GAR FRANCIS
Shine On
Who is Gar Francis and why is he in my head so much lately? Hell if I know. He was evidently some kind of rock 'n roll wunderkind awhile back, but that must have been East Coast because I had my ear to West Coast ground for years and never heard him mentioned. After hearing his new EP Shine On, though, I'm thinking that may have been a bad thing. On this EP, he is so immersed in power psych and rock 'n roll, I figure I may have missed something pretty damn good back then because I'm sure digging what he's doing now.
It is no big surprise to me, though, because Francis called in The Grip Weeds' Kurt Reil to help produce and of all the psych bands I follow, The Grip Weeds top the list. They have this ability to mesh psych into different styles, from jangly to spacey, and they do it well enough that I have a number of their CDs close at hand at all times. See, I don't smoke dope (anymore). I don't have to. Music is my drug.
I'm high right now, in fact. This five-song EP makes me high. Francis and crew are crankin' here and I'm loaded. What do you want? Brassy guitar licks? Check. Driving but sixties-influenced rhythm section? Check. Wall of sound chords and maybe some Sloan-Barri mouth harp? Check. All of that comes on the back of five damn good songs plucked from Francis's steamers trunk, I assume. I mean, if he's been around awhile, he has to have that damn thing stuffed with them, wouldn't you think? He sent a note with the review copy. Said an album was coming. I hope it's all taken from that trunk because this stuff freakin' rocks!
If you like the sixties' folk/rock scene, Francis serves up two good ones--- Back In 1985 and my favorite on the album, Tragedy. Tragedy, in fact, is heavily Brit rock-influenced, the guitar chords giving a choogling base for the twelve-string sound that the Brits practically owned back then. I love this track just for the feel of it, and the brassy guitar bridge. Is that Francis or Lee Fink? It's good enough that I want to know. I'm Still Alive has the drive found in The Beatles' version of Slow Down, offset by a lighter chorus. It just feels right. The opener Shine On is wall of sound magic, the guitars working overtime, and Blue Cadillac has just enough fifties and sixties magic to dent the head. These are all good songs made exceptional by the engineering, production and mastering. It's a keeper.
I'm sure Bongo Boy, Francis's label, will keep me up-to-date on the next release. I'll be sure and pass it along. I'm pumped. And hope that they bring back Reil for the sessions. Because on these five tracks, they got it right.
Frank O. Gutch Jr.
