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Taken from The Arts Fuse (May 09, 2024)
Rock Album Review: John Powhida's "Jerry's House" -- Nonstop Fun
The album lightly reiterates John Powhida's prog influences while offering a snappy set of short, earworm-inducing pop songs.
by Jason M. Rubin
Cover art of John Powhida's Jerry's House |
John Powhida, Jerry's House
Local favorite John Powhida returns with another irresistible collection of melodic, eclectic power pop, but this time around the tall and quirky singer/songwriter has enlisted a number of nationally and internationally known guest artists in addition to the local cream of the crop one typically finds on a Powhida release: Mike Gent, Peter Moore, Amber Angelina, Jim Haggerty, Chris Anzalone, and Nathan Logus. The additions include the multitalented Fernando Perdomo (too many credits to list); the equally multitalented Probyn Gregory (Brian Wilson Band); session drummer Jerry Marotta; one-time Frank Zappa guitarist Mike Keneally; former Todd Rundgren's Utopia and Hall & Oates bassist John Siegler; and the locally-based-but-widely-known Cars keyboardist Greg Hawkes and Morphine saxophonist Dana Colley.
Its cover art fashioned after that of Peter Gabriel's eponymous 1980 solo album (on which Marotta appeared), the album lightly reiterates Powhida's prog influences as it offers a snappy set of short, earworm-inducing pop songs. The 15 tunes comprise an austere 37 minutes of run time, with five of the songs clocking in at less than two minutes each, something probably not seen since Elvis Costello's Get Happy!! (also, interestingly enough, from 1980). All the songs were written by Powhida except the Hall & Oates cover "Don't Blame It On Love," a Utopia-sounding tune, the original recording of which featured Rundgren and King Crimson's Robert Fripp, who, along with H&O, are key Powhida reference points.
According to Powhida, Jerry's House was three years in the making. "It started at Jerry Marotta's home studio, Jersville, in Woodstock, New York. I was excited to reunite him with John Siegler, his partner on a number of Hall & Oates records. But much of the album was recorded at my neighbor (and co-producer) Scott Janovitz's home studio while our kids were in school." He adds that it soon became apparent he would release this album under his own name, as opposed to the John Powhida International Airport. "I will never make another record like this," he says. "It would have been great with the Airport but this was a fun one to make."
In a Powhidian twist, Marotta himself doesn't drum on the title track named for him but the one that follows, the new-wavey "It Can't Happen Here" (though we all know that of course it can, which keeps the singer from sounding hopelessly paranoid). The next track, "Idling," is a dreamy song with soaring strings and a vocal arrangement, harmonies, and trumpet from Gregory.
"Knoxville" is an out and out rocker with Powhida punching in the powerful bass licks (on the album, he also plays guitar, keyboards, drums, and percussion). The longest track on the album, "Bring Me the Wings (of the Mephedrone Queens)," has the kind of oddball lyrics one comes to expect from Powhida, yet he always finds a way to make such songs sound anthemic. "Tinker Street (Shaw-Wu's Boogie)" stands out for two reasons: its infectious swing and its extreme brevity (73 seconds). It's so cool I wish it were longer.
The Hall & Oates cover is very faithful to the original from 1978's Along the Red Ledge, with Keneally ably bringing the Fripp. The hardest-rocking song on the album is propelled by Siegler on bass and Perdomo on drums. By contrast, the loveliest ballad, "A Children's Song," features Sarah Borges on sweet co-lead vocals. The number that will get you up and dancing the most is "New York Infirmary" (co-written with Josh Hager from Devo), about a guy whose night with a woman "wearing a Ronnie James Dio tee" goes drastically off the rails. The album concludes with another new-wavey song, "Bad Feeling," which features a burning sax solo by Colley.
Officially released last month, the album is available at any live show and at Powhida's Bandcamp page. There will be a CD release party in Los Angeles on May 18 at Hotel Cafe, featuring Powhida with Perdomo, Nada Surf drummer Aaron Conte, Drop Nineteens keyboardist Aaron Tap, and guests Gregory and Amy Correia. The Boston CD release party takes place at the Burren Backroom on August 15 with The I Want You and The Shang Hi Lows.
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