Blood sacrifice

New local CDs, and the Alley's punk rock apocalypse

By Brian Goslow

It's a fact of life for music writers that the easiest way to convey what a band sounds like is through comparisons to other musicians and groups or by utilizing the dreaded labels/pigeonholes -- had enough of the terms groove rock, roots rockers, jazz fusion, and world music for a lifetime? Kakalla (formerly known as Trio Kakalla and the Thomson Kneeland Trio) have been billed by

most establishments as a jazz act, and indeed, its members have made key contributions to the area's jazz scene. However, the mission statement issued by Kakalla leader and bassist Thomson Kneeland states the group's goal is to fuse its many musical influences and interests, from the most popular forms to sounds from the Balkans across a bed of classical inspiration from Shostakovich, Piazzolla, and Bach into a single folk music. The folk music of Kakalla.

They've achieved that goal in a big way on their debut recording, The Voice of Blood (Weltschmerz), nine globetrotting tracks which explore the limits and capabilities of each member's instrument. And while you might call it jazz, don't look to hear their music on too many prime time stations revering the bebop, cool jazz, or big band sound.

About five-and-a-half minutes into "Porsheem," the disc's opening track, an Arabic-style guitar break by Eric Hofbauer transports you far away before a short Led Zepplinesque "Kashmir" build-up leads you to what drugged-out hippies used to lovingly call a "free-form freak out." On "Forlorn," Kneeland's bass notes fall like a light summer rain, each one making you beg for more while Sonic Explorer frontman Jerry Sabatini's trumpet-playing runs across the soundscape like heat lightning, and Mike Connors's percussion enters like the distant sound of thunder, never staying long enough to obliterate the mood.

Sabatini manages to sound as commercial as Herb Alpert during one segment of "The Beekeeper's Serenade," while a few moments later, his playing resembles Miles Davis at his angriest. "This is Not a Game" starts out flamenco-like, before Kneeland gives the composition a shadowy darker tone. Whatever your taste in instruments, Kakalla succeeds by having the knack to know just how much sweetness is just enough. Each composition leaves plenty of room for each musician to shine -- tracks run from just under five minutes to just over nine-and-a-half minutes.

According to the CD's liner notes, Kakalla is the day the ancient Incas would sacrifice the blood of a young brother and sister to the gods of fertility to ensure that the year's crops would be sufficient to feed them for another year. While its members are busy making music on a full time basis -- Connors performs with Combustible Edison and writes music for prime time TV programs (Regis and Kathie Lee, Felicity, and Dateline NBC) and film soundtracks (Inspector Gadget, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas); Sabatini is a music teacher; Hofbauer performs with improvisers Pendulabellum, the GSU, and the Indigo Invention Band; and Kneeland, whose bass-playing has been included on 15 prior CDs, freelances and performs throughout the world -- Kakalla looks forward to each live performance, as a free-spirited harvesting of their musically hybrid crop.

Kakalla will play a CD-release party for The Voice of Blood this Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Sakura Tokyo; you can also catch them every Wednesday night at the Java Hut.

We're a happy (rockin') family

There's a pretty good competition going to see who can rock harder in the Murphy household -- father Brian, whose thundering bass powers Time Capsule, or sons Paul and Ed, who supply the back beat for Red Mercury. In both cases, recently-released CDs have found widespread acceptance on local radio and in area clubs.

Long time rockers Time Capsule show great versatility on No Man's Land, which opens with `70s-style rockers "Coming Home" (written by drummer Chris Blanchard) and "All Night Long," which are followed by radio favorite "On the Bus." The blues kick in on "You Had Me Drive," which features some great harmonica wailing by Murphy. After being belted, it's a pleasant surprise to hear the country sounds of "Mother in Law Rag," which must have inspired a fair amount of screaming in homes the discs ended up at. You can't help but laugh at lyrics like "The first time that I dated you, I knew something was wrong/Went out to a movie and your mother came along/Went to buy some popcorn, she said `buy enough for three'/Things haven't changed much since that day as far as I can see."

A heavy Chicago blues sound covers guitarist Tex Chernoff's "Donna Jean," while the Kansas City sound vibrates through "Log Cabin Fever," which showcases second guitarist Rich Buffone. The title track, "No Man's Land," features vibrato vocals reminiscent of Bob "Chief Crippled Dog" Trimble's Iron Curtain Dream.

Time Capsule is helped out on the disc by guitarists Sean Ryan, Matt Bruce, and Joel Richardson. They'll celebrate the release of No Man's Land this Friday, April 27, at Mulligan's and on Sunday, April 29, with a performance at the Singletary Rod and Gun Club Bike Show in Oxford.

