I would enjoy it as much. A common problem facing all bands is how much the music can take away from the lyrics. In this format there is no distractions. The raw foundations of the songs are held out naked to sink or swim with little help. After repeated listens over a couple weeks, my fear with this album is misplaced. Its a different beast than his primarily electric albums. Brad writes little witty songs. Not that the electric songs are distracting one's ears from the lyrics, but I did mention in my reviews of Melodies & Words & E.P. that it is easy to not realize until after the fact what Brad has written. Only after the song, as you're lost in the weaving guitars, do you suddenly think to yourself 'Did he just say what I think he said? Wait a minute...' His songs are a tapestry with little things coming at you. Here the tapestry is now barren of colors, as Shoeprints puts the focus where it should be. Or, at least, he re-adjusts the focus if you missed his wit the first time around. His guitar playing is simply played chords, while his voice is given some echo & sometimes some backing vocals, but not enough to distract. Laying naked & unadorned, the result is an album that seems to come out of the clouds. Quite literally it feels hypnotic, light & relaxed, or if angels with their harps made an album it might have this feeling. Unelectrified harps of course. If you like your music less Ace Frehley & more mellow, than come to this album by Brad before the others I've mentioned above. Shoeprints was produced, engineered & mixed by long time collaborator Dennis Young of Liquid Liquid. I give Dennis the credit for the little out of the cloud touches, as they sound like a producer's vision given how they haven't appeared on the other albums by Brad, while Liquid Liquid is known for his musical explorations. Its an interesting approach to making this album sound different than your normal acoustic singer/songwriter album. Yet, it has the side effect of giving most of the songs the same mood. By making the album have an overall sound I feel that the individual personalities of the songs have been subdued. Given that the songs themselves tend to fall within a similar musical style naturally, here they end up unintentionally blending together even more than they might otherwise. For those that like easy listening or meditative music, Shoeprints will do it for you. I'll give points for the unique approach to re-interpreting the singer/songwriter template, though its not to my personal tastes. While the other side effect is when a song is done differently, it really stands out breaking through the clouds like a sudden thunder storm. "Crashpad" is one of those songs. With the backing vocals & some light lead guitar lines it reminded me of Jim & Ingrid Croce, which is not the mood of the album. Its a highlight of the album for me, but its a highlight by breaking out of the clouds. "Litter" also stands out, as the vocals sound like some simple Jerry Garcia Band songs. It has that laid back lazy feeling that Jerry made into an art form. "Configuration" has some soft lead guitar lines that I wish had been used more throughout the album. I almost hate to point out what is a very worthwhile attempt to make this album stand-out, but its such a prominent technique that didn't work for me that I would be amiss to pretend it doesn't exist. Yet, as I said, if you like meditative this is certainly that, but its not my thing. All that being said, I want to spend the rest of the review on the lyrics, as that's really the important thing with this album & the reason I'm reviewing it. Shoeprints revolves around love & passion with a woman. As is sung in "Configuration": "Painted darkly / decorated sparsely / Just the walls to hold us up ... You're no idiot / You know I built it / as a way to share space with you." Yet, the relationship isn't as good as one might hope, or it took a turn for the worse. As the song confesses: "This configuration / is just communication / My sorry way of getting through ... When we convene / to fire up our schemes / I'm disastrously alarmed ... By the sounds of delusion / with no nearby solution." The relationship comes to a heart wrenching end. As "Truce" says: "First you were a landmine / Now you’re worse than last time ... Let’s declare a truce / I’m not really used / to being on your bad side." "Litter" outlines the immediate heartbreak. "I chased after airplanes ... I fell down the runway / with scrapes upon my thighs ... Took to writing letters / You, know, the litter on your floor / Didn't feel much better / so I wrote some more." From here we move to one of the prominent themes found on Brad's albums: looking through the lens of a forlorn seeker of a past romance. As he sings in "Time Is