Archive Review: Scott Kempner's Saving Grace (2008)

Truthfully, I’ve struggled with this review of Scott Kempner’s Saving Grace for several months now; didn’t know how to start the review, really, much less figure out how to close it out properly. None of the standard rockcrit clichés seemed to fit when writing about Kempner’s first solo album in sixteen years, much less accurately describe an album as thoughtful, personal, romantic, intelligent and, well, so damn infused with the rock ‘n’ roll spirit as Saving Grace.

Then I heard news of the death of Levi Stubbs, lead singer of the Four Tops. With a voice that spoke directly to God, Stubbs sang some of my favorite Motown hits. I had a copy of the Four Tops’ Anthology album when I first moved out on my own back in ‘75 at the age of eighteen, a big blue three-record affair. It was the first disc, sides one and two, that provided a fitting soundtrack to my teenage romantic woes, Stubbs delivering timeless vocal performances on songs like “Bernadette,” “Ask the Lonely,” “7 Rooms of Gloom” and the biggest and baddest of them all, “Standing In the Shadows of Love.”

Thinking of the affect that Levi Stubbs and the Four Tops had on my own life and direction as a writer, and an adult, I listened again to Kempner’s wonderful Motown tribute, “Shadows of Love.” Beginning with a solitary drumbeat, a twangy, echoed guitar chimes in, leading to Kempner’s sad vocals. Describing perfectly the lonesome wakefulness of the wandering lover, Kempner sings “I turn on the radio/Maybe a little rock ‘n’ roll to save my soul/But push it seems has come to shove/For me and Mr. Levi Stubbs/We’re waiting for the heartaches to come/Standing in the shadows, standing in the shadows, standing in the shadows of love…”

Like Stubbs, Kempner is a romantic at heart, a musician and songwriter that believes in the redeeming qualities of rock ‘n’ roll and the undying power of love. As the song unravels, the singer describes the uncertainty and doubt of the freshly-heartbroken man, turning…much like I did thirty years ago…to the Four Tops for consolation from the anguish and pain of love lost. Musical trends may come and go, but some things reign eternal: the vagaries of love and greatness of Levi Stubbs are two of them.

Scott Kempner holds a special place in the hearts of those of us that genuflect before the altar of the one true rock ‘n’ roll. As both the swinging rhythm guitar-slinger with cult faves the Dictators and the primary songwriter and guitarist with roots-rock phenoms the Del-Lords, as well as across a pair of solo albums, Kempner has continued to pursue a creative vision of honest, hard-rocking music combined with smart, populist, working class blues-styled lyrics. Kempner’s solo debut, 1992’s Tenement Angels, was an expected treat, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the brightly-burning heartache the artist displays with Saving Grace.

The Del-Lords 1988 by Jeffrey Scales, courtesy Enigma Records

In fact, I’ll go out on a limb here and claim, without qualification, that the songs making up the first half of Saving Grace represent the most effective opening one-two-three-four-five punch that has been waxed since Springsteen’s Born To Run. Obsessed with love, but damaged by romance, the album is somewhat of an autobiographical diary of Kempner’s own recent ups-and-downs in life and love. There are, literally, no bad songs to be found anywhere on Saving Grace, Kempner imbuing his songs with a tragic dignity, mixing up a roots-rock, rockabilly, soul, blues, and folk music soundtrack in the creation of what is, without a doubt, the year’s best rock album.

Opening the album, “Beyond the Pale” starts with a Western-styled guitar strum, shimmering like an Arizona desert sunset while Kempner’s gentle vocals rise above the crimson hues. As the song’s instrumentation swells towards a crescendo, shades of a second, trembling guitar rise above the chimes, with a whimsical accordion adding its voice. The song’s message of hope in the face of widespread indifference sets the stage for the rest of Saving Grace, an album populated by star-crossed lovers and dreamers with their eye on the heavens.

“Baby’s Room” sounds like it could be a long-lost Del-Lords track circa Lovers Who Wander, with a similar musical structure that is part Dion and part Gram Parsons. A dark-hued song with twangy, Duane Eddy-styled guitars and low-register vocal harmonies, Kempner jumps across the surprising bridge with a flashpoint guitar solo and a bit of vocal gymnastics. The ‘60s-styled “Love Out of Time” is a wonderful tale of unrequited love, Kempner’s vocals simply gorgeous above a forcefully strummed rhythm guitar and swelling instrumentation. A rich, surf-happy lead guitar kicks in as Kempner’s voice grows louder and more passionate, the song finally spent in a wave of pent-up frustration.

The haunting guitarwork that intros “Saving Grace” sets the foundation for the song’s brilliantly poetic imagery, Kempner’s mournful, pleading vocals asking for just one more chance. It’s another mesmerizing moment in an album seemingly punctuated with such, Kempner’s passionate vocals-n-guitar weaving a soulful tapestry of emotion. Kempner quickly changes pace with the raucous “Stolen Kisses,” the song’s blistering six-string attack and shouted vocals hitting your ears like a cross between the Del-Lords and Jason & the Scorchers, two bands that were kissing cousins chasing the ghosts of Hank Williams in the first place. Behind a choogling rhythm, Kempner lays down his tale of love and betrayal atop a loud-and-proud sandpaper riff, launching into an incendiary solo

The rich instrumental backing of “Between A Memory and A Dream” swamps Kempner’s vocals somewhat in the mix, but does little to dampen the fire of his guitar. With solid riffing, ‘50s-styled doo-wop vocal harmonies, and even a few ringing Christmas bells, the song’s wall-of-sound production adds to the intrigue, as you have to listen closely to decipher Kempner’s clever and considerate lyrics. Kempner does an admirable job on the difficult Tommy Womack song “I’ll Give You Needles,” matching Womack’s original with an inspired reading that provides a different perspective on the song’s intelligent, dismissive, heart-on-sleeve emotional lyrics.

The tragic, foreboding “Blame Me” opens with a delicate guitar intro and Kempner’s deceptively soft vocals before tumbling into a tale of desperation and heartache so damn blue that your soul aches just listening to it all. By mid-song, the guitarist’s instrument has become possessed, wailing and crying and screaming like a caged beast, channeling the pain and anger and lovelorn with a slowly-escalating solo that strikes at the heart of the song like a dagger. Kempner’s lyrics are sheer dark beauty, but when accompanied by his masterful guitarplay, the result is pure magic.

Released almost four months ago, Saving Grace has all but disappeared from the musical landscape, remaining only in the minds and on the stereos of the diehard fans. Don’t let this wonderful album fall into the indignity of obscurity. Buy it. BUY IT NOW! Buy or die, Bunkie, lest the angry gods of rock ‘n’ roll strike you down with a punishment straight out of your most frightening nightmares…or worse yet, make you listen to another Britney Spears album…it’s entirely your choice. (2 Minutes 59 Records, released May 1st, 2008)

Review originally published by the Trademark of Quality (TMQ) blog, 2008

Spotlight on The Del-Lords

The Del-Lords photo by Jeffrey Scales, courtesy Enigma Records

The Del-Lords Discography:
• Frontier Days (EMI America Records, 1984)
• Johnny Comes Marching Home (EMI America Records, 1986)
• Based On A True Story (Enigma Records, 1988)
• Howlin' at the Halloween Moon (Restless Records, 1989)
• Lovers Who Wander (Enigma Records, 1990)
• Get Tough: The Best of the Del-Lords (Restless Records, 1999)
• Elvis Club (GB Music, 2013)

The Del-Lords remain one of my personal fave bands and one of the tragic rock 'n' roll stories of the 1980s. The band's imaginative mix of roots-rock, blues, folk, and country music went over big with college radio listeners, and the Del-Lords' electric live performances won them a loyal following from coast to coast. Due to label mismanagement and management woes, however, they never got the support needed to break through to mainstream rock audiences via commercial radio. Still, the Del-Lords – singer/guitarist Scott Kempner, singer/guitarist Eric Ambel, bassist Manny Caiati, and drummer Frank Funaro – released four incredible studio and one live album during their too-brief tenure.

