Getting
together in the early '90s, the Wallflowers began introducing their rootsy
music to their native Los Angeles and finding a particularly congenial
haven at the Kibitz Room of Canter's delicatessen, one of the town's more
fabled hang-outs. Regularly appearing in the club's Tuesday nightjams,
they drew crowds hungry for songs void of glitz and pretense, long on soul,
smarts and feeling. From the early gigs came "Ashes to Ashes," "Sugarfoot",."Be
Your Own Girl" and the other gems that would make the band's first album
a standout. Rave ups, narratives and closely observed vignettes, their
Iyrics dense and imagistic, the songs signalled the arrival of mature,
distnct talent.
Critics
took highly favorable notice, the group toured with 10,000 Maniacs, the
Spin Doctors, Cracker and Toad the Wet Sprocket -and then came the growing
pains that attend so many fresh outfits. The drummer moved on to play with
Natalie Merchant (a fervent Wallflowers supporter) and other personnel
changes followed. And while the search for a new record label was underway,
the songwritting got sharper, more edgily defined.
Dylan
and Jaffee found new bandmates Michael Ward and Greg Richling-who soon
would shine on Bringing Down The Horse (with Calire not yet on board, the
drums were played by Matt Chamberlain). Signed to Interscope, The Wallflowers
pitched into recording.
From
the soaring glide guitar on "6th Avenue Heartache" to the sly interweaving
of funky organ and dobro on "One Headlight," the propulsive drumming on
"The Difference" and Dylans heartfelt singing throughout, the results offer
rich and satisfying listening. Sweet and plaintive "Josephine" contrasts
with the rollicking "God Don't Make Lonely Girls", while, with "Invisible
City," Jakob turns in some of his finest Iyrics:
"The
imitation of good faith/is how you stumble upon hate/it may have been the
first of mistakes/When we held on too loosely/And let open the gates."
Check
the gorgeous pedal steel work by Nashville veteran Leo LeBlanc on "l Wish
I Felt Nothing", a sometime "sixth member" of The Wallflowers (LeBlanc
died shordy after recording was finished; the album is dedicated to him).
"Three Marlenas" a bittersweet tribute to a desperado seeking
release, and, on the gorgeous "Josephine" Jakob's vocals achieve a new,
tender clarity.
For
lovers, then, of music that hits hard yet then lingers, that grows deeper
with each listening, Bringing Down the Horse is one sweet, tough, sassy
gift. The Wallflowers, they're a band that matters, their songs capturing
the raw, wondrous everyday mysteries of life itself.
Adapted
from the Official Biography on Interscope Records.