Cruel": "Think I aged overnight / Time is cruel, is it not? ... I'm fading again." Time seems to slow down as the memories continuously weigh down the present. "Fated to fading / Don't know just when / Now there's only waiting." Life becomes a waiting game for the past to return. As he sings in the title track: "She leaves shoeprint reminders / so that I may find her ... When she wears a dark face / I leave open a space / a place to thaw out her ghosts." As a side note, this song opens with the most sexy description of a woman I've ever seen in song. The relationship was amazing & naturally ended, or was a troubled relationship from the start but the memory wants to paint otherwise, but whatever the situation having it back is the utmost goal. This theme continues in "Always" with: "I’m always looking through the doorway / like you’ll be the next to walk through." Life is not complete without this relationship, though it all might be a delusion as the song goes on to say: "Tomorrow could be a trainwreck." The emotional mind is full of powerful desires & longings, & they completely overrule the rational mind that says things might not go as planned nor might not be as perfect in the past as remembered. The emotional mind ignores the cracks in the wall & tries to find solutions, even if they are hopeless. One obvious solution is making a change that would draw back the lost lover. As is sung in "If Love May Be True": "Oh the vices I may give up / Oh the ways I may change for you / Oh the things I may do for love." Change often does have the result we want, no matter how much we change. Listening to the rational mind might have told us that, but we don't follow out that line of thinking as the heart hurts too much to think rationally. Eventually, with nothing changing to the situation, life falls into a daydream of hopeless longing, as expressed in "Daydream Song". "I can't put my arms around you / but in daydreams I can ... So if next time / that you see me / I am staring silently / know I'm thinking about you / & what could someday be / for you & me." Its really a tragic dead end street emotionally. There's nothing but memories, as "Crashpad" relays while looking over a picture from a past Xmas. "Miss you badly / pictures make me teary / can't find you in clear skies." We really can't mold the future around memories of the past. Time has moved on, like it or not. Even if we could bring back the past it likely won't be the same. Not to mention, relationships often end for a reason & might be best left as memories. Let her go. As "Crashpad" honestly recommends: "Don't have no crash-pad for you." That is the only resolution in this heartbreaking tale of loss many of us, or most of us, should be able to understand from our own experiences. In the end, rationality wins out. Obviously, Shoeprints forms a story, but I must confess it really doesn't. The way I've talked about these songs forms a story, but I moved them around to make that story. As I looked over Brad's lyrics the story just seemed to reveal itself, but just needing a little help to be perceived by others. Thus, is this a concept album? Maybe unintentionally. I have a feeling Brad may have just collected songs together that he liked & wanted to perform again, or were fan favorites, & may not have connected them into a story as I have. Maybe they're not even about the same woman, so he wouldn't have seen them as a story. This is the where the creator & listener go divergent paths. For me, all that's missing is a fitting concluding song, yet Brad might be shocked there's a concept album here. I will confess I had a great time going through the lyrics & putting the songs in order. It wasn't that hard. I didn't force anything in. Though, this album is so sad, as the guy never gets the girl, that if these songs are true I almost feel sorry for Brad. I'm not saying my love life has been any better, given I brought an ex to a suicide ward & another died at 33 from alcoholism ... I just don't put it into song. In those past moments I wish I had been a songwriter, or had someone like a Brad Kleiman on hand to put my words into song. Its the burden of a songwriter that they do turn to the page to put down their life. Its such a somber set of songs I almost want to end the review on a light-hearted joke, like I look forward to the follow-up "Shoeprints: As The Shoe Fits." To note, this album is also available as a live album recorded in a church in New Jersey, with long-time collaborator Ray Bally producing, with the same song order but no effects. Here you'll get Shoeprints naked & raw, where Brad's voice waivers, the guitar isn't always perfectly strum, the strings make extra noise, & you can feel the air vibrating. Its a fascinating contrast to the studio album.

Brad Kleiman ~ Melodies & Words (hits comp) (album review) ... Quirky pop lyrics!

Style: pop rock, folk rock
Label: self-released
Year: 2016
Home: New Jersey


Members: Brad Kleiman ~ vocals/guitar/bass/keyboard/drums
Tom Doud ~ drums

This comp brings together many of Brad's solo songs between 2007 to 2015, many released as singles & including all 3 songs from the E.P. EP, which  I've previously reviewed. This is really a great place to get an introduction to his music. As a listener I feel this album has two sides in acoustic folksy rock & electric radio friendly pop rock. Though, that may only just be my interpretation. Starting with the folksy acoustic coffeehouse stuff ... "Modern-Day Classic" is from the E.P., which I previously described as reminding me of Lou Reed, but not so dismal & tormented. Or, to put it another way, it has that slightly brash New York/New Jersey underground style of singer/songwriter, versus something softer like Joni Mitchell. Brad's lyrics are witty & I like the ambiguity that on first listen you may not catch. It starts as a very nice romantic song laying out what is going to be a nice evening ... then the chorus says: "Don't get too comfortable / Don't get too content / Anything is possible / Can't rule out any event." Is this evening going good or bad? After listening for the past review & now again, I still don't know! I love not knowing! "Litter", also from E.P., has a lazy feeling with one of my favorite verses of Brad's: "Took to writing letters / You, know, the litter on your floor / Didn't feel much better / so I wrote some more." Haven't we all done that? I'm sure I have. One complaint I made in my review of the E.P. is none of the songs were long enough for me. I wanted to hear more lyrics. Seeing how the average length of the 10 songs on Melodies & Words are under 2:30 long, I still feel this way. Brad has some good lyrics, but I want to hear them fleshed out more. I've actually complained about some albums on this blog where I wish they were instrumental as the lyrics were distracting & bad. This is the opposite & thus might be a backhanded compliment. Essentially, its good stuff, but I'm still hungry! They say to always leave listeners wanting more! Brad's songs feature an array of characters, but the songs are so brief I don't get much personality. Who is this person you're writing letters to? Who is this woman whose night is before her? Or, who is the guy? What is the story here? I feel that sometimes he finds a witty lyric & leaves it there like a one liner by a stand-up comic. Yet, the songs to me are little stories wanting to be told beyond just the joke. To me he comes across as a storyteller with a guitar, not a comic with a musical background. I'd love to see longer songs that are more story-like where the witty lyrics help tell the story, versus the wit being the focus of the lyrics. The guy knows how to craft fun lyrics, but to quote my high school English teacher Steven Dolmatz, who was also a published poet & folk singer/songwriter, "flesh it out." I used to write that in the margins of papers before I turned them in, as I knew he would say it & I knew I should have done it. I speak from experience as someone who would find something good & then stop out of fear or insecurity of taking it to the next level. What I realized was where I could go was actually more interesting than the point I landed on & thought was awesome. Let the ideas flow, go crazy, then cut them back to workable size. Try it & see what happens. The worst that can happen is you write a bunch that doesn't work & are too long, but when you cut them back you actually create a couple songs out them instead of one. Continuing on from this English lesson, "Shoeprints" paints a very vivid picture of a sexy woman, from her arid wit, to her rapid comebacks, & "She's slender & tight in her jeans", while also talking of her eyes, lips, volcanic hair, & her meaningful walk. You'll drool in lust from his lyrics. You won't need xtube after this song. Yet, returning to my comments on wanting longer songs, what happens next? Essentially, "Her stare makes me