Returning
with its most pop-friendly album to date, The Marlboro Chorus knocks
out nine rock-and-roll numbers on American
Dreamers. Drawing influence
from Buddy Holly, Pink Floyd, and Bill Haley, American
Dreamers sees The Marlboro
Chorus putting aside art rock in favor of a straightforward album
complete with guitar solos, magnificently simple lyrics, and a raw
sound. From the black-and-white cover to the title of the record
itself, American Dreamers
feels so easy, but it was a long time coming.
Pat Stolley, The Marlboro Chorus' frontman, has been recording and releasing records in the Quad Cities since the early 1990s. Last year he released a compilation album of material from The Marlboro Chorus' predecessor, The Multiple Cat. But whereas The Multiple Cat was a platform for Stolley's more experimental side, with each release The Marlboro Chorus has been moving closer to no-frills indie rock. And now, with American Dreamers, Stolley has hit the mark.
On the opening song, "Love Is in Love," it is immediately apparent that Stolley is heading in a new direction as he sings, "They see that one road is ending with another's approach." The track takes off with an ever-so-slightly fuzzed rhythm guitar, a steady 4/4 beat, and shared vocal duties by Stolley and percussionist Martin "Rudie" Reyhons until the two-and-a-half-minute mark, when a guitar solo wanders in and carries the song home. From its sweet sentiment - "Don't call it love / It isn't lovers in love / It isn't real unless it comes from above" - to its solid center, "Love Is in Love" is a near-perfect opener and a road sign to what lies ahead.
The title track builds on "Love Is in Love" but packs in so much more. A tambourine, an organ - played by Jeff Konrad (Struggle in the Hive, Konrad) - and lead guitar work by Kerry Tucker (Einstein's Sister) are just a few of the additional elements that set "American Dreamers" apart as the centerpiece it deserves to be. Though cynical, the song is about belief - buying into the American dream only to be let down: "It's a lie that they feed you every single day / You feel and long ... / For a giant car that will take you back to America / The America you once knew about."
While the message of the song isn't anything new, what makes "American Dreamers" such an appealing song are its lighthearted characters - a sailor, a lonely woman, and an old married couple: "Thirty years spent in a bungalow, their secrets seeping in the couch / But a glass of gin and the TV's din was a better bet than talking out loud." The song could have been lost in a message that is itself as tired as the American dream but gains inspiration through its unique characters.
"Willow in the Woods" is a bit more experimental, but only insofar as it's not a conventional rock song like so much of the material on American Dreamers. Whether intentional or not, it sounds a lot like Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here," from the electric- and acoustic-guitar counterpart in the intro to the increasingly loud vocals toward the middle of the song. This familiarity of sound is what helps it fit with the rest of the album. Each song incorporates some element commonly found in a rock-and-roll song.
A bit of a reprieve comes with "Who's the Liar?", falling between two upbeat numbers. Stolley's singing style comes off as slightly nasally at times, which can be a distraction. But in this mid-tempo frolic, that same effect is used to enhance the sweet and easy pace set by a steady piano, like two old friends walking off into the closing credits of a Sunday-afternoon matinée. Kerry Tucker returns with a crystalline guitar solo - plenty of sustain, just a little bit of fuzz, and a precise pattern of clean notes that illustrates how good tone beats "muscle notes" any day.
One of the elements that defines Stolley's "sound" is his vocal production - in particular, double-tracked vocals and the layering of vocal tracks to create a choir effect. This same tool was used by classic pop artists such as the Beatles and Queen and modern-day indie-popsters such as Elliott Smith and Stephen Malkmus. Punctuated by hand claps and a tambourine, "That Style!" is flooded with vocals, and it's difficult to tell just how many layers there are. One of the poppiest numbers on the album, "That Style!" splits Stolley's vocals between the left and right channels, making it an excellent headphone song; just as one vocal track fades away on the left, another replaces it on the right in a seamless exchange.
"Hello!" is the most obvious rock-and-roll track on the album. From the opening jangly guitar to the piano roll à la Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard, the chorus is the only thing that makes it stand apart from '50s rock. The tempo suddenly shifts as if someone hit the bullseye on the dunking machine, dropping the band underwater. But just as abruptly, the next verse starts and it's time to start twisting out on the dance floor again. The song is a marriage of old The Multiple Cat art rock and new The Marlboro Chorus straight-ahead rock.
It's always been clear that Stolley is an extremely talented musician, but on American Dreamers he's showcasing his talents in a new way - a fully accessible format that's familiar to just about everybody.
Culley Smith is a writer and runs a local website (http://www.theairstrange.com) devoted to promoting local music.
