Somebody must have slipped something in the water supply in Nashville. For some reason, half the bands to debut recently seem to be named after their two main members. It used to be all we had to worry about was Rachel Rachel, which didn't actually have anyone with that name in the band. Now we've got Phil & John, Fleming & John, KarenLeigh, and Aaron Jeoffrey, with new bands like Jackson Finch waiting in the wings. But before all those bands, standing like a giant in the land of eponymous bands, there were The Walter Eugenes with a self-titled 1991 album on Ocean Records. That album ran a fairly short course from the new artist rack to the discount rack. But the band is back again, with a Beautiful new album which addresses many of the flaws in their earlier release.
In the spirit of post-grunge modern rock, The Walter Eugenes have jettisoned the airy keyboards which mired their previous album, and focused on a guitar-driven sound, with no less than five assistant guitarists adding tracks. Twin producers Lynn Nichols and Dave Perkins (of Chagall Guevara and Passafist fame) injected plenty of "wah" and feedback into the mix without completely abandoning the (U2's) Edge-influenced sound of the previous album. "Talk to Me" in particular seems to have lifted its guitar tone from the intro to U2's "Where The Streets Have No Name." When keyboards do surface, as on the title track and "I Need You," they're more a rhythm than just background padding.
Lead vocalist Walter Paul Robinette swings between the serious quaver of U2's Bono and the pseudo-Eurotrash sound perfected by Roger Rose of Mad at the World. It's rather nice in general to hear a distinctive rock voice in a land of Journey sound-alikes.
The lyrics appear to be well thought over, with clever alliteration and other poetic devices surfacing periodically. "America" finds the band at their most biting, with verses of "America the Beautiful" interspersed with editorial comments demonstrating America's betrayal of Christian ideals throughout its history. By the time Robinette gets to "God has shed His grace on thee," it's more a lament to an ungrateful country than a voice of thanks to the Almighty. "Hands That Feed Us" continues that thought with lyrics echoing the similarly named song by The Call in the album's best plaintive moment.
The Walter Eugenes have made significant strides since their last album. The album's title is unfortunate, considering that the album cover is the ugliest I've ever seen. But the music itself is pretty good, with the several standouts mentioned above and a couple of other good tunes like "Hole For A Heart," "Beautiful," and "Farmer and the Crow." It's hard for a one-man effort (Robinette doesn't play any instruments apparently) to generate a true band sound, but studio pros Perkins, Nichols, and Phil Madeira help prop up and expand the songs. I don't know how this will fly on tour, but straight from the studio it sounds like something worth hearing more than a few times. Rock album of the year, maybe not. But Beautiful is a decent attempt by a band on its way up, hopefully with more good albums ahead of it.
Similar sounding releases
1991Chagall GuevaraChagall Guevara
1992The Seventy SevensThe Seventy Sevens
1995The Swirling EddiesThe Berry Vest
1993The ChoirKissers and Killers
1996Geoff Moore & The DistanceGreatest Hits
1996One Hundred DaysCounting By Heads