panic / though the same pertains to most / When she wears a dark face / I leave open a space / a place to thaw out her ghosts." The song is the lament of a voyeur. It hurts because its not what you want to happen. Brad reminds of me Jack Kerouac, who takes in every detail but doesn't necessarily end up with what he wants & is often nothing more than a voyeur. Jack was the king of voyeurs. I would like to know what happens next in the story of the sexiest woman in song. "Crashpad" follows the same theme of loss with "Miss you badly / Couldn't hold you if I had you / drop-out melody girl" as the song sings of a past Xmas. The song comes out of a found photograph, which is a great writing device I've used myself, but then it throws in the descriptor "drop-out melody girl." She was a drop-out? Why does that matter? What does "melody girl" mean? This is an example of why I'd love longer songs. There's a story here that obviously is begging to be told about this melody girl. Being a drop-out is obviously something important, since its used as the descriptive term, versus describing her hair or personality. Moving on the to the electric pop rock side of the album. On my initial listening of the lyrics, singing & guitars, "Expectations" immediately reminded me of an Ace penned Kiss song. I'm a huge Kiss fan, & Ace's songs are highlights, so this is a big compliment. He has a wonderful quirky style both in lyrics & music, so to find the feeling in someone else is really a huge compliment. The only thing missing is a wild obtuse guitar solo, so this is like a subdued Ace or a demo version looking for Gene's approval. What makes this Ace-like is how the lead electric lines weave between providing melody & providing a solo to counter the singing, yet isn't distracting, while the strummed rhythm guitar is lower in the mix. Its a great balance of the parts. "Mousy Girl" is a fun song that feels ready for radio. The upbeat music disguises the somberness of the lyrics of a man watching a woman fade away & he can't go after her. Another voyeur moment! This is actually one of my favorite songs on the album, as I like the juxtaposition of the mood of the music versus the mood of the lyrics. "Tricky Grey Sky" is a heavily layered song where the music is like a solid wave of sound. Such a difference from the acoustic songs. "5 in the morning / The sky says it's night / I find it comforting / when it's day but not quite ... Tricky grey sky / threatening to storm / Will the dark clouds lie / like they've lied before?" I think the most commercial song is "The Letdown" with its repeating phrase "I know you're gonna leave me hanging" that is then followed by different things such as "like a wrecking ball from a crane" or "I know you're gonna let me down". Its where the simplicity of his lyrics work without needing more, since there's nothing here that is too specific. This song is a lyrical highlight, though it goes against my earlier argument of getting more specific. I'll confess there's always an exception to the rule! If anything it shows Brad's different approach to writing lyrics over the years & that he's regularly trying new things. I described the sound of "Hostage" in my review of E.P. as reminding me of George Harrison due to the vocals, but on later listening I'm more reminded of Robyn Hitchcock. Its a quirky song that sings about being the hostage of someone you love. I like the weaving of the electric guitar here. This is also true for the keyboard heavy "The Whole Platoon" where the lead guitar comes in & out creating a great effect. Its a track that comes out of nowhere in this collection, but is the most musically interesting. This is my other favorite song, even though during the Robert Quine-esque solo I kept humming Lou Reed's "Waltzing Matlida" as Brad is tapping into that Lou spirit again. This is also Brad's most poetic piece where he just lets the words roll. "Descend the depths of your dungeon / Climb to the crest of your cloud / Unharness the hounds for your hunting / Swim laps 'round your lake unallowed ... Love must be like death to you / Until you find it, seems untrue."

Brad Kleiman ~ E.P. (EP) (album review) ... Quirky Jersey lyrics that recall Lou Reed!

Style: rock
Label: self-released
Year: 2018
Home: New Jersey

Members: Brad Kleiman ~ vocals/guitar/bass
"Saxy" Joe Braverman ~ sax
Dennis Young ~ percussion
Ray Bally, Jill Cagney ~ b. vocals
CJ Scioscia ~ drum programming

I've only heard Brad Kleiman with his group Jackie Puppet, which is a cornucopia of acoustic & electric guitars, sax, folk & rock. Thus, I had no clue what to expect when tuning in to Brad's 3 song solo album E.P.. Here he is joined by his sax playing Jackie Puppet bandmate "Saxy" Joe Braverman, & Dennis Young of Liquid, Liquid & Raymond Bally, both whom he has played with extensively in various outings for nearly a decade including as the lead guitarist of the Ray Bally Band. CJ Scioscia who did the programmed drums, a change from Jackie Puppet, also produced, engineered, mastered & mixed the album. Its a real family affair. Then there's the girl on the cover. Don't know who she is, but Brad does all his own covers & for a cartoon she's kinda cute ... & I'm not usually into blondes. I think its the headband. Its the little details, you know. Speaking of little details, this little album is full of little things that make it worth hearing. E.P. opens with the strummed acoustic guitar of "Modern-Day Classic", to be joined by vocals & some light percussion. Eventually there is a sax solo, & its a welcome change over the always-expected obligatory guitar solo. Music needs more sax. Bruce Springsteen has proved that. Not enough people are listening. I also confess to buying a sax just before covid hit, but its now sitting in storage. At first "Modern-Day Classic" comes off as your typical coffee house singer/songwriter ditty, but the magic is in Brad's witty lyrics that makes this unique. The song opens with nothing too out of the ordinary. "Drape yourself across him / You're a modern-day classic / Choose your words with caution / Don't do anything drastic." Then the chorus slyly hints that somethings might be good or bad as the evening progresses. "Don't get too comfortable / Don't get too content / Anything is possible / Can't rule out any event." I love the ambiguity. I really like lyrics like this, as they open themselves up to interpretation & mystique. The last line of the song I also particularly love for its reinterpretation of an old idea: "The sun is always local / no matter where you're from." "Hostage" switches things up by going electric. It has that New Jersey/New York raw rock sound that you know when you hear it, but can't describe when asked to. Its just got a feeling. This is singer/songwriter garage pop rock with grit. Maybe comparable to a lighter Smithereens or Lou Reed, that's a little edgy versus sweet San Francisco songwriters like Joni Mitchell & the Byrds. The sax solo is particularly free spirited & makes this feel a bit like 70's Lou, as some electric guitar lines weave in the background. I'm a huge Lou fan, so that's one of the biggest compliments I can give. There's a slight droning yet restless feeling that eventually wakes the listener up to the fact this isn't a sweet love song. Don't let Brad's lyrics fade into the background! His lyrics are romantic, but quirky with their use of torture as a thematic background. "I confess my crazy crimes to her / She knows how to switch me off / Her stun-gun stare's got a silencer ... Happy to be her hostage / Smiled when I was accosted by her." Its simple, but I always wanted to write witty lyrics like this. Failing to do that, I gave up on both writing lyrics & poetry. My only complaint is its too short. I would love to hear more verses. Just go for, Brad, let your mind wander! Tell me more bout what is happening! Get more gritty! Closer "Litter" opens with a lazy sax solo gliding over acoustic guitars. With the chorus vocals it has a very early George Harrison feel, another compliment referencing someone I like. Fun lyrics dominate its chorus: "Took to writing letters / You, know, the litter on your floor / Didn't feel much better / so I wrote some more." I can picture that! On the other hand, I was one of those folks that said a true poet wrote on napkins! Again, though, I wish the song was longer. Yet, honestly, complaining about length is a minor complaint, given other things I've written in this blog about other albums. This might only be 3 songs, but its well worth a listen. A minor side note of some irony. I realized while researching Brad's music to write this review that I'd seen him perform in 2013 with the Ray Bally Band at the Cake Shop in Manhattan. It was my final concert before moving away from NYC after 6 years to return to my birth home of Maine. Ray was the first person ever to submit something to this blog, but I hadn't seen him in concert, so was pleased to see him once & make that my exit show. Seeing shows was a highlight of my life, or struggle, in NYC. Looking at Brad's website & seeing photos of the gig I was surprised to see something I remember. I may have even been introduced to him by Ray. I know I shook hands with Dennis Young, playing marimbas that night. I have reviewed bands & then deliberately seen then. I've seen bands & then decided to review them. But, its a first to review someone who I've seen & didn't realize it! Also in the band that night was bassist Steve Demercado, drummer Andrew Platt & Dennis' Liquid Liquid bandmate percussionist Sal P.

