Published on Dec 14, 2000
Sometimes, when I listen to independent bands who are fighting
for a chance to be screwed over by the big labels, I wonder why a
certain band hasn’t gotten the breaks to make the leap from
relative unknown to superstar. Of course, there also are times when
I wonder if a band wouldn’t deserve a shot – say, a .38 slug
through the breastbone.
Then, there are the times when I wonder where a potentially good
band went wrong. Such is the case with Crazy Mary, a New York-based
group whose second album
She Comes In Waves has a few moments of potential, but
otherwise is a weak effort.
The band – guitarist/vocalist Richard Morbid (who has since left
the group), guitarist/vocalist Charles Kibel, vocalist Sophia
Jackson, bassist/vocalist George Kerezman and drummer Nick Raisz –
seem to capture the sense of alternative music well, in that they
don’t neatly fit into any musical category. But Crazy Mary has two
major weaknesses: songwriting, and being able to stay in tune.
For the bulk of
She Comes In Waves, the vocals seem to go flat at precisely
the wrong times – and it doesn’t matter who’s acting as lead
throat. Sorry, gang, but that’s inexcusable; I don’t expect
absolute perfection, but it would be nice if you’d at least try to
hit the target more often.
As for the songwriting – well, I don’t know if Crazy Mary
purposely tried to go for a minimalist instrumental touch on some
of these tracks, but occasionally I get the feeling that just
letting it rip musically could have helped the situation. Tracks
such as “Burned,” “Calendar Green,” “Talking To Wendy” and “Paris
(1944)” all seem like pale reflections of what could have been.
That missed potential is hammered home on the best track on the
disc, “No Resistance” – ironically, the only track penned by
Kerezman. (Memo to the band: I think I have your new CD lying
around the Archives, and I will get to it – but you might want to
give Kerezman a chance to write more. He’s good.) The writing is
solid, the performances have some muscle behind them – good grief,
even the vocals sound impressive. If
She Comes In Waves had a few more tracks like this on it,
this disc would have been passable.
And though other tracks like “Cancer On The Photograph” and
“Shock Me” try to maintain that drive, they’re sadly not able to –
though I don’t fault these songs. Three songs just can’t carry an
album, no matter who the artist is.
And that’s the thing that bothers me about
She Comes In Waves. I truly believe this could have been a
good album, if a little more TLC (that’s “tender loving care” for
the pre-1985 crowd out there) had been administered in the
songwriting and recording phases. Crazy Mary needs to tighten up
their song structures and work on singing in the correct key in
order to rise up from being a spotty band to a good one.