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Continental Drifters Vermillion
Razor & Tie
It all began in a basement club
in Hollywood, a weekly gather
ing of who's who with Dream
Syndicate's Mark Walton the
guiding force It was a collective
that went by the name Continental Drifters That was the early
1990s.
Still standing, the latest and
now longest running Continental
Drifters configuration features
alumni of such esteemed outfits
as The dBs , The Bangles, The
Bluerunners, the Steve Wynn
Band, the Cowsills, and Mr.
Walton of Dream Syndicate
fame. A mixed bag for sure, but
"continental drifters" one and
all.
Yet for all that all star-ness and
cult-like notoriety over the years,
there's only been a single recording to show for it, a not-so-high
fidelity, self-titled release from
1994 for a small New
Orleans-based indie label. With
the release of Vermillion, justice
is finally served for this band.
Fire, brimstone, and a seamless
blend of rock, pop, roots and
soul fills the grooves of Vermillion.
It begins in resounding fashion
with ex-Bangle Vicki Peterson
singing her guts out on a passionate rocker called
"The Rain Sog. On the heart-and-soul
segue called Drifter, Peterson
loosely tells the tale of this ensemble of soulmates.
The message? Enjoy it while it lasts and
Vermillion certainly testifies to
the fact that these folks are creatively in bloom.
The baton gets passed to girl
singer number two, Susan
Cowsill, on the fiery followup
Way of the World, which features
mesmerizing harmonies'from the
two ladies. It's ex-dB Peter
Holsapple's turn next on the
speedy rocker Don't Do What I
Did, before the serenity of the
jangly Spring Day in Ohio, written by Cowsill and on which
Peterson does the vocal honors,
settles the senses. Peterson returns the favor on the next track,
a tune she wrote called Watermark with Cowsill at the helm
and featuring some awfully pretty mandolin from Robert Mache'
And that's just how it is. Each
player taking her or his turn and
as a collective, never missing a
beat. With Vermillion, The Continental Drifters go for the jugular and get it They also make
the long wait seem all the more
worthwhile
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