The Del-Lords reunited in 2010 to perform a handful of shows, later recording a 2013 album titled Elvis Club. Scott Kempner, who can brag of being a member of two legendary bands in the Del-Lords and the Dictators, has released a handful of critically-acclaimed solo albums over the years. Eric Ambel also continues to make new music, most recently releasing the 2018 album Lakeside, and has made his mark as a producer, working on albums by artists like the Bottle Rockets, Sarah Borges, Steve Wynn, and Jimbo Mathus, among many others. Frank Funaro is currently beating the cans for Cracker and has played with Joey Ramone and Nils Lofgren while Manny Caiati wisely got out of the business, got his law degree, and currently works as a child advocate.   

Also on That Devil Music: The Del-Lords' Based On A True Story CD review

Archive Review: The Del-Lords' Based On A True Story (1988)

The signs all indicate that spring is in the air: rising temperatures, falling motivations, random thunderstorms. Everybody’s got a snootful o’ pollen, and the songs on the radio are getting braver and bolder. And with a righteous jam like the Del-Lords’ “Judas Kiss” blastin’ across the airwaves, pumpin’ up the adrenalin – and those sneaky hormones – can summer be far behind?

Based On A True Story is the album for consumption this summer, kiddies, a nasty slab o’ PVC-byproduct so funky, so rockin’, so damn baaaaad that you can just forget about all those wimpy art-rockers, flaming dancefloor poof-boys, and wanna-be troglodyte spandex-clad foo-foos with their funny haircuts. As the great Foghorn Leghorn once said, “listen, I say listen to me boy, I’m talkin’ to ya!”

From the opening squeals and crashing chords of “Crawl In Bed,” the wonderful “Judas Kiss” (surely the tune of the summer, a hook-filled lament for a lost lover and a convincingly great anti-drug song), and the hauntingly ethereal “Poem of the River” (featuring sweet, soulful vocals from Pat Benetar) to the humorous “Whole Lotta Nothin’ Goin’ On” and the right Reverend Mojo Nixon’s fire and brimstone sermonette intro to “River of Justice,” and a half-dozen other scorching numbers, Based On A True Story is a hard-drivin’, King Hell rock ‘n’ roll delight.

This sucker cuts to the bone, chock full o’ sonic screaming guitars, Mephistophelean drum beats, and hot, sweaty throbbing rhythms that are guaranteed to induce frenzied, ritualistic movement of the limbs and pelvis. This disc will set ya to foot-shufflin’ and finger-snappin’! Perfect for the beach, the back yard, or cruisin’ to and fro in the car, it’s the perfect rock ‘n’ roll soundtrack for the summer of ’88…and ya know, summer’s not so far away! (Enigma Records, 1988)

Review originally published by The Metro (Nashville), 1988

CD Review: The Dictators' The Dictators Go Girl Crazy! (40th anniversary edition, 2015)

The year was 1975, and the Reverend graduated from high school in June, preparing for college by dealing dope, mowing half a dozen yards each week, and working the local Shoney’s Big Boy over the summer. A fervid follower of (and future contributor to) the great Creem magazine, I kept running into mentions of the Dictators, a NYC five-piece rock band beloved by critics. Figuring that the rag hadn’t steered me wrong when it hipped me to the New York Dolls, I picked up a copy of The Dictators Go Girl Crazy! and found the tonic for my troubles. I listened to the album constantly (much as I had with the two Dolls LPs), the band’s lyrical preoccupation with cars, girls, pop culture, and rock ‘n’ roll appealing to me like cream to a cat.

