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I hate to review a band by referring to
the name of its record label, but with "Tom Racer,"
and their debut album "The Secret's Out," on Slog Records,
I sort of can't avoid the comparison. "Tom Racer" tries
to be a high energy, guitar-driven, power pop band. Given that,
it's just too bad that the guitars steer the band to nowhere,
and whatever message they may have been trying to deliver to
the masses is lost in a wall of ultimately boring noise.
According to the press notes accompanying
the disc, the brothers Elliott (Mike and Jon), who make up two-thirds
of "Tom Racer" (with lead vocalist and guitarist Erik
Newton), had some interesting music business contacts early in
life. Their father was personal manager to one of the "Beach
Boys" for a while, and knew a number of the stars of the
70's. Unfortunately, those influences didn't make a good enough
impression on the boys if "The Secret's Out" is any
indicator. The press notes also include the following piece of
ominous information. "The band was signed off of a 4-track
cassette demo made in their garage, sight unseen." These
guys should never have been elevated from garage status. Any
disc that begins with the lyrics "How do you feel?/ Are
you okay?/ It's no big deal/ Don't run away. . ." is going
to be in trouble in my book. The shortcomings of this album hardly
end there, however. Those lyrics are pretty indicative of the
rest of the album, whining about life as a California youth,
pining away after some of those California girls. What's worse
is the fact the generic words are delivered by Erik Newton in
an annoying, "bored," almost monotonous, vocal style.
Newton's guitars, too, are a source of
annoyance. Despite what I said above about "Tom Racer"
trying to be a guitar-driven, power pop outfit, Mike Elliott's
competent bass may as well be the lead instrument. Elliott, along
with his brother Jon on drums, basically carries the majority
of tunes along, while Newton's guitar seems relegated to a mere
rhythmic support role. When the guitar is brought to the forefront,
it is presented as little more than a raucous noisemaker, spewing
forth a harsh melody, if it can be called that.
Instead of providing catchy, engaging hooks,
as the best power pop is supposed to do, "Tom Racer"
leaves the listener with the impression of an indistinct, muddled
mass of moldy music. I've given this disc multiple listens, waiting
for at least one song to jump out and strike me, and it just
doesn't happen. The best song just might be the last one, the
title track, but if the band didn't keep repeating the words,
"The secret's out" over and over again, I wouldn't
have been able to tell it apart from the rest of the songs. |
