A Towering Achievement

A quick spin through ‘Towers of New London’ Vol. 4

Derek Olsen

“NEW LONDON’S BURNING!!”
Burning up, with musical talent from the singers, songwriters and bands featured on the latest installment of the now staple Towers of New London compilation. Released in December 2006 by N.L.-based record label Cosmodemonic Telegraph, Towers – Volume 4 offers a rich variety of musical styles, from the primal angst of hardcore to the lilting anthems of ’80s-era synth-pop.

“NEW LONDON’S BURNING!!”
With excitement over the release? Well, fans of local music should be.

“NEW LONDON’S BURNING!!” – wailed by Flesh Hammer’s Laurin Killian, these are the first words one hears after laser hits silica. It makes for an astonishingly appropriate launching point for the compilation. The track, “New London’s Burning,” careens through a power chord shaped landscape, declaring to it’s unidentified target: “New London’s burning/Burning down without you.” In addition to providing a powerful opening salvo that grabs a listener by the ears, its placement at the forefront of the two-disc, 30-track set, emphatically yet subtly establishes a “sense of place.” This voice, these voices, are not coming to me from some Hollywoodland studio, engineered for the masses and equipped with visions of their own cookie-cutter MTV2 Playlists, but from a much more identifiable and intimate locale.

The newest Towers revels in its own diversity, and the great thing about that for you, Prospective Consumer, is that similar to the weather around here, if one tune isn’t quite your cup of grog, the next one most likely will be; this very well could be “the disc that has everything.” Really. Hardcore. Synthpop. Ukulele feedback loop rock. Grass-hop. Everything.

Perhaps we should explain the coined term “Grass-hop.” The good old-timey Can Kickers, washboard and all, teamed up with DJ Mista Mayday and the result is an unbelievably tasty blend of seemingly incongruous concepts. The Kickers/Mayday “Johnny Walker” manages to shift focus throughout the song from Mayday’s style to the bands’. It is a fascinating spin. Continuing to defy definition, Brian Skidmore ukes on. What at first appears to be a chance firing of neurons and notes, is upon closer inspection a finely crafted opus. On “Patriot Act” Skidmore weaves intricate and dramatic vocal melodies with the sparse arpeggios of his ukulele, carrying the listener through the narrative toward its rich, feedbacky culmination. Coloring within the lines drawn by Depeche Mode and Duran Duran, Dorian James’ “Lonely Boy” is a well-structured synth-and-sequencer style pop tune. More straightforward rocks are provided by The Liz Larsons, Brazen Hussy, The Suicide Dolls, Ringers and The Reducers. Low Beam’s “Fantastico” brings their trademark multi-layered inter-gender harmonies into sync with “just crunchy enough” guitars to create a very drinkable brew. Matt Gouette’s “Last Night’s Dream” and West Shore 2’s “String Theory” also deal in melodic vocals as their prime currency. Gouette’s “Dream,” might be the most radio-ready song on the comp. If the right people were to hear it… “Rain Forest,” by Gounod & the Sensetree Band, is a fantastic specimen of smoothed out mid-tempo reggae. Gounod’s demure but soulful vocal stylings make this track a must hear.

Among the catchiest, dancingest offerings, are The Reducers’ “Yeh, Yeh, Alright” and Estrogen & Tonic’s “Morphine Drip.” “Yeh,” repeats the phrase “Yeh, yeh, alright, c’mon” in various configurations over a bluesy little rock shuffle. Honestly, it’s undeniably irresistible. Meanwhile, “Morphine Drip” is a tad more intense a shuffle, playing on the multiple meanings it insinuates for the phrase, “Do the morphine drip.” But, despite all the other great tunes on Volume 4, Lux Radio’s “Skabiotch,” has become the author’s personal favorite. No offense, everybody else. But, come on. How can you not love the chorus: “I don’t want to be your man/If all you want to do is bitch/While I try to understand.” Not to mention, “Skabiotch” has maybe the best guitar solo on the record.

All told, Towers of New London — Volume 4 is everything New London area music fans have come to expect from this franchise – comprehensive, diverse and eminently listenable.