Much like their friends and cross-town predecessors the New York Dolls, the Dictators were a “band out of time” (songwriter and bassist Andy “Adny” Shernoff’s own words). Formed in 1973 by a group of friends that included Shernoff, guitarists Ross “The Boss” Funichello (née Friedman) and Scott “Top Ten” Kempner, and drummer Stu Boy King, roadie “Handsome” Dick Manitoba was added to the band by producers Murray Krugman and Sandy Pearlman (Blue Oyster Cult, The Clash) to be the Dictators’ secret weapon onstage and in the studio.

When released in March 1975, the album earned widespread critical acclaim for its proto-punk sound and irreverent lyrics. But the LP went absolutely nowhere commercially, tours opening for bands like Nazareth and Rush were minor disasters, and the band was soon thereafter dumped by Epic Records. After a hiatus of a couple years, the Dictators would sign with Asylum Records and release two more albums before splintering in the late 1970s. Like a creeping mold that can’t be washed away, the album continued to make friends and influence people over the years, and now – four decades after its original release – The Dictators Go Girl Crazy! has received a deluxe, re-mastered 40th anniversary reissue courtesy of Real Gone Music.

The Dictators Go Girl Crazy!

Opening with the sound of applause, the listener gets their first taste of “Handsome” Dick Manitoba, the trash-talking, fast-walking pro wrestler alter-ego of the band’s former roadie, Richard Blum. Manitoba’s album-opening rant gives way to a muscular guitar line that intros “The Next Big Thing,” a boastful, tuff-as-nails rocker that bristles with more attitude than a porcupine drinking malt liquor. The twin fretwork of Ross the Boss and Top Ten is stunning, with drummer Stu Boy King driving the rhythm with the subtlety of a subway car careening off the tracks and into the darkness. Shernoff’s defiant lyrics announced to the world that “the Dictators are here!”

So what does the band do for song number two? They cleverly re-imagine Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You Babe” years before Joey Ramone would do it proud with Holly Beth Vincent. Manitoba’s caterwauled vocals are crooned over a slow-grinding, often chaotic soundtrack that turns the 1960s pop gem into a punk standard. King’s solid percussion work opens “Back To Africa,” a slightly tongue-in-cheek love song that offers up some of Funichello’s most incendiary guitar playing alongside poppy group harmonies and deceptively complex backing instrumentation built entirely around flamethrower six-string and jackhammer drumbeats.

“Master Race Rock” is one of the Dictators’ most controversial songs, a ragged-but-rockin’ jam that could only be misunderstood by somebody who didn’t bother to listen to Shernoff’s satirical lyrics. Riding a slash ‘n’ burn soundtrack to ‘nowheresville,’ the band boldly declares itself the leaders of teenaged America, i.e. the “Master Race.” Funichello’s scorching leads push the amps to eleven, and the song rings its way out with shards of delicious feedback. By contrast, the thematically-similar “Teengenerate” is provided a softer, more melodic, ‘60s-era sound that hides the intents of its malevolent teen protagonist beneath a sunshine-pop sheen; even the twin guitars are more subdued here than elsewhere on the LP, chiming like a bell rather than crashing into a plate glass window.

(I Live For) Cars and Girls

Channeling their inner surfer dude, the Dictators tackle a second cover on the album, the Rivieras’ upbeat “California Sun,” with an energy and aplomb equal to their take on “I Got You Babe.” With Manitoba’s yelping vox riding high in the mix, the band bashes its way through the song with reckless (and nearly criminal) abandon. “Two Tub Man” is one of the first songs that Shernoff penned for the band, and it remains a fan favorite to this day. A classic Manitoba rant introduced the song, the “Handsome” one spitting out boasts like “Nature Boy” Rick Flair in his prime as the song’s riff-happy opening explodes into a pure punk-rock supernova. With clashing guitars piercing the mix like an angry switchblade, along with the band’s over-amped energy, gang vocals, and overall nasty attitude, “Two Tub Man” delivers the blueprint so many British bands would follow just a couple years later. Oi, indeed!