Dennis Young ~ Grey Umbrella (album review) ... Liquid Liquid's no wave experiments lives on in a worldbeat cornucopia!

Style: experimental, instrumental
Label: Gertrude Tapes
Year: 2021
Home: New Jersey

Member: Dennis Young ~ synthesizer/Roland Groovebox

Guests: Sal Principato ~ vocals/bongos
James Bally ~ melodica
Ray Bally ~ electric guitar
Joe Braverman ~ tenor sax/ flute
James Duncan ~ trumpet
Brad Kleiman ~ electric bass/guitar 

 

Before I review Dennis' 2021 album Grey Umbrella, I'll confess that when I gave this album an initial spin I had never heard anything he had done on his own nor with his no wave/post punk group Liquid, Liquid. I only knew his reputation for pushing boundaries through experimental music, but not what that meant. I'd heard his production work with Brad Kleiman, who did the cover here, & seen him once with the Ray Bally Band, but those are not too experimental, though Bally does have a quirky side to his poetic songs. I've reviewed both Kleiman & Bally many times, & they appear on this album. Therefore, I originally came to this album completely ignorant of where it falls in his musical resume, & how it compares to or reflects his other work. Like many reviews I do, I set the writing aside & came back to it few weeks later. In the time between I listened to some Liquid Liquid, though I held off listening to his solo work as I plan to consider those releases for this blog. If you came here wondering how Grey Umbrella compares to his noteworthy past, I would venture to call this a modern electronica reinterpretation of Liquid Liquid's early '80's acoustic sound. Actually, I should clarify, this feels more like a modern electronica reinterpretation of the spirit that seeps through Liquid Liquid's musical explorations. To put it another way, when Miles Davis worked with hip-hop before his death & seemingly directionless looping in the 1970's, such as with A Tribute To Jack Johnson, he wasn't really so far off from where he was with his early hot groups or with Bill Evans & company. He was looking for the same soul of the music he always had searched for, trying to find the sound between the notes & the mood of the moment, just with different tools & styles at his disposable. Grey Umbrella is the later day hip-hop to Liquid Liquid's early Kind Of Blue approach. If you're not a jazz fan & don't understand this reference, than check out these two Miles albums to see if you can figure out what I mean. Actually, they are worth a listen, given I consider the later a masterpiece of piano playing. Also, if you like the former album, then check out Grey Umbrella. From what I could find of Liquid Liquid on youtube this album very much feels to me like what they might do if they decided to record again, while modernizing their sound at the same time, aka Liquid Liquid Ver. 2021. I do know that in context of his solo work, which I've not heard, some people may disagree with me. Feel free to comment & look for to future reviews of said work, where I'm liable to reference Grey Umbrella. Grey Umbrella started life in 2017 - I do not know if it was a rainy day - with Dennis creating a handful of home recordings of solo live jams using a Roland Groovebox paired with a synthesizer. He sat on the recordings until 2019, when he invited other musicians to add instrumentation, including Brad Kleiman & Ray Bally, & his former Liquid Liquid bandmate Sal Principato. It was released June 2021. I don't know if Dennis left his friends alone to create, or worked with them on their parts, or added more of his own while they chimed in, or took what they gave him & twisted it around. The end result doesn't sound like here was a piece & then here's an addition, here's a fragment & then another fragment, & lets hope everything