Franck Carducci is a multi-instrumentalist who started playing Hammond organ at five and then went on to learn guitar, bass and drums. He joined his first band when he was fourteen and, in his twenties, he played with around twenty different bands of various styles. Although Sheeple is his fifth studio album (including Naked, an acoustic album with Mary Reynaud) and his debut goes back fifteen years ago to 2011, for some reason he has been off my radar until now. Thanks to this outstanding release that has all changed and I’m now not only familiar with Carducci, but it has sent me diving deeper into some of his collaborators, most notably Reynaud. The title track opens the album and is a short organ instrumental with sheep noises (or sheeple?!?) that leads into the excellent, hard-driving AOR rocker “Self-Righteousness,” which has some great organ and guitar soloing from Anthony Honnet and William Remond, respectively. “Sweet Cassandra” is up next and is the first of a three-part suite that is spread out through the album. It’s a beautiful track with some folk tendencies that is largely just acoustic guitar, harmonica and vocals from Carducci and Reynaud. The remaining parts of the suite pop up later with “Sweet Cassandra (Reprise),” a short instrumental with a mediaeval flair that has Franck accompanied by Roy Van Oost on flute, and “Sweet Cassandra (2019),” which is similar to the original, but with Franck handling everything. At ten and a half minutes, “The Betrayal Of Blue” starts with laid-back, primarily acoustic psychedelia and then twists and turns through hard-edged rock passages that give it an element of intensity to quieter sections of psychedelic introspection. It has a really playful tone, at times reminding me of his incredible label mate Rosalie Cunningham and even includes a brilliant theremin solo. “The Limits of Freedom” kicks off with a blast of solo piano and then shifts into a classic AOR rocker with another blistering guitar solo. With Carducci handling everything except drums and extra vocals, the darker and less playful “Love Or Survive” is a powerful thirteen-minute prog track that is often reminiscent of the early days of Yes. The sheep noises are back again on “Do What You’re Told,” which is listed as a bonus track, and is a silly little, laid-back song that wraps things up with a funky blues groove and lyrics that repeat slight variations of the title.
In 1987, when former Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction bassist Haggis (real name Stephen Harris and later known as Kid Chaos) came to play some bass on The Cult’s Electric, producer Rick Rubin took him under his wing. Once the album was released, he joined the band on tour and got a call from Rubin saying he should start his own band and should meet a singer named Frank C Starr, which led to the formation of the Four Horsemen. Rubin also suggested Ken "Dimwit" Montgomery, brother of legendary punk and metal drummer Chuck Biscuits, who then came on board as drummer, and with Haggis switching to rhythm guitar and the addition of guitarist Dave Limzi and bassist Ben Pape the band was complete. Following the release of their eponymous four-song EP in 1989, the band went into the studio with Rubin handling the production and recorded their full-length debut Nobody Said It Was Easy, which has now been reissued by Dissonance Records. Unfortunately, the album’s release had a two-year delay due to Starr’s six months in jail on drug charges, but when it finally saw the light of day it was well worth the wait. The title track kicks the album off and does a good job of setting the tone. It’s a sleazy, blues rocker that comes across like The Black Crowes on steroids. The band doubles down on the next track, “Rockin’ Is My Business,” which takes the elements of the opener and adds a strong shot of AC/DC. Starr’s vocals really shine on this one and the end result isn't too far removed from what Haggis had been doing a few years earlier with The Cult on Electric. Drenched in slide guitar, “Tired Wings” moves things in a bit of a Southern Rock direction, but with a raw energy that bands in that genre tend to be lacking. “Can’t Stop Rockin’” is a hard-edged boogie-woogie rocker that takes a page from the Status Quo book and brings us to “Wanted Man, which is a repetitive track that really doesn’t go anywhere and is the album’s only real misstep. From the title to the music, “Let It Rock” is pure, straight-up AC/CD. Driven by an extremely infectious groove, “Hot Head” is a straight-ahead, midtempo blues rocker, followed by “Moonshine,” a breezy tune with a really fun beat that is a bit of a different direction for the band. They dip their toes back in boogie woogie on the next two tracks, with the easygoing “Homesick Blues,” which is a really fun listen, and “75 Again,” which add a southern rock edge that is reminiscent of Black Oak Arkansas and has some outstanding guitar work towards the end. “Lookin’ For Trouble” brings to mind AC/DC again, but with an intense, raw and ragged punk energy. The album closes strongly with the lazy blues rock of “I Need A Thrill / Somethin’ Good,” which has some great guitar work and organ and sounds like a jam session that would close a live show perfectly. While the album was met with positive reviews, the delay caused its release to coincide with the surge in grunge’s popularity resulting in poor sales. On top of this, Starr was arrested again on drug charges and spent another year in jail, and the combination of all of that caused the label to drop them. Although Haggis and Pape ended up leaving the band, in 1994 the remaining members started working on a third album, but then faced another tragedy in September of that year when Montgomery died of a drug overdose. The band finished the album with his brother Chuck Biscuits playing the drums, but just over a year after his death, Starr was hit by a drunk driver and ended up with a severe head injury. In hopes that Starr would recover and return to the band, they went on tour with Ron Young handling the vocals, but that never happened and he died in 1999, resulting in the band breaking up. While it would've been nice to have some bonus cuts, like possibly the EP, but if you don't already have a copy of Nobody Said It Was Easy in your collection, this is a great time to rectify that.
After spending his teens and early twenties playing in hardcore, death and sludge metal bands, W.D. Miller shifted to folk and country for his band Los Bastardos Magnificos. In 2018 he released his debut solo album and has now followed that up with Child Of The Kindly South. The album features performances from members of Horse Feathers, Magnolia Boulevard and Frigidkitty among others and showcases his stellar songwriting and well-worn vocals that at times bring to mind Blaze Foley. The album kicks off with “Etude No. 1 in A,” a short instrumental that sounds like something you would have heard during a break on old time country radio, then moves into “Banquet of Stone,” a slow, dark track with a slight old school country waltz beat. The pace picks up on the midtempo, rock-tinged country track “Go, Go! (or The Songwriters Lament,” about the perils of trying to write hit songs. With Michelle Miller helping out on vocals, “Carry Your Burden” is a beautiful country ballad (again with a bit of a waltz beat) about family taking care of each other when times are tough. “Dear John” is a melancholy cut written as a letter to the late John Prine, who was a massive songwriting influence of Miller’s, while standing out from the rest of the album, “Best Revenge” is a catchy, upbeat tune that has a fun little bounce to it. One of the album highlights is “Fell Apart,” which has some killer, emotional vocals from Maggie Noëlle of Magnolia Boulevard and has all the makings of a classic, old school country heartbreak duet with a touch of a rock edge. It’s also fleshed out nicely with piano from Logan Hill and some great slide guitar. “Watch It All Burn” reminds me of Tyler Childers and is a nice ballad about the responsibilities of adulthood and reflecting back on your wild, carefree younger days. Another high point is the haunting “Shades Are Drawn,” with Miller’s fragile vocals and a gorgeous atmospheric quality thanks to J. Tom Hnatow’s synths. “One Hell Of A Ride” is a rocking honky tonk song that lightens things up and brings us to the reflective closer “Little Things / CODA,” which is stripped down to just Miller’s voice and acoustic guitar accompanied by J. Tom Hnatow on glockenspiel. Child Of The Kindly South makes a welcome addition to any true country music playlist.
