Published on Sep 17, 1998
In the few years since the Canadian quintet Bogart have released
an album, the band and its members have undergone some major
changes in their lives. The band has not played live in some time,
according to guitarist/vocalist Bo Galczyk. Singer Earl Russel,
while still a member of the band, has been playing less of a role
with the group. Galczyk’s brother died earlier this year. Add all
these things together, and you can’t blame Bogart for taking some
extra time between
Waiting For Something To Happen and their latest effort,
Tsunami Suicide.
However, the added time the band had to work on the album seems
to have worked in the band’s benefit. It’s neither a stagnating
piece of aging bar-band rock nor a weepy
why-do-bad-things-happen-to-me portrait of life. Instead, it
features some of the band’s best work, although they don’t have all
the wrinkles ironed out yet.
Russel still makes a significant contribution on
Tsunami Suicide, providing lead vocals on four songs,
including the title track, “Original Sin” and “Two Thousand
Violins”. For the most part, Galczyk handles the bulk of the lead
vocals, and despite a hesitant start on “The Other Ten Percent,”
quickly proves that he’s as capable a lead vocalist as Russel.
“Words Opposed To My Caress” reminds me a lot of a mostly
unheralded band, October Project, and is a solid piece of
songwriting and performance.
Tsunami Suicide contains many areas of improvement. Bassist
Lawrence Deslauriers seems to have found his own unique groove on
the four-string, and his work here is quickly addictive. The
overall sound of Bogart also is vastly improved, though I still
would like a little more treble in the mix. (Hell, let’s face it, I
crave treble in music like Emeril Lagasse craves garlic – and if
you don’t understand the reference, you’re not into cable cooking
shows.)
But the biggest improvement in Bogart is that many of their
songs seem ready to invade radio, if only given the chance.
“Information Superhighway” makes fun of the Internet and its
denizens without sounding whiny in the least. (On a personal note,
I’d like to thank the band for not mentioning this site at the
point that everyone yells, “This sucks!” in the song. I’ll take
that as a compliment.) “Two Thousand Violins,” “Original Sin” and
“You Name It” all have a bounciness that makes their grooves
infectious. (I don’t know if it was necessary to include
radio-friendly – meaning, edited for time – versions of five of the
tracks, but at least they chose five of the best.)
But no matter how many times I listen to
Tsunami Suicide, it’s still hard for me to get past the use
of a guest vocalist (Elsie Osborne) on “Pangaea”, namely because
I’m not expecting to hear a strange voice enter the mixture of
Bogart. I asked Galczyk why Osborne was used on this track via
e-mail; he replied that they felt this song was best voiced by a
woman, not by anyone else in the band. Fair enough.
And as much as I don’t want to slam a song that Galczyk wrote
about his brother, “When Fetches Call” is not the strongest
performance on the disc. It takes quite a bit of time to build up
into a solid rhythm – by the time it reaches the boiling point, you
might have lost interest. I also would question the almost
minute-long cymbal work from drummer Ron Mohr at the end of the
song.
Still, the two missteps on
Tsunami Suicide are minor, and they show the great amount of
musical growth that Bogart has undergone in such a short time. With
a little more work, Bogart could be poised on their greatest
moment: the critical breakthrough. Here’s hoping someone in the
music industry is willing to take a chance with these guys; this
album proves just what they’re capable of.
For more information on this album or to order, visit Bogart’s
Web page at: