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DEAD
FLOWERS WEBZINE
Article
by Ted Liebler
Sparkling
with enchanting allure and climbing out of the computers speakers like
an interstellar chair lift high over the jet stream, a pop song filled
the room with a glow like a lighted dial on a timeless clock. With its
endearing female vocals shimmering over a lunar terrain of cavernous craters
and deeply submerged reverbed guitars, the sound flew high above all holding
patterns below. The song continued to climb before reaching a cruising
altitude somewhere out near the orbit of "Telstar" by the Tornados
and the spacecraft magic of Joe Meek.
After
being introduced to these suspending sounds through a WFMU archived internet
edition of Joe Belock's "Three Chord Monte" radio program, I
immediately had to find out more. A song, which roamed between blue skies
and black spaces like that 1962 #1 hit from my dad's stack of 45s unearthed
from my grandma's moldy Southern Indiana basement so many years ago, demanded
tracking down before it got away! The playlist revealed that the song
was "Jukebox on the Moon" by the Lost Patrol. The customary
Google search pointed right back to WFMU's web site and to Bob Brainen's
program in particular. I found his archives contained a live on-the-air
performance and their other songs glimmered with the same darkness dispelling
light created when the moon reflects the light of the sun.
Soon,
a package arrived from over the mountains and across the paved over oceanic
desert floor, which contained silver rings for the stereo. The post-space
age music revealed itself to be as atmospheric, sweeping and spacious
as my present dusty locale of Arizona, yet thankfully corralled with a
sense of classic pop structure synonymous with the New York return address
on the maize package. Further spins attested to the band's ability to
find the elusive space where the exotic meets the cosmic and consequently
giving them the rare distinction of being favorites with both WFMU listeners
and NASA researchers.
The
most striking element of the Lost Patrol is their confluence of original
sound. Behind this large expanse is the contrasting duo consisting of
Danielle Kimak Stauss and Stephen Masucci. Both are multi-instrumentalists
with Danielle mainly handling the keys and percussion and Stephen on electric,
acoustic and lap steel slide guitars. While the closest contemporary band
in a similar sonic solar system might be Friends of Dean Martinez, each
band sounds light years away from each other. The prominent electric leads
played over blankets of acoustics recall the innovations of the Shadows,
while the twang and lap steel give the songs a Western feel as heard on
those historic Duane Eddy/Lee Hazlewood recordings. DanielleÕs voice summons
the coolness of Siouxie Sioux roaming through a little long lost Grace
Slick spaciness and brought back down to earth with a touch of Ronnie
Spector's splendor. Underneath the musical overlooks and sonic scenery
is the integral schematic that keeps the sound sustained longer than an
ephemeral shooting star. "My main guitar for live and recording is
a sparkle blue 1966 Mosrite," explains Stephen. "I also use
Kubicki Ex-Factor bass from time to time. My rig is pretty modest: A Fender
Deluxe Reverb amp, Roland SE-70 effects unit along with a small pedal
board with a Midi switcher, volume pedal, Boss Blue Box and a tuner. I
tend not to stray too far from this set up in recording, so live we can
sound pretty much like the CDs."
With
Stauss' dreamy lyrics shooting across the twang and strum like a meteor
shower watched away from the glare of the city's lights, the question
arises which aspect is the first evening star to develop on the duo's
broad creative horizon. "Usually the music comes first in that I
set the atmosphere and Danielle runs with it," answers Masucci. "The
inspiration can come from anywhere." With the band's ability to render
the wide world and beyond, it comes as no surprise that projected images
on the wide screen are its primary influence. "I've had a few songs
in a couple of Hal Hartley films as well as a few things that didn't get
released yet," comments Stephen. "Film is our single biggest
influence and we try to carry that out into our live shows." If there
is some lost drive-in movie theater, this band could provide the soundtrack
to both the projected images of the screen stars and also to the flickering
suns above.
In
the past year, the band has been venturing out, racking up Astrovan miles
and gaining momentum on the live front. Recent appearances at the renowned
Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ, in the country music city of Nashville and at
the NASA Goddard Space Light Center in Maryland exemplify the venue variety
pack approach of the band. "Although most of the recordings have
been just Danielle and myself, until this spring, live we perform as a
four piece. Danielle sings and does live percussion, I do all the electric
guitars, Joe Pascarel does all the acoustic guitar stuff and Carrie Ingber
plays bass. We use a drum machine for both recording and live shows, although
we will be soon performing with live drums," happily notes Masucci.
Stephen's day job, which involves building custom recording studios and
equipment, bought about a significant turn of events that lead to an unforeseen
and paramount meeting of musicians. "Dennis Diken (drummer for the
Smithereens & superb music writer) started out as a client, but became
a fan of the band," enthuses Masucci. "He's really championed
our cause and will be doing some shows with us-remember the "live drummer"
thing...we're honored, he's amazing to play with, one of the world's truly
gifted drummers."The live drums should act as a dome light in possibly
placing this band on the map somewhere on the direct route connecting
both the audiences of the regular planetarium presentations and the midnight
laser show crowds.
In
a world where satellited mainstream music has all the power of a dropped
magnet, the Lost Patrol has quietly departed and arrived back with a release
for each of the last three earth years. They launched their self-titled
CD EP in 2000, which included "Voulez Vous," a single that was
also included on the 2001 Nashville New Music Conference sampler. By 2001,
the band had gelled enough to release "Creepy Cool" as their
first full-length recording. "Creepy Cool" extends their explorations
with their teeming formula of vocals and instrumentals with two sonic
detours. Stauss' vocals project and roam against the Northern skies filled
with dexterous Western twang and reverb--resulting in an alluring and
overlapping sound that drives and drifts like the tide being pulled between
the sun and moon. The electronic adventuring "All This Time"
and "Andre in the City" bends the disc into new territories
away from their signature sound. "Danielle wrote and plays all the
instruments on "All This Time" and "Andre in the City"
is a Moog piece that I did," explains Stephen.
With
its title lifted from a Tennessee Waffle House menu, the "Scattered,
Smothered & Covered" EP landed in early 2002. Possibly their strongest
release to date, overall the disc evokes a drive through a hushed desert
with black cacti contours and mountain silhouettes underneath a dome of
sky filled with the indirect luminaries of white Christmas light-like
stars. The disc blasts off with three haunting vocals numbers before yielding
to the driving instrumental "There and Back" which induces a
desert mirage of a battery of bikers with Davie Allan pole-positioned
on a chopper. The Hale-Bopp pop of "Jukebox on the Moon," originally
rendered by Ginny Millay, concludes and shoots the proper EP to its zenith
point. "Jukebox on the Moon was discovered on a Dave The Spazz (DJ
on WFMU) compilation tape," recalls Stephen. "We were invited
to play a show at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and it seemed like
a natural, so I came up with the arrangement. It fell together pretty
naturally for us." Living up to its "Scattered" title,
a magnificent and unidentified instrumental brings the darkhorse duo back
to earth with a triumphant sparkle. With their linear time skipping momentum
and T-Minus clock counting down, the band is recording constantly and
will most likely release a payload of EPs--ready to be played on portable
players, computers, car & home stereos and Waffle HouseÕs jukeboxes all
over the world!
The
Lost Patrol's out-of-this-world sound connects the space from the nearby
stereo to the faraway reaches of the solar system. Like a glowing Texaco
sign standing tall against a starlit Route 66 night, they find their center
of balance somewhere between the expanse of the old frontier and the guitar-shaped
constellations of the new musical frontier.
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