Ear candy

Miss Fortune seek to create the perfect pop song

By Noah Schaffer

You've seen the signs, posted in clubs, school and music stores: "Wanted: band seeks singer"Is this any way to start a band? Boston popsters Miss Fortune are proof positive that a

small Xeroxed flyer can go a long way for a group needing to replace a departing member.

The flyer was posted by guitarist and songwriter Jay Barclay, who had been playing with some of his fellow students at the Berklee School of Music. The band was centered around a female singer/songwriter. When she split, Barclay began penning his own moody songs. But the band still needed a voice.

Ryan Link responded, and two years later the band is on the leading edge of the Boston pop scene. Last month, the group released its full length debut, Miss Fortune (What Kinda Records). The ten tracks have a clean, smart sound, with Link's vocals soaring above the mix and bringing life to Barclay's angst-filled lyrics. Drummer Chris Hobbick and bassist Jon Hindmarsh (since replaced by Jon Bistline) add a dynamic touch that fuels the music without drowning out the melodies.

The disc makes Link sound like a natural pop man, but it turns out he's relatively new to the game. A lifelong resident of Seattle before his recent move to Boston, Link has spent most of his musical life behind the drums. "In Seattle, I was a drummer as much as a singer. There were quite a few bands I played drums in, and occasionally I'd sing a tune from behind the kit. Most of these bands were groove, funk, or trip-hop bands. So, basically I was spending four or five nights a week playing improvisational rhythms for people to get drunk and dance to."

A class at a local college in jazz singing led Link to give up the skins, and he ended up at Berklee taking vocal lessons. Since joining forces with Miss Fortune, Link has taken a crash course in the art of the perfect pop song.

"I was never the kind of person to sit in their bedroom and just concentrate on writing a song, and that's what Jay can do. With Miss Fortune, we're able to write songs that work with the band, or just by ourselves -- in fact, we just did a month long residency where we played as an acoustic duo."

The new singer also faced the challenge of coming into a band that already had many of its songs in place. "It was a little uncomfortable at the start," recalls Link. "I was used to singing my own lyrics. I just looked upon it as an acting exercise -- the writing is really good, and the melodies are challenging and easy to remember."

The band's debut shimmers with thoughtful, ear-catching melodies, ringing out tales of awkward glances and relationships on the skids. The CD was expertly produced by David Medeiros. After some lengthy delays, the mixes were done by Mike Denneen, the Q Division studio guru whose resumé boasts recordings with the Pixies, Aimee Mann, Fountains of Wayne, and Miss Fortunes' buddies in the Sheila Divine -- just the kind of doctor a pop band needs.

"The man is a true scientist," observes Link. "He really took us to the next level."

One track, "Day Gets Brighter," is an especially entertaining throw-back to the '60s heyday of psychedelic studio gimmicks. Telephoned vocals and vaudeville piano give the track a feel straight off of a Kinks concept album.

"That was something we came up with on the fly," says Link. "J.P. Powell from My Favorite Relative came in and made the piano and organ part up in five minutes, and we all had the idea of telephoning the vocals. It was certainly one of the best days we had in the studio, in terms of spontaneous creativity."

Miss Fortune make the kind of ear candy that used to be all over the radio. These days, rap-core dominates the airwaves, posing a marketing challenge to even the most accessible pop-rock band. "A lot of bands these days are getting their songs on TV shows like Dawson's Creek or MTV Undressed," observes Link. "I am kind of hoping the right person will hear us and hook us up with something like that -- of course, it is really a management connection that makes the difference. The funny thing is that it's almost a better environment to expose pop-rock songs these days. Radio rock stations just play metal, and not a lot of kids listen to AAA [Adult Album Alternative] stations."

It isn't hard to imagine one of Miss Fortune's tales of love playing behind the credits on a Hollywood flick. In the meantime, the band finds pop lovers the old fashioned way, by hitting the clubs. Flick estimates the group has played the Lucky Dog at least 10 times, and credits owner Erick Godin with exposing the group to local pop heroes like Blinker the Star and the Curtain Society.

"Erick is one of the nicest club owners we've ever met -- he's super-supportive, and he just likes good pop music."

Miss Fortune perform at the Lucky Dog Music Hall, 89 Green Street, Worcester, on Thursday, December 21. Also appearing are Christi Leigh and Sticker. Call (508) 363-1888.