The anti-social teenage angst of Shernoff’s “Weekend” is concealed even better than with “Teengenerate,” the band ripping off a familiar Buddy Holly riff to add a bit of shiny, wholesome, early rock ‘n’ roll energy to their otherwise shaggy construct of distorted guitars, bombastic percussion, and overall cacophonic instrumentation. “(I Live For) Cars and Girls” is the song that received the most airplay from The Dictators Go Girl Crazy! A clever pastiche of Beach Boys-styled pop; crude, irreverent humor; whip-smart, teen-oriented lyrics; and a lean, mean pop-rock soundtrack that only soars into absurdity a couple of times, the song was a work of satirical genius. Spot-on in its poetic depiction of mid-1970s teenage obsessions and malaise, the song also works as a sort of jaded commentary on the false innocence portrayed by the pop music of the ‘60s era.

This 40th anniversary reissue of The Dictators Go Girl Crazy! includes several bonus tracks, including a pair of remixes by rocker Andrew W.K., who does a fine job of re-imagining the tracks he chose, “Two Tub Man” and “Weekend.” Working from the original tapes, he doesn’t enlist the songs into the witness relocation program as much as he just plugs in little of his unique electric attitude into the re-mixes, amplifying the original intent rather than smothering it with a pillow. Both remixes are quite effective, and show how much Dictators’ DNA exists in Andrew’s own work. Of the numerous outtakes here, “Backseat Boogie” is interesting ‘cause it doesn’t appear on the album proper. A fierce jolt of booger-rock driven by King’s machine-gun rhythms (which are said to have flayed his hands during the recording), it’s a fine performance that should have been appended to the original LP. Instrumental takes on “Master Race Rock” and “California Sun” are a hoot, displaying both the band’s relative musical amateurism as well as their unbridled enthusiasm, the Dictators making a joyous noise as the tape rolls on...

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Throughout the summer of ’75 and well extending into the next summer, when I moved out of the parents’ house (for the first time) and into an apartment with a biker buddy of mine, The Dictators Go Girl Crazy! shared equal time on the turntable with Springsteen’s Born To Run and, later, Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak. All three albums shared a certain amount of manic energy, devil-may-care attitude, and purist belief in the power of rock ‘n’ roll to free us from a mundane working class rut.

The Dictators would go on to release a pair of fine albums – 1977’s Manifest Destiny (a solid ‘B’ grade) and the following year’s Bloodbrothers (a bona fide A+ classic) – before breaking up, but their undeniable influence can be heard in fellow travelers like the Ramones, the Fleshtones, Twisted Sister, the Beastie Boys, and many other bands on both sides of the pond. They would become more proficient with their instruments, playing even faster ‘n’ louder, and Shernoff would develop a keen eye as a lyricist…but never again would the Dictators make music as naïve, cheeky, and as fun as they did with The Dictators Go Girl Crazy! Grade: B+ (Real Gone Music, released December 4, 2015)

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: The Dictators Go Girl Crazy! 40th anniversary edition

Archive Review: The Dictators' Bloodbrothers (1999 reissue)

Maybe they didn't create punk rock, but the Dictators – one of the greatest lost rock 'n' roll bands of the '70s – certainly helped to define the genre. Hitting the streets running in 1973 with their debut, The Dictators Go Girl Crazy!, the Dictators bucked the musical trends of the time with a stripped-down, hardcore rock assault that was equal parts garage band fervor and metallic overkill. Owing more to the MC5 and the Stooges than to the singer/songwriter trend that dominated the mid-70s commercially before the onslaught of punk, the Dictators made three great albums before the members moved onto other challenges.

