"Hey, Linda, when are you going to review that CD I gave you last winter?" Mark Chaffee never misses an opportunity. He doesn't give his band's Not the Joneses full-length, professionally produced self-titled debut CD away to every member of the press in Chicago, so now it's follow-up time.
"When they ask you to play Cornerstone," I responded. The Phantom Tollbooth publishers are always on the lookout for great indies, but the ones asked to play at Cornerstone Festival get our immediate attention. As official typist of the Cornerstone website, I was one of the first to learn that indeed, they were asked to play Cornerstone '97, winners of a new band showcase berth.
With a better-than-average attendance at their afternoon show, they turned in another good set. "Draggin Man", "I Love You Anyway," "Tantalize," "Anastasia," Not the Joneses introduced their music to a sector of the public that could appreciate the subtlety of their message, but who, for the most part, would never consider hearing them in their typical venue.
Lead singer and guitarist Mark Chaffee and bass player Russell Bergum (who has recently left the band to return to medical school) started creating music together in 1993. They added lead guitarist Dug Schoenbeck and drummer Vince Consolo in 1995, and became a professional band.
Professional means hired-for-pay, and like most cities, the majority of paid entertainment in Chicago is consumed with alcohol. Not the Joneses is a bar band. They play loud, tight, comfortable rock with catchy choruses and plenty of flashy moves to get the imbibing patrons to pay attention to their act. They write it and play it well:
Are we havin fun yet, getting all we can get
Ashes to ashes, yeah we all fall down
Tryin not to feel while we're trying to look real
Ashes to ashes, yeah we all fall down
The sound is your basic rock 'n roll, a well-executed blend of familiar styles. Schoenbeck shreds on cue, Consolo is a maniacal drummer, Bergum does what a bass player does best: support the lead singer, Chaffee, whose clear delivery of the lyrics makes lengthy introductions unnecessary. Nobody cares about that stuff, anyway. Just play that one they like so much: "One Time Woman." Never mind that the catchy tune is exhorting a would-be groupie to quit hitting on these married band members, it has great hooks!
They meet their audience where they are, sympathize, then offer a solution. In the memorable "J-lite" over a bed of "J-lite the way," Mark lists the social ills of our times, and concludes, "where have we gone - we've lost our way/ This is our home - and all we like sheep have gone astray." In case you still haven't got it, or you need another nudge, the ballad "For the Cross" spells it out,
I cry for the people who don't know the way
I cry for the martyrs who don't know to pray
I cry for all people those wandering lost
I cry for the cross.
This one is too slow for most of their sets, but a nice addition to the album. Sometimes their cleverness gets the better of them. My personal favorite, "God Is Dead" is a great novelty song for us pseudo-intellectuals:
Inside a dim lit tunnel I saw somethin' that I never thought would teach me
God is dead' was written on the wall and it was signed Mr. Nietzsche
Alone in the dark I felt a helpless sinking in my heart
But my spirit lifted
When I saw those words so gifted
Cuz someone wrote beneath in red
'Nietzsche's dead'
Signed, God
Not the Joneses have dropped this from their paying set lists because the hook that everyone took away with them was, "Hey, now, God is dead, that's what Mr. Nietzsche said" --not the message they hope to leave with patrons.
This is not a proselytizing band, yet as Chaffee explained it to me, "Each of the members are truly committed Christians, but we have been led to the dogs - meaning the mainstream market. Our booking, management, record company--almost everything else around us - are secular based. All we do is write music, rehearse, and pray a lot and walk through the doors God has been opening for us. I am beginning to realize more and more that it is not necessarily lyrical content that keeps Christian bands out of the mainstream market. Let's face it, major labels and radio stations alike don't care what the lyrics say as long as they think it can be force fed to our youth who have the purchase power to keep the ball rolling! With this in mind, I think it is more imperative for Christian musicians to get out there and participate in life. We just need to be who we are, not hide behind the walls of our churches and coffee houses, and act like the saved people filled with the love of Christ that we are!"
The recording is first-rate for the most part, although like most studio productions, it doesn't do their live show justice, and there are one or two rough spots buried in some of the slower tracks. Despite the minor quibbles, this is a good, upbeat listen you can play outside with pride while you wax your car. It might even convince your neighbors to accept your invitation to hear Not The Joneses the next time they're in town.
4 tocks
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 1999Reviewed by Alex KlagesIt's hard to know where to start with this band. Not The Joneses' eponymous debut album is a tight, well-polished classic rock album, yet very much a product of the 90's. By this, I mean that on one hand, the album is full of those big pop hooks and rock riffage that is associated with the 70's, but on the other hand, there's a definite modern rock edge to the music. It's almost as though there…The Phantom Tollbooth 1999Reviewed by Lisa ReidNot the Joneses is well-named. This isn't your little brother's garage band -- your little brother only wishes he could jam like this. Russell Bergum, Mark Chaffee, Vince Consolo, and Dug Schoenbeck are the stuff labels dream of -- talented, committed and just waiting for the right deal to come along. Not the Joneses, new to True Tunes Records, was originally released independently and proves…Similar sounding releases
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