Andy Reed
Scores
&
The Little Girls Understand
Reed never
ceases to amaze me. He keeps me off balance by his sheer balls to the walls,
manic productivity, this dude is prolific. He has enough spunk and verve to
actually believe in what he is doing. Reed likes to poke around like a musical
Columbo, unassuming yet brilliant. He molds his craft through a prism of
multiple influences from the Beatles and Beach Boys to the deep secret
naughtiness of Alex Chilton…yet he’s so polite. Just play softball with him
once and you know what I’m talking about. He’ll swing and miss and then hit one
out of the park. Don’t let Reed fool you, he’s been in the game for over 14
years and he’s an astute musician. He knows how to play the game to win and
won’t back down from any opportunity to elevate his craft. He has made melody
and harmony a lifetime quest and he always seems right on the verge of
ascending to that class of middle class musicians who tour all over the country
and create lovely pet sounds with rubber soul and revolvers. He hooked up with
Steve Eggers and shared a true believer vision quest evoked by the sounds and
lyrics created by the Bee Gees and Roger Hodgson (Supertramp). These were heady
times as Reed made his hesitant steps toward greater collaboration as he worked
bigger and better stages to advance his craft. Eggers brought-in Mike Viola who
did the music for the movie That Thing You Do. It was a great song and a great movie
that captures the short-lived promise of many teenage rockers who dared to do
it right. Reed stretched out a bit with
Detroit popmeisters Chris Richards and Keith Klingensmith in a band known as
the Legal Matters. They emerged from the ether, fog swirling around the three
singers until they got it jolly what right. They didn’t assume English accents
like fake Zombies or Beatles instead they sang close two and three part
harmonies in crafted little pop symphonies that evoked the ghost of Brian Wilson.
This ambitious 23 track disc includes songs by the Haskels, American Underdog, Hotel
Buzz and Andy Reed’s solo work. This would be a great 2-disc volume fit to be
pressed onto vinyl. The resurgence of vinyl is simply heartwarming and Reed is
one of our local supporters of vinyl LPs, especially American Underdog’s Always on the Run.
The disc spans
the years 2001 through 2014 and though the disc spans eleven years of recording
the musical vision is seemless. It starts out with a cover of Thunder Island, a
show stopper by former Spirit singer/guitarist Jay Ferguson. Reed gives it the
treatment and the result is stunning. It was recorded and released in 2013.
Good Girl and Always on the Run anchored the musical landscape of American
Underdog. Reed’s association with Hotel Buzz
(2005) is represented by Make up Your Mind, a guitar based rocker with a
triumphant beat and a great Reed vocal. Hotel Buzz has one more
track entitled On My Way. It is a hard rockin’ mama with a big bottom
and a tough rhythm section. Reed is in the pocket with this great unknown song.
Attitude is a superb power pop confection from 2002 with pounding drums and
Kinks power chord explosions. Extraordinary Boy is an understated gem from the
Reed Brothers archives and Comic Book Hero is the Haskels at their rocking
best. It is a pounding rocker that sounds like Dan Kozuch doing his best John
Bonham. The lead and harmony vocals are spot on. Summertime is from the
American Underdog sessions. Inexplicably it is corseted with a riff taken from the
Blues Magoos’ song We Ain’t Got Nothin’ Yet. Reed’s solo output is represented
by seven songs from 2007/2008. The
Criminal is totally Reed. On this tune, he sounds like the Cyrkle, one of the
great unknown bands of the sixties. Novocaine and Smile Look and Listen are
gilded treasures with layered harmonies band a solid Reed vocal. Smile, Look
and Listen sound like a Cars outtake. It rocks like a landslide and has a
difficult waltz time on the middle eight. The Show Must Go On from American Underdog
is a meditation on Love and has cool effects that recall Strawberry Fields by
the Beatles. World of Make Believe is an emerging anthem. It has a descending
riff that sounds like Sunny Afternoon by the Kinks. The disc ends with a 1-2
punch to the solar plexus with Things Only Get Better and Beautiful Dreamer,
poppin’ basslines, echoed harmonies and swirling keys. The deep synth accents
at the end of Beautiful Dreamer recall the deep felt spiritual longing on the
Bee Gees Odessa album. It is a stunning statement and a perfect closer for this
incredible collection of odds and sods from the vision of Andy Reed.
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