Published on May 2, 1999
What would happen if the Indigo Girls went rockabilly?
The answer might lie in the debut release from The Damnations
TX,
Half Mad Moon. This Texas-based quartet hits the target on
some tracks, but they often show the growing pains a young band
goes through.
The group – vocalist/bassist Amy Boone, vocalist/guitarist
Deborah Kelly, guitarist/vocalist Rob Bernard and drummer Keith
Langford – maintain a country air to their music without turning
their backs on alternative rock or folk. The mixture is one that
would, on paper, seem to be an interesting amalgam, at the very
least.
Opening with the country-rock mixture of “Unholy Train,” there
quickly seems to be some promise to The Damnations TX, even though
I would have liked to have heard the band stretch things out a
little bit with even a rudimentary guitar solo. Still, simplicity
isn’t a bad way to introduce one’s self to the populace.
There are times on this relatively short album (the 12 tracks
clock in at under 40 minutes) that things seem to keep going the
group’s way. “Commercial Zone Blues” is a quirky, catchy number
that is one you’re sure to keep returning to. “Kansas” and “Down
The Line” are captivating in their rollicking style, while “No Sign
Of Water” is one track that reminds me a lot of the Indigo Girls,
especially in Boone and Kelly’s harmony vocals.
Unfortunately, there are many songs on
Half Mad Moon that show this band needs to tighten up their
songwriting a bit. “Spit And Tears” just leaves a bad taste in my
mouth, and needed a little more development and less key changes.
“Jack’s Waltz” is a track that had a lot of promise in the
beginning, but quickly unraveled into a disappointing country
waltz. (Not that country waltzes are bad; this song needed another
coat of paint or two to really be better.)
In the end, the overall feeling you might walk away with from
Half Mad Moon is indifference. For each killer track like
“Things I Once Adored” or quirky but enjoyable number like “Half
Mad Moon,” there is an equally disappointing track like “Black
Widow”. The solution seems to be giving The Damnations TX a chance
to grow as musicians and as songwriters, something that only comes
with time together and experience. I do hear a lot of promise in
this group; unfortunately, they’re not always able to deliver the
goods on
Half Mad Moon.
There are enough good moments on
Half Mad Moon that make me say this is a group worth
watching in the years to come. But this album is kind of like
walking through a horse’s stable barefoot. The good moments are
like feeling cool, fresh grass under your feet. I’ll let you
complete the metaphor.