Published on Dec 19, 2000
It seems like there’s a lot of alternative-country bands hitting
the market these days. I can’t put my finger on when this trend
started, but the earliest example I can think of is The Bottle
Rockets, a group who showed me just how entertaining such a
marriage of styles could be. Maybe it was The Jayhawks who got the
ball rolling; this comes to me as I sit here, freezing through
another threatening winter day in Chicago.
From New York (where they get our snowstorms sooner or later)
comes Red Radio Flyer, whose debut effort
Gettin’ Somewhere shows that this foursome has paid
attention to their predecessors, but who have yet to find their own
niche and songwriting watermark. While the performances on this
disc are by no means bad, they have an air of what could have
been.
Lead vocalist/guitarist Janardana Ryan sounds a bit like Chris
Issak, almost as if he’s ready to go into a falsetto wail at the
push of a button. But seeing that the trigger is almost never
pulled, it starts to get on the listener’s nerves a bit. The rest
of the group – guitarist/vocalist Paul Carbonaro, bassist/vocalist
Mike Jones and drummer Tommy Allen (who also produced the album) –
show they’re skilled at their instruments, but they don’t seem to
have the creative fire underneath them, ready to kick their
performances into overdrive.
Oh, I don’t want people to think that Red Radio Flyer doesn’t
care about their music, nor do I want you to assume that
Gettin’ Somewhere is completely without merit. Tracks like
“San Antonio (Gettin’ Somewhere)”, “Leave Right Now” and “James
Henry” all demonstrate the potential that this group most
definitely has, and what can be accomplished when it’s
harnassed.
Yet there are many instances where that power just seems to slip
away from the band – and I’m at a loss to explain where things
might have gone wrong. Tracks like “Banker’s Hands,” “Don’t Ask Me
To Explain,” “Fading Away” and “I Got A Way” all suggest at the
possibility of greatness, but always seems to fall short.
The only explanation I can give is that this is still a young
band who are discovering themselves through the processes of
songwriting, recording and touring. I’ve said this before, and I
know I’ll say it again: maybe the only thing they need is some time
together on the road to pull together the loose strings.
Gettin’ Somewhere is by no means a bad album, and it has
more than its share of songs that are sure to please the palate of
fans of groups like The Jayhawks. But Red Radio Flyer isn’t quite
at that level of songwriting achievement yet. Maybe when they reach
it, that creative fire will burn bright, and that next album will
be unstoppable. For now, though, this will do, even if it teases
with what could have been.