works together. The additions don't crash against the foundations, but everything weaves together like a meticulously planned tapestry. It can be hard to often figure out which part is the original & which is the addition. I tried & quickly gave up. Grey Umbrella is full of surprises as the 14 songs weave through a range of styles, well beyond the Liquid Liquid template, which is why I clarified earlier the spirit of the old band over being an update or imitation of the old days. Opener "Steel City" at first made me think of industrial music with its alienating synthetic sound. Yet, this couldn't be farther from Throbbing Gristle or Nine Inch Nails or any mainstream industrial group. On repeated listens I began to think of Depeche Mode around the time of Construction Time Again. I'm a fan & became a fan by reading about their early experiments in pop meets industrial music, including recording sounds of actual pipes & machinery. That flavor of proto-industrial is what "Steel City" feels like to me. Its alienating, yet almost welcoming, as layers weave in & out over a fairly simple drum beat. You get lured in. Then everything changes with "Groovy Dance Party," which is indeed an electronic dance party, but of strange sounds you've likely not heard on the dance floor. The third song in "Siam I Am" has an unexpected Asian-esque looped drum part, clearing giving warning that all expectations are off the table. Every song that follows will surprise the listener with some new style or sound. To put it another way, it sounds like it was created on a day when a synthesizer was going stir crazy sitting at home, & just went bonkers covering as much musical territory as possible. One will find here quirky dance beats, like "Groovy Dance Party" & "Radical Robots", alongside fun little soundscapes, such as the cosmic sounding "Creepy Clocks" & almost ethic dance beat of "Pots & Pans", to music paintings, like the intense "Giant Spiders From Mars" that feels like the sound of NYC's streets interpreted through music. Then there's "Ham & Eggs", with the sax in a prominent role, that is a spicy little number that sounds like someone recorded tucked away Mexican club, like Jack Kerouac might have picked up Tristessa in. "Vikings From Zeeland" has a mystical Arab-esque flute & melodica weaving through a heavy dance beat. Its an interesting juxtaposition of styles that works, yet always walks the line of failing at any minute. Another crash of styles can also be heard on "Central Station", featuring a dup beat with a soothing melody that couldn't be more different. The pairing really shouldn't work together, but somehow the right groove was found as the glue. There's something here for anyone, whether you're a DJ looking for a beat, or someone interested in experimental instrumental music, or a fan of Liquid Liquid. Share in the comments what song grabs you. I'm quite curious how others perceive this cornucopia. I should have maybe said at the start of this review that I have an appreciation for all music odd & experimental, whether its Lou Reed's Lulu or John Cage "4'33"", which I wrote a book about actually, or Throbbing Gristle. Sometimes I don't always like the music, but I find the ideas behind the creation fascinating. That being said, there was one track on that album that left me less then enthusiastic. "Kiss Me On The Cheek" sounded like early 2000's Moby had remixed a simple phrase by an R&B singer. I was waiting for a big bass drop & some highly fast beats to take over. It was the most normal sounding track on this album, & by being so normal it became the least interesting. Essentially, sounding like real music is an ironic loss in this context. Its a trivial complaint, but I don't get to say anything like this that often.

