Tancred
Out of
the Garden
(Polyvinyl)
Holy 1994!! This is
all I could think of when I first heard “Control Me” from Out of the Garden, Tancred’s
third album. This was my introduction to
Tancred, Jess Abbott’s apparent side project.
Who is Jess Abbott? Well, all I
know is that she plays (or played?) guitar for Now, Now, whose 2012 album Threads
was my #10 pick of that year (see here). However, this does not sound like a side
project. Instead it sounds like a
well-rehearsed and seasoned rock trio who were raised on a heavy dose of
“alternative rock” radio. The best music
is able to transport one’s mind to another place or time or emotion and this
album transports me directly to the early to mid-90s – the time after Nirvana’s big breakthrough and major
record labels (remember those?) were signing any band who employed loud guitars
and pop hooks to huge contracts. This is
not a slight, as Tancred have captured the best of those times with genuine
energy, direct coming of age lyrics, and fantastically abrasive guitars.
Tancred utilize the loud/quiet/loud approach that Nirvana
used so well, but then if you throw in the buzzing and bright melodies of bands
such as Veruca Salt, The Breeders, Julianna Hatfield, and the under-appreciated That Dog (whose Anna
Waronker co-produced this album) it all comes alive and sounds as vibrant
and exciting as ever. Abbott is an
amazing and versatile guitarist and this trio sound like they are having fun
with these songs, which is contagious.
The three-minute pop numbers like the opening trio of “Bed
Case,” the drum overloaded in-the-red bursts of “Joey,” and “Control Me” all
sound FM radio ready and are as endlessly catchy as anything of its kind and
fun as hell. But it’s the more complex
and darker tunes like “Not Likely” and the guitar only “Hang Me” that give this
album some balance and variety. There is
an abundance of sexual euphemisms, disgust, work angst, and a newly discovered
confidence all over Abbott’s lyrics and this is all best encapsulated in the
explosive “Pens”, whose off-kilter verses careen into the oddball chorus of
“I’m incredibly healthy in my head / It’s crazy how stable I am.”
The album fully blossoms for me on the second side. The quietly angry and confused “Hang Me”
melds seamlessly into the album’s fastest and catchiest song “Sell My
Head.” Then comes the dark humor of
“Poise,” with a chorus to die for, or kill for, in this case. The closing “Pretty Girls” is both a deep album
ender and a teaser that leaves us wanting more.
What else can one ask for?
Tancred "Bed Case"
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