WATCH
FOR TODAY - The Now Time Delegation (In the Red)
Dunno how this one managed to slip through the cracks but now that it's
on the Bar sound system, it's not going off for a while.
The
Now Time Delegation are Bellrays singer Lisa Kekaula and friends, among whose
number sits Monkey Wrench/Lord High Fixers guitarist (and Estrus in-house
producer) Tim Kerr. If the Bellrays are described (by lazier critics) as a
meeting of Aretha Franklin and the MC5, then The Now Time Delegation is Aretha
fronting a scorching garage band (less the bluster and brimstone of the Five
and more like the Yardbirds with feedback AND twang.) Half the songs are Kerr
collaborations or self-penned efforts, and he produced this baby so it's fair
to say he had a big hand in its birth. So too did the likes of King Floyd
and Curtis Mayfield, whose songs are included in the half-a-dozen choice soul
covers that make up the rest of the disc.
If you're talking assets, Lisa Kekaula's vocals are an obvious starting point.
Full and rich with a great range, she could put her mind to the most mundane
material and make it sound fantastic. (Not that this material is mundane,
but you know what I mean.) This is no one woman band either - the players
come from bands like Blacktop and (mostly) the Gospel Swingers. They all lend
a sympathetic feel to the proceedings and never overplay or lapse into hamfistedness.
(Too bad that the same couldn't said of the last Bellrays album, which was
all jams and way too light on in the tunes department, but that's a different
story.)
Standouts: The groovy instrumental "Getting the Corners" (where
Kari Luna's Hammond organ comes into its own), "Little Miss Fortune"
(penned by Kerr and the brilliantly-named bassplayer Alex Cuervo) Eddie Floyd's
"Raise Your Hand" and The Flirtations' strident Mowtown work-out
"Nothing But a Heartache" all vie for turntable time. "Keep
on Pushin'" is probably the best-known song here and cuts a mean rug.
As does the whole album. Not a clunker here.
In contrast to what's gone on before, the disc does end on a low-key note
with the vocals-accompanied-only-by-guitar note of the title track, but if
you have any taste you'll reset the thing to the beginning and give it another
spin. I suppose Album Number Two would be out the question, guys? -
The Barman
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