Who says a jazz band can’t play rock music? That question was implied, if not directly posed, within the lyrical permutations of Funkadelic’s 1978 “Who Says a Funk Band Can’t Play Rock?” Genre lines might be a bit blurrier 45 years later, but they’re still there to be crossed. Bassist Hannah Marks has worked for some highly regarded jazz bosses (Terri Lyne Carrington, Ingrid Jensen, Miles Okazaki, Marcus Printup, Nasheet Waits, Anna Webber) but her solo debut Outsider, Outlier (out on Out Of Your Head on Oct. 20, CD and download) draws heavily on the pop and rock she grew up with. On “(I Wanna Be Ur) 90s Dream Girl,” the first track and lead single, she remembers being a teen outfitted in denim jackets, Levi jeans and Doc Martens, humming Replacements songs while hiding her musical knowledge and skills so as not to threaten the boy she likes. It’s a pointed stick she waves. Her band can tackle the interlaced parts she writes and still kick up the dust, holding true to her indie rock passion. Some quieter moments recall Tori Amos, with singer Sarah Rossy gliding across octaves, but the songs are never simple. The “90s Dream Girl” video is the place to start, but the rest of the record is just as smart. And speaking of the Replacements, they were heroes back in the day but I fell off the wagon with 1985’s Tim. Friends continued to sing their praises, but I felt like they’d strayed. The 4 CD+1 LP (or download) reissue (Rhino, Sept. 22) vindicates me with a new mix of that album, pulling it closer to the raw sound of the previous Let it Bleed. Apparently, the band also wasn’t happy with the sound of their major label debut, produced by Tommy Ramone. I haven’t made my way through the whole set (65 tracks, 50 never released before) but I’m glad to hear Tim getting a new lease on life.
Guitarist Ava Mendoza lives in the demilitarized zone between prog and improv, playing instrumental music centered around her own stunning musicianship. The new Echolocation (CD, LP, download from AUM Fidelity Oct. 13) features what reads like a jazz line-up; the band, Mendoza Hoff Revels, is co-led with bassist Devin Hoff and includes saxophonist James Brandon Lewis and drummer Ches Smith. The opening cut, “Dyscalculia,” is available now and is a ferocious seven minutes. The title refers to a learning disorder that impedes the ability to understand numbers and math, but the strict meters belie any such claims. The rest of the album is just as alive. Revel in it.
Just in time for St. Martin’s Summer, or second summer, or whatever might best replace the more common term for a warm spell in November, comes Bite of the Streets by trumpeter Mac Gollehon & the Hispanic Mechanics (Nefarious Industries LP and download, Sept. 29). Gollehon’s long career includes time spent in big name Latin, R&B, rock in pop acts, including Hilton Ruiz, Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy, Chaka Khan, David Bowie and Hall & Oates. Bite shows aspects of all of that background in a half dozen instrumental grooves that make for a solid half-hour party mix. The choice cuts bookend the set. “Souled Out” plays on Tropicalia while “Sleepwalker” leans toward heavy rock. It all adds up to immensely likeable crossover like what Herb Alpert used to do. And speaking of Alpert, his new one (Wish Upon a Star, Herb Alpert Presents, CD and download, September 15) is a pretty mixed bag, but there are at least a couple stream-worthy tracks (covers of the Carpenters’ “We’ve Only Just Begun,” Jerry Reed’s Smokey and the Bandit theme “East Bound and Down”).
Extended play. Going… Going… Gone! seems like a quick goodbye for a title to a debut record, especially by someone who has already played Lollapalooza and appeared on the cover of NME. Hemlocke Springs took the world by storm, or at least some corners of it, with “Gimme All Ur Love” last year and that track leads off the digital EP (Good Luck, Have Fun, streaming/download, Sept. 29) that collects seven quick synth-pop gems in just over 20 minutes. The multi-faceted Springs was born Isimeme Udu in North Carolina to Nigerian immigrant parents and earned a master’s degree in medical informatics at Dartmouth this year. Her songs of anger and longing are infectious and the videos are hilarious. She’ll be in the movies before long. I don’t think she’s going away soon.
Out of Nashville comes the hard edge of Gloom Girl MFG, whose four-song debut Factory (Sign From The Universe Entertainment/Ingrooves streaming/download, Sept. 8) bristles with discontent and simmers with old-school hard rock energy. Again, the lead-off track is the winner. “Litterbug” merges environmental and existential crises. “My Brother’s Meds” attaches no romanticism to drugs, prescribed or otherwise. (If you’re looking to celebrate same, dial up NOBRO’s new shout-along “Let’s Do Drugs” from their forthcoming Set Your Pussy Free). Paige MacKinnon’s delivery on the ruminating “I Hope She Knows” is like a tough Chrissie Hynde ballad and “Side Stitch” makes for a dire ending. A couple older songs can be found on their Bandcamp and more, with any luck, are soon to follow.
Celluloid Heroes. John Carney makes just the kind of sappy movies I fall for. I only discovered him with his last film, 2016’s Sing Street, about a young man trying to start a band to impress a classmate crush. His new Flora and Son premiered at Sundance in January, opened in U.S. theaters in September and is streaming on Apple+. Set (like his previous effort) in Dublin, Flora is about a single mother and her son both trying to write songs to impress their respective crushes. It’s kind of a paean to mediocrity and dead-end streets, but’s also about the power of music, especially for the (otherwise) powerless.
