Rediscovering Piper (featuring Billy Squier)

For classic rock fans, Piper is mostly remembered as '80s rock icon Billy Squier's first band of note. Squier had kicked around Boston and New York City for a while during the early-to-mid-70s with bands like the Sidewinders and Kicks (which also included future New York Doll Jerry Nolan), finally landing back in Boston and forming the power-pop cult band Piper.

Hooking up with superstar manager Bill Aucoin, who took Kiss to unprecedented commercial heights, Piper signed a record deal with A&M Records that resulted in two albums – 1976's self-titled debut and the following year's Can't Wait. Neither album achieved much in the way of sales, in spite of Aucoin's juice in the industry and a high-profile '77 tour opening for Kiss. Both Piper albums would eventually earn nearly-universal acclaim as gems of pop/rock perfection.

With the recent reissue of Piper and Can't Wait on a single CD, perhaps it's time to take another look at these long-overlooked albums. Pursuing a sound that is now known as classic, guitar-driven power-pop, Piper falls on the power side of the equation, the band often deploying a three-guitar attack for a fatter, thicker stringed sound, along with drummer Richie Fontana's blastbeat percussion and frequent crashing cymbal bashing.

Fans of Billy Squier's solo work tuning in to Piper and expecting to hear the man's typically over-the-top vocals may be disappointed. Squier's singing with Piper is more soulful, more nuanced with careful phrasing and a slight Bostonian accent. Personally, I prefer Squier's approach here to the often shouted Robert Plant/Freddie Mercury approximations of his solo work.

The engaging "Out Of Control" opens the band's self-titled major label debut. With fiery guitarwork, a steady backbeat, strong vocal harmonies and clever lyrics, the song reminds of early Rolling Stones, kind of a mix between an early-60s R&B rocker and a garage-styled rave-up. The song fades a little near the end, switches gears, and returns for an extended finish. "Whatcha Gonna Do" displays the band's six-string prowess with razor-sharp guitar amidst a rapidly-changing musical landscape, the song jumping the fence from a balls-out heavy '70s period rock sound to a powerful progressive-styled ballad.

With jangly fretwork and a strong pop framework, "Who's Your Boyfriend? (Got A Feelin')" is a ready-made radio hit with gorgeous harmonies, slightly echoey multi-tracked instrumentation, a passionate vocal turn and overall winsome vibe. "Telephone Relation" offers some nicely-drafted vocal interplay, a staggered beat, and lyrics that are smarter than you or I. Fontana's rapidfire drumbeats drive the song's slightly Buddy Holly-esque soundtrack, while Squier turns in one of his most effective vocal performances.

A cover of the Stones' underrated classic "The Last Time" subtracts the original's casual drawl and adds a wiry guitar line, up-tempo rhythms, and a delightfully chaotic performance all around. Squier's ode to the girls of Times Square, "42nd Street," is a muscular rocker that foreshadows the singer's later solo work with soaring vocals, crash-and-burn fretwork and damaging rhythms that would be institutionalized a short decade later in the derivative Hollywood sleaze-rock of the '80s.

Can't Wait would be Piper's second bite of the apple; released in 1977, the album showcases a tighter, stronger band chemistry. The opening title track illustrates the band's evolution with an imaginative song structure, strong vocals, and complex instrumentation. On "Drop By And Stay," Squier's vocals are dropped in the mix to roughly the same level as the song's constantly chiming guitar and solid rhythms, creating a mesmerizing uniformity that is casually punctured by slashes of guitar and grenade drumbeats. The song reminds me a lot of the stuff that the Fabulous Poodles were doing at roughly the same time, with catchy lyrics, a subtle melody, textured vocals and an overall infectious sound.

Richie Fontana's underrated percussion opens "See Me Through" with a concrete-solid rhythmic foundation on top of which Squier weaves his carefully crafted vocals. Guitars dance throughout the mix, never overwhelming the arrangement, but rather complimenting the song's balanced chemistry. "Little Miss Intent" is a blocky period rocker with semi-metallic aspirations. Drawing on the groundwork laid by East Coast hard rock bands like Dust and Sir Lord Baltimore, the song not only offers another glimpse towards Squier's eventual solo success, but also a possible future musical direction for Piper had the band stayed together.

"Bad Boy" offers the perfect showcase for the band's guitarists, Squier playing off Alan Nolan and Tommy Gunn's inspired fretwork with a mix of Pete Townshend-styled windmills, Brian May-flavored rhythmic flourishes, and piercing lead notes scattered throughout the three-and-three-quarter-minutes of the song's breathless existence. "Comin' Down Off Your Love" is another big-balls rocker with a relentless rhythm, triple-vocals, screaming six-string play and plenty of lyrical attitude.

Can't Wait ends with "Blues For The Common Man," a 90mph rave-up that is anything but bluesy, instead displaying an unyielding backbeat and Squier's growing vocal mania. In many ways, the song highlights the musical dichotomy between Piper's two albums. The band's 1976 debut draws more from a power-pop tradition shared by contemporaries like Cleveland's Raspberries or Detroit's Romantics, drawn in a straight line from like-minded fellow travelers like the Hollies and Big Star.

By the time of the 1976 release of Can't Wait, Piper had developed a harder edge to their sound. Emboldened, perhaps, by the success of glam-era rockers like Sweet and T Rex, Piper began incorporating sharper guitar solos, punchier choruses, and altogether heavier rhythms and drumming. You can hear scraps of bands like Boston and Queen in the mix, with dashes of Ted Nugent's mid-70s melodic hard rock. Although separated by inches, stylistically, neither musical approach won the band much more than lip service from the music press like Circus or Creem. Instead, these two excellent albums patiently await rediscovery by an audience that wants to hear and experience real pop-rock gems. (American Beat Records)

(Click on the CD cover to buy Piper/Can't Wait from Amazon.com)