Chewy Marble - Modulations

  by Malcolm Carter

published: 27 / 7 / 2008

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Review

Much has been made of Chewy Marble main man Brian Kassan’s involvement in the Wondermints but I have to admit that while I am not disputing claims that he was co-founder and an important player of the band that were eventually to play such a major part in Brian Wilson’s triumphant return I have checked out my early Wondermints albums (which in those days were expensive Japanese imports) and while Kassan is credited it doesn’t appear that he was considered a key part of that band by then. One gets the feeling that certain people are using the Wondermints connection to draw attention to this, the third album by Chewy Marble, the band Kassan started in 1995. Three albums in 13 years is hardly prolific and I have to say that although the name of this band has cropped up a few times I have not actually heard their music until now. The main thing is that using the Wondermints connection to hopefully capture an audience for Chewy Marble is really not necessary. Apart from opening the album with a song called ‘She Roxx’ which thankfully is not as bad as the title would suggest; on paper that song looks like it came from some dodgy 70's glam band and while the opening line “She is the biggest fox in school” only reinforces that feeling the song, although it could have originated from that decade, redeems itself quite quickly. It’s as catchy as the common cold, full of hooks and by the closing verse lines like “She wants to pummel Britney Spears” and “Playing some Ozzy in the class, she’s got a tattoo on her ass” show that Kassan has a sense of humour and can write songs about the toughest girl in school without having to use old clichés or corny spellings. That Kassan is influenced by the usual bunch of classic 60's and 70's bands is obvious, although there is a welcome absence of any direct influence by the Beatles or the Beach Boys; this band take their cue from the Turtles and later period Zombies, taking in little snatches of all the bands in every decade since who have also plundered the sound of those classic bands. The playing and production ( also by Kassan) are so spot-on that while Kassan has one ear firmly pitched to those sounds of 40 years ago he adds a contemporary touch which sets this band apart from the countless others also mining that golden era. While the comparisons to Jellyfish are well founded, to say, as some have, that a Fountains Of Wayne and Squeeze influence is there is not so easy to notice. While I am a great fan of both of those bands I’d have to say that I don’t think either has ever produced such a great set of 12 songs over one album. Classic pop, pure pop, power pop, call it what you will but Kassan, who wrote all the songs here, has a talent that few have to capture not only the sound but the spirit of those pop songs of the 60's. The vocals which are handled by Kassan and Stu Forman for the main part are excellent; the pair swap lead vocals almost equally through the album and those chiming guitars alternate between sweet and tough often within the same song. Not all the songs are exceptional, ‘Mental Toothache’ for example has just a little too much of the laid-back, lazy day in the sun vibe to it, it’s a catchy tune for sure but being an instrumental it lacks any real power, maybe if Kassan had written lyrics for the song then it would have lifted it out of the ‘heard it all so many times before’ feeling one gets when listening to this particular track. But there are enough not just great but mini-classics here like ‘Hey Dad’ a further instrumental in ‘Moments’ which sheds Kassan’s power pop leanings to reveal a gentler side which shows that Kassan has a few folk albums in his collection too and there is a simply stunning all-too-short performance by Ken Lee here on slide guitar. The closing song, ‘Clutter’, carries on in this mellow vein and really is a song that can carry you off to another place. The dream-like vocals and harmonies are simply superb. Maybe by closing the album in this way indicates that Kassan might well be thinking of making his next album a whole collection of songs like this. Now that would be something. This album reminds me of the progress the Beatles made in a few short years from their first album to ‘Sgt. Pepper’, Kassan starts off this album with straightforward pop songs and ends with music which is light years away from the simplicity he opened the album with. I love this album, I expected a few melodic songs and got a condensed history of pop music but Kassan, if you are reading this, put me out of my misery, ‘Cross Hatched World’, the third song in and a highlight of the album, I know that tune you close the song with and it’s bugging the hell out of me that I can’t identify it. Can you ?

Track Listing:-

1 She Roxx
2 Don't Look At the Sun
3 Cross-Hatched World
4 Somewhere Else
5 Black & White
6 Flicker
7 Picture the Finger
8 Mental Toothache
9 My Monster
10 Hey Dad
11 Moments
12 Clutter