Brad Kleiman & Acorn Slim's Jackie Puppet ~ NFNSHD BZZNZZ (From The Bakery Bus) (EP) (album review) ... There's room in the back of the bus for a little sax!

Style: garage rock, instrumental
Label: self-released
Home: New Jersey & New York
Year: 2021

Members: Brad Kleiman, Acorn Slim ~ guitars
"Saxy" Joe Braverman ~ sax
Ian ~ bass
Kevin ~ drums

Jackie Puppet have made 2021 their year to record & rock like they've been held back for too long ... which they likely have been, given they only put out a couple singles in 2020. Their bandcamp has lots of singles released this year. As of this writing May marked the last release, but these are guys that don't seem to go long without doing something either with Jackie Puppet, on their own or with some other groups. As it is, I know co-founder Brad Kleiman has been working with Dennis Young of Liquid Liquid & singer/songwriter Raymond Bally, the later who I have reviewed favorably many times for his awesomely unique style, to form the Primitive Substance collective that promotes each others work, plays on each others albums, & just enjoy the game of musical collaboration ... really a way to get their music out there, having been playing together for nearly a decade in others bands. Its via finding out about this new creative cooperative, through connecting up with Ray to find out what he was doing musically these days, that I discovered Jackie Puppet when going through Brad's extensive musical output. I love musical wormholes & following out musician's musical family trees is how I've discovered a majority of the musicians I listen to. Hint, hint, I highly recommend letting yourself wander through a musician's catalog. Being that I don't review singles or albums with less than 3 songs, which for me is the minimum to be called an EP, I'll let you explore Jackie Puppet's output on bandcamp as most of it is single releases while I share here their longer releases. I will warn you, the membership is loose & so is the music. Since forming in 2007 as a duo they have gone through a rotating door of players, making this more a collective than a band it appears. Be prepared for a little garage rock or some acoustic ramblings, & lyrics or instrumentals. Their EP NFNSD BZZNZZ (From The Bakery Bus) is one of the instrumental forays. Unpredictable is the name of Jackie's game. Very in the moment & spontaneous. Very underground unpretentious rock'n'roll. This 3 song EP was actually recorded March 2020 as a preview of things to come on the forthcoming full length Bakery Bus, thus the sub-title, from what I can figure. It appears this is also their first proper EP since 2017's The Catskills EP. Alas, they got held back from recording additional songs due to covid-19, or if anything was recorded they have left it off the album. The fact this was released a year later hints that the album never got completed & perhaps won't, leaving these 3 tracks as a window into what could have been. had the world not gotten derailed. The album description reads: "Oops. Covid. Well - here's a sample of where we were going." This hints to me that the baker has gone home. Though, for the benefit of the doubt & with a drop of encouragement, the project could still get completed. As I post this in August 2021 I've just written & published a biography of a storyteller I originally drafted in 1996, & spent the last couple years dusting it off & finishing it. Though, I essentially completely redid as I'm not the same person nor writer I was in 1996. Yet, you never know what in the vault might find life in the way you originally planned even if needs a complete facelift, as the essence of the original project is still there. Or, another example might be the Beatles when they completed the 2 John Lennon songs. That might be a more relevant example, particularly as it keeps the past more intact than I did in my book. Going back to Jackie Puppet, if this doesn't get completed, that's too bad. It's a really fun start. The band calls this a "minor masterpiece". On one hand, I don't know if I would say that, as the 3 instrumentals are musically in the same boat. They all feature a sax playing over repeated strummed chord patterns on both acoustic & electric, though closer "I Need A New Bar" also includes an edgy electric lead guitar. I think vocals would add some necessary dynamics & focus to get it to the masterpiece level. Yet, as someone whose done some modest producing for friends I'd call this a strong foundation that would be great to build upon. Its fun, energized, & offers lots of potential to work with. On the other hand, I have a feel this was very much organically composed in the moment. Speaking as a bassist having created some great stuff spontaneously with band mates, I can understand why they call it a masterpiece. Its an exalting feeling when you create something that feels & sounds good. That's a masterpiece from the artist's point of view. If that feeling spreads to the listener, than you've hit home. What else do you need? On repeated listens I was reminded of early '80's Lou Reed, but instead of Robert Quine's wild guitar playing the focus is on the sax. The lead guitar that is here has a lot of Lou's feeling in its style. Melodic, aggressive, yet not wild, a little extra kick. I'm a huge fan of Lou, so this is completely complementary as the guy oozes individuality & rawness. Lou often said his songs might sound like 3 chords, like the Ramones made famous, but he has a passing 4th chord that gives it the little jump. So many bands forget that jump, but that's the groove, he said. I feel that jump & groove when listening to Jackie Puppet. This little EP is a fascinating look at what could have been. I can imagine many places they could have taken this. I would love to do a review down the road of that completed project. While in the age of covid its good to have that sense of completion.