1980 Housekeeping
by Tom Mott
Sean Tyla
Sean Tyla's Just Popped Out
Genre: Dire Waits
Rating: 3.4 out of 5
Highlights:
Breakfast in Marin
Big Fat Zero
Sean Tyla came out of the 70s UK pub rock scene. We didn't really have pub rock in the U.S. Heck, glam was barely a thing here. In Bob Stanley's wonderful book Yeah Yeah Yeah, he points out that those years around 73-75 are when the US and UK charts diverged the most. All those bands like Mud, Wizzard, and Budgie who never made it in the U.S. Dr. Feelgood. Brinsley Schwarz.
The conventional history of rock timeline is GLAM > PUB ROCK > PUNK. Pub Rock is the transitional "stripping back to the roots" intermission that lead to punk. But, at the time, nobody was thinking "Hey, we're in a transitional genre right now." It was just what was happening. The future was unwritten.
Anyways ... there's a point to this. We didn't really have a pub rock scene in the U.S. But we had bar bands. That DIY spirit of just bringing back the energy and fun to the local dive. The workin' band helping you blow off steam after your shift at the steel plant. Springsteen. Seger.
In the UK, some of those pub rock musicians evolved into beloved roots rockers (Dave Edmonds, Nick Lowe). Some went punk (Joe Strummer). Some sadly burned out (Dr. Feelgood). Tyla appears to have looked across the Atlantic, heard what Springsteen was doing, and liked it. A lot.
The overwhelming wall-of-sound-glockenspiel thing is missing. But the gritty voice, the wailing, soulful sax, the female backing singers, that freeway in the rain feel. I wouldn't be surprised if half the band--probably half the audience too--went out for a ride and never went back. They're all are, down at Dino's Bar and Grill.
Some of this is quite good. Some sounds too much like something else. But if you like The Boss or soul-drenched bar rock--give it a listen.
1. "Nosferatu" isn't a highlight or me, but has a very strong Tom Waits/Dr. John thing going on.
2. WTF is up with the album cover.
https://open.spotify.com/album/3XTaKrZ58B2QpvPM7ExTI5?si=ucaxhfGeTweu6Eepkz8Dvg
No comments:
Post a Comment