Sadly, for many years, only the first of the band's trio of hard rocking elpees remained in print. Since the labels that originally issued these gems had no interest in putting the other two Dictators albums out on CD, the band took it upon themselves to grab the rights to Bloodbrothers, their third (and, arguably, their best) album and reissued it their own damn selves.

Bloodbrothers is full of great songs. “Faster & Louder” is hardcore punk stripped bare, more an affirmation of the band's musical philosophy than an attempt at cultural documentation. “The Minnesota Strip” lyrically visits that infamous section of New York City, known for its youthful population of runaways, junkies and whores of both genders. Punctuated by the razor-sharp twin guitars of Ross “The Boss” and Scott “Top Ten” Kempner, the song is as haunting as the dark streets it evokes. “Stay With Me” is the sort of harmony-filled pop/rock ditty that the Del Lords would later perfect (remaking this song on their last album). The band ends the disc with as much energy as they started it, burning through a savage rendering of the Flamin' Groovies' “Slow Death.” All told, Bloodbrothers simply bristles with energy, an album made by a band shooting for the big time with absolutely nothing to lose.

Although Kempner would go on to found the Del Lords, and most of the rest of the Dictators would reunite as Manitoba's Wild Kingdom for an album with lead singer “Handsome” Dick Manitoba, the work that these guys did with the Dictators is priceless, straight-ahead classic rock straight from the streets. Dictators Forever, Forever Dictators! (Dictators Multimedia, released November 1998)

The Dictators’ Go Girl Crazy! 40th Anniversary Edition

Forty years ago, rock ‘n’ roll icons the Dictators released their liver-quivering debut album, the classic The Dictators Go Girl Crazy! The proto-punk outfit – comprised of audacious frontman “Handsome” Dick Manitoba, guitarists Scott “Top Ten” Kempner and Ross “The Boss” Funochello, bassist Andy “Adny” Shernoff, and drummer Stu Boy King – followed a fast ‘n’ loud musical aesthetic heavily influenced by 1960s-era garage-rock and British Invasion bands and lyrically littered with pop culture references to professional wrestling, crappy television shows, hot rods, and fast food.

In celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the release of The Dictators Go Girl Crazy!, the good folks at Real Gone Music have whipped up an interesting release for Record Store Day’s Black Friday event on November 27th. The label will release a Black Friday exclusive, The Dictators: The Next Big Thing EP, which will be pressed on opaque red vinyl. The four-song 10” EP includes rowdy remixes of three songs from the Go Girl Crazy! LP – “The Next Big Thing,” “Two Tub Man,” and “Weekend” – which have been sonically-altered by Dictators fan and punk legend Andrew W.K.

The Dictators: The Next Big Thing EP will be released in a limited edition of 2,500 copies featuring back cover and label artwork taken from previously-unseen photo contact sheets, and the record also includes a previously-unreleased song from the original sessions, “Backseat Boogie.” On December 4th, 2015 Real Gone Music will continue their Dictators celebration with the reissue of The Dictators Go Girl Crazy! in an expanded and re-mastered anniversary edition.

Reissued on CD for the first time in over 20 years, this new edition includes nine bonus tracks in addition to the nine original songs, including Andrew W.K. remixes of “Weekend” and “Two Tub Man,” the previously-unreleased “Backseat Boogie,” and the unreleased single mix of “(I Live For) Cars and Girls.” Shernoff contributed liner notes for the reissue, and the packaging includes several rare, previously unseen photos.

Unceremoniously dumped by Epic Records after The Dictators Go Girl Crazy! failed to produce the sort of overnight success the label expected, the band signed with Elektra Records and released a pair of critically-acclaimed livewire LPs – 1977’s Manifest Destiny and the following year’s Bloodbrothers – neither of which performed commercially (the former inched onto the chart at #193). Both albums are considered classics today, and the band’s unbridled rock ‘n’ roll spirit would influence a generation of died-in-the-wool rockers to follow.

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: The Dictators Go Girl Crazy! 40th Anniversary Remastered & Expanded Edition