Takes 2

Area Code 207 proves its talent runs deep

By Sam Pfeifle

Greetings From Area Code 207, Vol. 2 will be released Nov. 9. Check future 8 Days a Week for release party information.

SECOND HELPING: the follow-up to Greetings from Area Code 207 tastes just as good.

It happened most recently with those Billy Bragg and Wilco discs, Mermaid Avenue, volumes 1 and 2. Volume 1: never heard anything like it before, fantastic, inventive, what more can you say. Volume 2: yeah, yeah, fantastic and all that, but what more can you say? And so one of the best discs of 2000 was largely ignored. In the music biz, novelty carries far, and forward-thinking bands from the Jayhawks, to Belle & Sebastien, to Built to Spill lose some of their luster as each successive album sounds eerily similar to the last.

Hence, the excitement that accompanies the release of Greeting from Area Code 207, Volume 2, will be meted with critical comparisons. Could this second effort, unveiled by Charlie Gaylord’s Cornmeal Records on November 9, exactly one year to the day after the first, be as good? Could it capture that raw talent, that authentic Portland spirit, that fresh approach so inspiring to local music fans?

Well, that’ll be for you to decide, won’t it? After about a 100 listens to volume 1, one gets a little attached to the original, and the initial reaction is one of comparison, particularly between songs donated by bands on both discs.

The Troubles lead things off on volume 2 with “Never Understand,” their brand of songwriting in a nutshell. It’s not quite as edgy as volume 1’s “Get the Money up,” which may actually be the best song the Troubles ever wrote, but the “Understand” bridge is such sweet, harmonic ’60s pop that images of Jan and Dean go dancing through your head. And, if only for that surreal experience, the song makes for a good opener.

Similarly, Slaid Cleeve’s volume 1 track, “Last of the V-8’s,” was just about the best he can muster, so this year’s “Monster in Law” is a good idea. With a cool opening bass line that sounds like it might be a clothesline being plucked; and teases of bits from the Spyhunter, Munsters, and Adams Family theme songs; it’s a fun track with a catchy chorus that doesn’t really aspire to be taken seriously.

The McCarthys and the Piners both let another singer take a crack at lead vocals on their volume 2 tunes. It’s a completely different tack for the Piners, switching from Boo Cowie’s plaintive wail for a man to “Take the Wheel” to Haakon’s easy croon about his girl who’s “The Lonesome Kind.” A nice turn for fans who don’t have The Piners’ disc, this emphasizes the country in their alt-country background, with a down-home chorus that runs: “Have you seen my baby? She’s the lonesome kind. She spends her nickels on the jukebox, pennies at the five and dime. If you see my baby, she the one with far away eyes. She lives in a dream, but it’s alright with me as long as she’s feeling fine.”

The Coming Grass get dirtier with a bitter tune about a “Deal Maker” who’s “on the phone,” “all alone,” and lost his soul; a song about the music industry that an effort like Area Code 207 is diametrically opposed to. Mark Farrington and Cattle Call get happier, celebrating the “Good Life” with a voice as full of emotion as ever. And the Manny Verzosa track is less haunting, moving more toward a ’80s rock feel with “So Far So Good.”

Sara Cox’s voice is again true and unwavering on the disc’s final cut, “Sticking (Not Stuck),” and it’s not hard to figure how her kids get to sleep at night — lucky rugrats. Gaylord’s own Diesel Doug and the Long Haul Truckers again provide a live track, this time a cover of the Iguanas’ “My Girlfriend is a Waitress,” fun and truck-stomping.

Jenny Jumpstart and the Muddy Marsh Ramblers, however, are the two returnees who really draw attention to themselves. Jenny’s cover of Diesel Doug’s “Circles” was certainly impressive on volume 1, but her rustling chandelier of a voice is more striking this time around on “Hazy Moon,” an upbeat track, with help from Gaylord and Jerk of Grass Jason Phelps. Earnest, and with excitement rippling throughout, it stands as further cement of Jumpstart’s local reputation.

It’s also a call for an album, but not nearly as loud as the Ramblers’ “The Old Railroad.” I was particularly fond of volume 1’s “Timberline,” but this tune literally ran chills up the back of my neck at first listen. Scott Conley is a first-rate songwriter, and his voice here takes a good crack at that necessary high lonesome sound. Authentic without being old-fashioned, traditional without retreading.

And you won’t forget about Jerks of Grass. Their follow-up, “Whitewater,” isn’t quite as memorable as “Highway Paved with Pain,” but it’s a closer approximation of their pyrotechnic live show.

Then there are the replacements. It feels a lot like a baseball team trying to build through free-agency, or a mid-year election. There are going to be folks you really miss, but the hope is that the new blood will improve the overall effort.

Say ZuZu, Rust Farm, Hollerin’ Man, and King Memphis are all noticeably absent: All-stars who’ve been let walk, fiery politicians unseated. Though you could argue that Say ZuZu are more of a New Hampshire outfit, Rust Farm have taken up a Boston residency, and King Memphis is represented by a fine little Chet Atkins-esque original ditty of guitarist Matt Robbins’ creation called “Lazy Breakdown.” Hollerin’ Man really is a loss, his Johnny Paycheck cover on the last disc was a standout.

However, the replacement of female voices Cindy Bullens and Carol Noonan (snore) with Darien Brahms and Bebe Buell (purr) is a solid upgrade. Brahms appears twice, actually, the second time in a pure-pop duet with Frankenstein. Her “We’re all Okay” has been kicking around for a while — Cattle Call will cover it from time to time even — but she’s never recorded it because she thought it sounded too country. Well, good thing she did. Her deep, breathy rasp is suited to the genre, and it’s a great fit here.

As for Bebe, well, who’s going to say ‘no’ to Bebe? Is “Little by Little” really a fit here? No, but she does make allowances to come close. Her Debbie Harry punk growl is in full effect, but her backing band sound almost acoustic, and seem to be intentionally holding off on the volume. This song may get skipped over by a few roots purists, but it certainly adds a little sass to the disc.

She also adds star power, along with Rustic Overtones and Nick Curran. The Overtones contribute “Cherry,” which has been kicking around as an MP3 for about a year. A throwback of sorts, the line “Things ain’t the same as ’58” helps to conjure up images of the intermission songs at drive-in movies. Curran lends a track off his new album, “This Time I’m out the Door,” one of the few you’ll find somewhere else as volume 2 is released (other tracks are scheduled for release on individual artists’ future albums).

Best addition? Has to be Cerberus Shoal’s “Sweetie.” Most local music observers might initially wonder how their sprawling, multi-instrumental soundscapes would fit here, but their contribution really acts as an anchor. With that boom-chick rhythm of a classic roots song, “Sweetie” explores the possibilities of traditional music in creating a middle eastern sounding folk: dropping in echoes of ouds, didgeridoos, bells, flutes, and choruses of half-caught lyrics they reach a depth of sound you’re certainly not going to get out of a G-C-D bluegrass band.

A Tom Petty-sounding track from Greg Goodwill is a nod to a fresh voice on the scene, but not an upgrade as an addition. And the Frotus Caper’s contribution suffers from sounding a lot like the Troubles, who come first on the album (of course, their similar sound makes sense, as Caper’s Joe Boucher wrote a bunch of Troubles tunes).

So, maybe you’re absurdly attached to Volume 1. You’re going to have some quibbles, but it won’t take many listens before this new compilation (which again benefits the St. Lawrence Church restoration) firmly ensconces itself in your personal music rotation.

Sam Pfeifle can be reached at spfeifle@phx.com.