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Continental Drifters
Continental Drifters, Monkey Hill/Ichiban
Playing time 38:50 (3 1/2 stars)
The Continental Drifters, a fraternal roster of musicians led by drummer Carlo Nuccio, have long been a popular presence within the musical community of New Orleans.
In recent years, the band's ever-shifting roster of songwriters and musicians - at one point, the majority of the Subdudes were erstwhile Drifters - has finally stabilized into a rustic aggregation of transplanted pop musicians from New York and Los Angeles.
Indeed, the stellar lineup of singers and songwriters features on the Drifters' strong debut, Continental Drifters, reads like a Who's Who of '80's pop rock: Joining Nuccio are Peter Holsapple (ex-dB's); Vicki Peterson (ex-Bangles); Susan Cowsill (ex-Cowsills); and Mark Walton and Robert Mache (ex-Dream Syndicate).
No-frills arrangements acccentuate the convivial and communal spirit of unpretentions and unfettered performance. A warm, human-sounding production further illuminates the rustic grace of songs that celebrate the unbridled soul that binds pop, country and R&B. New songs by Holsapple ("Invisible Boyfriend"); Peterson ("Mixed Messages"); Cowsill ("Desperate Love") and Nuccio ("Mezzanine," "New York") underscore the diversity and depth of the band's songwriting.
"Invisible Boyfriend" is a sad, sensitive tale of loneliness in three-quarter time that is graced by Holsapple's trademark wit, unaffected vocal delivery and surefooted melodic sense. The gentle jangling "Mixed Messages" is a bittersweet pop song, beautifully written and dynamically sung by Peterson, that is the equal to her finest contributions with the Bangles.
Cowsill's stark "Desperate Love," combined with her powerhouse intrepretation of "Get Over It," are perhaps the album's most striking songs. Insightful obervations on life and love, soulfully sung by Cowsill, these songs eexpress pain and pride in a manner that is embraceable, inventitive3 and wholly believeable.
Much like the work of John Hiatt, Nuccio's two songs - "Mezzanine" and "New York" - fuse elements of country, pop and R&B into a warm and witty package filled with homespun charm. The congenial appeal of "Mezzanine" is undercut, however, by Nuccio's decision to affect an exaggerated hillbilly drawl that veers dangerously close to caricature.
The albums is fleshed with strong versions of songs by such songwriters as Gram Parsons ("A Song for You"), Pat McLaughlin ("Highway of the Saints") Carole King ("I Can't Make It Alone" and Michael Nesmith ("Some of Shelly's Blues"). Only Holsapple's reading of the Box Tops "Soul Deep" falls short.
The result is an entertaining album of often remarkable songs and performances that celebrates the shared joy of making music for music's sake.
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