Gutterball
Weasel

This afternoon I was chatting with Pinhead and we agreed to invade the homepage with the Music (note the capital "M") of Steve Wynn. He did his part with the prodigious review of the Dream Syndicate concert; now it's my turn with this latest project of the Californian singer-songwriter.

This is the second and final album of Gutterball, a sort of "Traveling Wilburys" of Garage Rock. A bomb of a project in other words, given the caliber of the colleagues accompanying Mr. Wynn: Stephen McCarthy (formerly of The Long Ryders), Bryan Harvey, and Johnny Hott.

Three tough and compact guitars played live, tons of feedback; about fifteen songs with a strong noise impact.

Recorded in a few sessions in the quiet countryside of Virginia; but forget about auditory calmness, except for a few brief digressions, because here we are very close to the Dream Syndicate in terms of sound. The year is 1995 and Steve returns to full-fledged Rock, after the solo break of "Fluorescent" where an intimate and folk sound prevailed, as essential as ever.

That tender cover photo always made me think of the Clash and their "Combat Rock": as if the four English punks had forgotten their four-legged friend on the tracks!

To the Garage Rock already mentioned above, we add a decisive dose of Psychedelic Blues and the circle closes.

The electric guitars immediately rise as the absolute protagonists in the initial "Transparency": three thunderous and tribal minutes with an extremely harsh six-string solo that sets the precise coordinates of the album. We proceed briskly with the disordered and minimal Rock - Beat of "Your Best Friend"; the dark and phlegmatic "Black and Gold" (which would have made a worthy appearance in that album of the Syndicate that smelled of wine and roses!!).

But Gutterball shines the most when they go full throttle, when they turbocharge their instruments; and thus it's worth mentioning and supporting the arrogance, with that punk-like attitude, of "Sugar Fix" or the Boogie, with the distortion turned to the max, of "Maria", which is simply my favorite song of the entire work: raw and sharp, so electric and nervous.

They even have time, towards the end, to indulge in a couple of charming and romantic digressions in "California" and "Mickey's Big Mouth".

I'll conclude with a quote from Steve: "There was a time when I thought Gutterball was the best band of my life: I would make a phone call to each member to inform them of my intention to write an album. Shortly thereafter, we would meet, and everything happened amidst fun and relaxation".

It's a pity they lasted too short.

Five stars as almost always happens, on my part, regarding Steve Wynn.

Ad Maiora.