Meanwhile, Red Mercury's Can We Be Lost... is an ongoing work-in-progress by the South Worcester County teen rockers who were voted Best New Act in the 2000 Worcester Phoenix Best Music Poll. Thanks to the modern technology which allows groups to release a small quantity of CDs at a time, developing bands are able to feed the appetite of their original fan base without having to bankrupt future endeavors. Thus, some of the songs on Can We Be Lost... have been included on previously circulated limited-edition Red Mercury releases. They have, however, been re-recorded to showcase the group's current line-up.

Paul Murphy's bass rumbles underneath "Speak," while guitarist Marshall Smith utilizes great dynamics in his playing and singing on "The Next One," on which Smith sounds much older than a teenager as he ponders the future in a life where his musical past began in front of 10,000 people at Locobazooka: "I walk through a life of never ending roads/My path is lit from the lights below/Which path do I head down?/Which road do I choose?/No matter which one I pick, I'm sure to lose."

Smith benefits by sharing the spotlight with second guitarist Jim Gevry; the end result gives Red Mercury an intense wall of sound not unlike his influences Capitol 7, the Deftones, Soulfly, and Incubus. "Frequency" ravages the brains with Ed Murphy's pounding drums hitting your skull like a face slap, not to mention Smith's screams assaulting you, demanding to know, "think I know you, think I feel you?" from his audience, vibrating your skull with his guitar solos. "Dreamscape (Lost Within)" gets even heavier, if that's possible, with some great guitar work the suggests despite the group's hard-blasting modern sound, their long-term success rests on their instrumental chops, which have been top notch from the start.

End of the Alley

If the announcement that the Common Outlet Mall's cutting back its hours doesn't bode dark clouds for downtown Wormtown, now word comes that the Alley has closed its doors for good. Right place, right time?

"The fat lady has sung," reports Chris Lillyman of Musclecah, who booked the room's final show last Friday. "And the Alley went out in style. This was the best old school punk rock line up to grace this town in a long time." After sets by the Wenderlynns and Musclecah, Lillyman reports, "The Alley staff started jumping off the bar with skateboards and everyone went apeshit." Things did start to get out of hand however. "The Nines rawked like pros. People were just startin' to cross the line when the set ended by Evan [Shore] gettin' hit in the mouth with a trash can lid. Meat Depressed were hammered by the time they got to it and so was everyone else. I swear it's like one big friggin' party with all these bands. They killed the PA at 1:30 but Meat continued on with the crowd assisting on the vocals on `Do You Wanna Dance?'"

Lillyman says owner Jim Rowe "was wicked bummed but he was glad to see it end on a good note. People will be talkin' bout this show for a while. He's a great guy. With a little more experience and a parking friendly location, he'll do all right I think." For now, Lillyman, who had booked a series of punk-themed shows at the Alley, is seeking another room for regular gigs to keep the spirit of Joey Ramone alive and well. Calls to Rowe weren't returned.

Well-fed blues

If you've been bringing your guitar down to Ralph's on Thursday hoping to jam, forget it -- Shakey Steve and the BlueCats have settled in to do their own thing on a weekly basis, and they've souped up their roster and crowd appeal with the addition of Steve "Wilbur" Going on bass. The rest of Shakey Steve Prunier's current line-up includes guitarist Dwight Perry, drummer Ron Dagle, and keyboardist Mike Koziel.

heavy dates

On Thursday, Dexter Grove pulls into the Tammany Club, Blues Food add sizzle to the steaks at Gilrein's, Ralph Wiggum, the Tide, HoKaHa, and Mekanizm rip the Lucky Dog Music Hall, and Cosmo, Second Class Citizen, and Absinthe of Faith blast Liquid. On Friday, longtime Worcester faves the Fly Amero Band, featuring Cliff Goodwin and Dave Brown, bring "The Big Strum" to Ralph's, Slipknot slips into spring at the Tammany Club, Chet Williamson joins the Matt Brown Jazz Trio, featuring Troy Neilsen on guitar, at Borders, Mugshot moves in for the first of two nights at Sakura Tokyo, the Larry Dougher Band visit Gilrein's, Space'n helps expand the boundaries of the Lucky Dog with help from Colorblind, Shiver, and Dangaru, the Palladium hosts Clutch, VOD, Murphy's Law, and Tree, and a true sign summer is closing in on us -- the Blue Plate Lounge presents Two Track Trestle. On Saturday, They Might Be Giants, who are in the midst of a career revival, thanks in part to their performance of "Boss of Me," the theme song to Fox TV's Malcolm in the Middle, as well as the them to the WB Network's The Oblongs, are at WPI's Harrington Auditorium, you can surf with Gein and the Graverobbers and slam to 4:20, Slugworth, and FreakShow at the Lucky Dog, catch the reggae vibe of Loose Change at the Tammany Club, the Unband attempt to break the NoHo snowstorm jinx at Ralph's (along with the Tims, the Probates, and the Stone Coyotes -- see story on page 15), and Tomo Fujita and Blue Funk present a night of high class guitar blues at Gilrein's.

Brian Goslow can be reached at bgoslow[a]phx.com.