Neo-’70s duo rock hard, but nothing new
CD: “Morningwood”(Capitol)
PERFORMER: Morningwood
WEBSITE: Click here.
The self-titled debut of NYC-based Morningwood represents everything good about ’70s pop-rock — it’s equal parts sexy, sassy, catchy and loud.
At a tender 23, front woman Chantal Claret sounds like she earned her rock stripes alongside the Runaways and Debbie Harry. Under her calm stare and Jaclyn Smith-curls lurk both ’70s girl-rage (as in the roaring indictment of condescension, “Body 21″) and the power to lull us into sweet teen-dreams, as in the song “Ride the Lights.”
Although known to spit out killer songs solo, Claret has a damn solid band backing her aural tour of the Carter-era. Ex-Wallflowers drummer Pedro Yanowitz — the band’s only other official member — now takes on the backup vocals and lays down pounding grooves on bass (hear “Everybody Rules”).
To attain that authentic Wall of Sound, the duo called upon a host of guest musicians with a history in throwback pop. Guitarist Richard Steel played lead guitar for the defunct Brit-band Spacehog (the foursome’s drummer, Johnny Cragg, makes a one-song stop).
Spacehog also borrowed heavily from the ’70s, although their sound-of-choice leaned more toward the operatic, arena-rock of Queen. Steel’s style of accentuating the lyrics with simple, high-octave riffs (a la Brian May) softens Morningwood’s proto-punk roots well: songs such as “Nth Degree” and “Jetsetter” feature a dance-club body drawing life from a beating Heart-like grit.
Sadly, this album dropped last month, not 30 years ago. Morningwood’s wild, vintage-punk venues surely offer something radical (and worth seeing) in today’s music world, but their album sounds like a retread. The sound they rekindle no longer shocks but influences, meaning everyone has heard it and now tries to build on it. Bands such as the Strokes also borrow heavily from this era, but tweak it for freshness. Morningwood sounds so 1970s that you could slip the song “Televisor” into a classic rock station playlist and no one would notice.
All love aside, it’s hard to imagine that Morningwood will ever be treated as more than a novelty (the name doesn’t help). And that’s a heartbreaker.
– by Morgan Kelly
