IT TAKES ALL KINDS TO BUILD A WORMTOWN: PHIL MCNAMARA ON THE LATEST CDS BY BJ SNOWDEN, RAY MASON, AND EPITOME OF DOG

Diversity in music is par for the course here in Wormtown; but some reviews might make you wonder if you’re on the right web page. What do BJ Snowden, Ray Mason, and Epitome of Dog have in common? Well, they all play somewhere in Wormtown on a regular basis, they all play music, and - oh yeah, they all have CDs that they’ve recently released, for sale even.

EPITOME OF DOG - “HAAD” (Produced, Engineered, and Mixed by Steve Blake At Toad Hall Studios, East Douglas, MA; Mastered by Roger Lavallee at Tremolo Lounge, West Boylston, MA)

This local power trio has been around a few years playing the hardcore influenced thrash metal that they first discovered a decade before in a band called Sick Dog. In Epitome, guitarist Chicken takes over vocal duties and sounds a little less heavy metal powerful, but a little more hardcore punk chaotic. “Lost in Society” starts of with a whirling basic sounding guitar solo and speedy snare heavy drums following close behind. It’s fun, mosh worthy, and short, the way thrash should be. “Cauldron of Fear” slows things down, opening with a moody bass solo, before breaking into a melodic fist pumping head banging rocker about “a circus where all the animals die,” now happening in a foreign country near you.

The band slows down to dirge metal speed while Chicken starts “Involution” with a big Cookie Monster like burp before going into the political rant of the album. “Plot” kicks it back up to speed thrash, while Chicken continues to rant and, but at least sounds happier, musically sounding more like Agnostic Front or the Cro-Mags than Slayer. Long after the CD is over, this is the song that I’m likely to remember. I guess that’s my one knock on the rest of the disc. After it’s over I don’t remember much of it.

Epitome of Dog will be at the ITAM Club on Saturday, July 29 (yes, it’s a Matt Griffin-produced show).

(For more information on Epitome of Dog, visit http://www.epitomeofdog.com)


BJ SNOWDEN – “IN MEMORY OF MY FATHER AND MY LIFE IN CANADA’S ATLANTIC PROVINCES” (Produced, engineered, and mixed by John Krivit at Spectrum Master Productions, Cambridge, MA)

BJ Snowden is a retired schoolteacher who hails from the Boston area. Her songs are mostly solo works with her singing and playing piano as well as drum machine tracks, with occasional backing on guitar by her son Andres Wilson and on vocals by her mom Virginia. A description of the tracks would seem incomplete without using the term, “charming amateurism.” Early on in the opener “Disaster and Tragedy” it’s clear that this isn’t going to be a slickly produced hi-fi affair. It’s tough for me to hear the vocals on “Disaster…” without thinking of Cartman from South Park. Vocal weirdness aside, the song is catchy Andres Wilson’s guitar solo shows moments of Santana like pyrotechnics and catchiness. BJ changes up the record with the funky free jazzy instrumental “Mumbo Jumbo,” that is a percussion filled Phish-like jam. Once again Andres turns in a whirling, blazing, inspiring guitar solo.

From here the record becomes a little more hit and miss, which isn’t good because there’s another 13 songs left on this. “The Angel of Love” is a Hallmark card like sentimental song about her dad. It’s cute and touching enough, but she becomes a little over emotive at the end of it. By “New Brunswick” BJ sounds like she may bear some relation to another highly revered charmingly amateurish keyboard player by the name of Wesley Willis. The combination of a sparse programmed drum beat and her ragtime like keyboard playing, sound like it could be a remake of Wesley’s “Rock and Roll McDonalds.” When she rhymes, “16,000 miles of shoreline, great places to wine and dine,” I can’t help but chuckle, as I’ve been through New Brunswick before and, well must have missed all of that somehow.

A dramatic keyboard leads and choruses of “ooos” open the ballad “Nova Scotia (Oh Novie).” The junior high level of rhyming in the song makes it unintentionally funny, but somehow you can tell that it’s all really heartfelt. From here she shifts into the mellow lounge jazz of “Prince Edward Island.” This, in case you hadn’t noticed is the “Canada’s Atlantic Provinces” part of the record. Though her voice cracks here and there throughout the song in the end it still sounds very - yeah you guessed it - charming. BJ raps up the “Canada” part of the record with “Newfoundland (Oh Nuffy),” a ballad not too far of from the style of “Nova Scotia” where she conjures up the Titanic and the Lusitania, the island’s claim to fame.

“Drug Free” is a catchy little tune that avoids being too preachy, but the spoken word rant that opens it sounds like it could come from an angry neighbor or wack job on a radio call in talk show. The ballad “Richie” gets a little too sappy for me, but is at least short lived. After the most cringeworthy part of the CD, come some of my favorite songs on it. “Schoolteacher” has a combination of Motown soul and modern day hip hop. What does a schoolteacher’s rap sound like? “Quiet, raise your hand, no gum, sit down.” Aw hell yeah, BJ tells them how it is. The song leaves me laughing every time. The ballad “America” is corny, but touching and a little unintentionally funny as the low rumbling percussion sound like bombs going off.

“Walking in My Footsteps” is a touching tribute to her son that’s a little over syrupy, but catchy and likeable too. The two instrumentals that end the CD could have been shortened as a half-minute snippet of the plain sounding “In Deep Thought” would have sufficed. The ragtime sounding “One Summer Night” doesn’t do all that much more to inspire either. It goes on four minutes without all that much variation. I’m happy when it’s done.

BJ ends the CD with Motown swing and jump blues of “He’s the Guy That I Want.” Once again the rhymes sound like they could have been made by a seventh grader, but it’s still really fun and catchy. Missing from this album are her newer, funnier songs about Judge Joe Brown and other novelties. You may appreciate BJ sense of humor at her live shows. BJ Snowden’s music certainly isn’t for everyone, but if you appreciate campyness and can get passed the amateurism, you might find something that you enjoy here.

BJ Snowden will be at The Lucky Dog Music Hall on Thursday, August 10th opening for Mullethead

(For more information on BJ Snowden, visit http://www.bjsnowdenmusic.com)


RAY MASON – “A MAN AND HIS SILVERTONE” (Produced, Engineered, and Mixed by Ben Slater at Spirit House Easthampton, MA; Mastered by Dan Richardson at Up in the Basement, Easthampton, MA)

The Silvertone was a low price basic clean sounding guitar that was manufactured by a couple of companies starting in the ‘50s, most notably Danelectro. Sears Roebuck made a model that came with its own three tube amplifier that was part of its carrying case. It had sparse assortment of effects, only reverb and tremolo, but if you knew how to use those effects you could get some great sounds out of it. Ray Mason, well - he’s like the human version of the Silvertone, straight up, low budget, subtle, no frills, classic, and just about as old. While Mason’s albums have always showcased his song writing skills, this one showcases the unique sound of his own Silvertone. The opener, the The Lovin’ Spoonful’s sounding “I’m Not That Kind of Guy” has an innocent 60s movie soundtrack feel to it. Lyrically and vocally Ray reminds me of Randy Newman. Who else could come up with a line like “He won’t help with your crossword or take you on a lovely day trip; overfills your coffee, to watch you clean up the drip.” Lines like this let on that aside from not being a kind of guy that’s insensitive and careless he’s also not the kind of guy that’s rich.

That summery ‘60s feel stays with the album as “They Don’t Make Records Like that Anymore” sounds mournful and happy all at the same time. “Reverb and a Zip Code is from is reprised from his 2002 album “Three Dollar Man.” Though it’s missing the soulful organ that backed the original version, it still carries the energy of the original. If any song on this record best exemplifies the title it’s this one. The man’s (Ray Mason’s) voice and all the subtleties of the Silvertone come across loud and clear. Ray keeps the rhythm going and solos so well that you don’t really miss the rest of the band. The same could be said for the solos in “Castanets” that are rhythmical enough to get you dancing, but impressive enough to make you pay attention. In parts its subtlety brings Jimi Hendrix “Little Wing” to mind. The record wouldn’t be complete with out a non-sequitor like “I Wanna be a Holiday.” In it he conjures up, “Vibraphones and sleigh bells in a Phil Spector song. That Darlene Love she’s calling me in a voice I can’t turn down.”

On the wittiest tune on the disc Ray socks it to the record labels on “Got It Right,” where over a blues shuffle Ray declares, “Got it right, don’t need a big label sniffing ‘round, you got it right, it took years to get a sound. You got it right, don’t know what it means to you, when all the trendy bands are gonna wind up as glue.” I tend to avoid the record label bashing songs because they’re usually written by too cool, snotty little crybabies whose biggest beef with the record labels is that they’re not on one, but this tune definitely holds water.

Ray rounds out the final third of the disc with the contemplative and dramatic “Every Body’s into Their Own” and a couple of classics off 2005s “Old School” and “Three Dollar Man.” “Never Run Out” describes the classic pack rat/ junk collector/ antique dealer. If you can’t relate to these lyrics, you probably know someone who can. Mason closes out the album with “Water Off a Duck,” a simple catchy country blues shuffle that uses an age-old expression to describe the daily grind of paying the bills. It almost makes being lower working class sound fun.

What can I tell you about that Ray Mason. The guy throws strikes I tell ya’. There might be a couple of songs on here that don’t do much for me on this, but for the most part it’s a great listen from beginning to end.

Ray Mason will be at The Arts in the Park Summer Concert outdoors at Pulaski Park in Downtown Northampton on Sunday, July 23 from 1 to 3 p.m.; he’ll also be at the Squealing Pig in Boston on July 29.

(For more information on Ray Mason, visit http://www.raymason.com)

Coming Next Month : Reviews of new CDs by The Lonesome Brothers, Scizzorfight, and Shadow’s Fall

(Phil McNamara spends his summers providing carnival fun for kids of all ages throughout the east coast; he still drives a cab two days (and nights) a week; you can reach him at spaceguy3@charter.net. He is Wormtown.org’s official CD reviewer and we’re grateful for that)