Manholed

Columbia screws Talking to Animals

by Brett Milano

Juliana Nash of Talking to Animals has a message for the local music community: "Just tell people that they shouldn't ever sign with a major label," she advises from her current home in New York. "I mean it. This industry is ugly."

One gets the impression Nash knows what she's talking about. Until very recently, Talking to Animals were among the Boston bands most likely to make a national breakthrough this year. Their album Manhole -- produced by Mike Denneen at Q Division -- was set for release on the 27th of this month. And it's a terrific effort: the songs are solid, the band rock hard, and Nash's vocals and lyrics put a good deal of sultry depth into a loud guitar-rock base.

Promotional CDs had already been sent out, a national tour was being booked, major press coverage was expected, and the band appeared on two label compilations before Christmas. As far as they could tell, everyone at the label was showing up at gigs and supporting them. Having been together for nearly a decade, the members had finally quit their day jobs and were prepared to grab the opportunity. Nash had even given up her apartment and moved in with her parents, to conserve funds for the tour.

Then they got dropped. Two weeks ago today, Talking to Animals were informed, through manager Michael Hausman, that the album release was being canceled, that the prospective tour was off, and that the band were effectively being cut loose on the eve of the CD's release date. Even if you haven't been treading the boards for 10 years, that's as severe a last-minute letdown as you can get.

"I fucking hate the music business," was Nash's first response. "What we're doing at the moment is begging for our day jobs back. And you start thinking, `Maybe it's me; maybe I'm meant to be a plumber and I didn't realize it.' Maybe we're just nice people who should never be in this business, maybe we're just not ruthless enough."

In fact, what happened to Talking to Animals is a good example of how a band can get trampled as labels focus more on the search for monster hit singles and less on artist development. Manhole's original release date was last September; again plans were changed just weeks before it was set to appear. At the time, Talking to Animals were told that the album would sell better if it were held for the winter. Accordingly they spent a few months touring the East Coast, released four Manhole tracks as a promo-only EP, and returned to the studio with new drummer Mike Levesque to add an 11th song (called "Everlasting Ache," ironically enough) to the album. At this point the label was still funding the additional groundwork. "To us that meant that they were behind the band," Nash says. "They were giving us indications that they wanted to develop us and we thought, `Well, great. Develop us.' "

According to Nash, what happened next was that A&R man Josh Sarubin -- who took over from their original A&R contact midway through the project -- played Manhole for Columbia president Don Ienner, who apparently hadn't heard it before. "Whatever happened was so political that I'll probably never know the real story," Nash recounts. "What we heard was that he said, `There aren't any singles on this album and this isn't a good time to put this out; Columbia needs instant hits right now.' What's great is that the night before we got dropped, we played a show in New York just so he could see us. Everyone at the label was there, and we're playing this huge, ridiculous show. Donnie pulls up in a limo, stays for three songs, and leaves."

Nobody from Columbia was willing to talk on the record, but Talking to Animals may not be the only local act in trouble there. Janet LaValley's much-promoted solo debut, also set for release this month, has apparently been shelved as well. Talking to Animals are now hoping they can go the small-label route and release Manhole on the Q Division imprint, but it's not certain whether they have legal rights to the material. Adding to the band's frustration is that Manhole is actually their second album: the first one, produced by Kevin Salem in 1992, was shelved after much label-shopping.

"We've got support from fans and a great booking agent, and we can't get a frigging record out," says Nash with a bitter laugh, though she insists that the band aren't breaking up. "No, we're going to get this album out, and maybe other bands will be inspired by that. We're unstoppable at this point."

SOLO NUNO

Nuno Bettencourt would like to set the record straight: it was he, not Gary Cherone, who broke Extreme up -- and he did it months before Cherone got asked to join Van Halen.

"I did it; I was the bad guy," he acknowledges over the phone from Los Angeles. "What was cool was that we broke up without hating each other. I'd done the solo album and I had a heart-to-heart with Gary, told him my heart wasn't in the band anymore. Extreme had become a marketing band, everything was getting too calculated after Pornograffitti [their 1990 hit second album]. Let's face it, that album didn't sell six million copies because we had six million hardcore fans; it sold that much because of `More Than Words,' period."

The album that Bettencourt left Extreme to make comes out this week. Schizophonic (A&M) is a one-man solo effort (yes, he plays all the instruments) that's generally edgier and darker than an Extreme album, though the single "Gravity" is a catchy funk rocker that's up the old band's alley. His singing voice takes some getting used to -- and the album is more vocal-oriented than fans of his guitar playing probably expect -- but he makes some surprising stabs as a writer. "Two Weeks in Dizkneeland," for instance, sounds remarkably like a Nirvana homage, with a lyric that spews rage at an unspecified target.

"That's the most personal song on the album," Nuno says. "And I wasn't sure whether I wanted to talk about this, but maybe it will help people if I do: it's about child molestation. That's not something that actually happened to me, but something I saw in friends and family. Without going into detail, it was a close one, and being the youngest of 10 kids in the family, you can sense when something's wrong. When you write something like that, you're not thinking of sharing it with the whole planet; that happens later. Since I'm an admirer of Cobain and Nirvana, playing it that way seemed the best way to get the demons out of my system."

He remains friends with Cherone, who recently played him some of the new Van Halen tracks. What did it sound like? "It sounds like Extreme! I heard one track and said, `Since when did Van Halen get funky all of a sudden?' " He confirms that Van Halen hedged for a long while about asking Cherone to join. "I'm sure they didn't really want Gary; I'm sure they wanted [David Lee] Roth to work out and get the old band back together. And the fact that Roth didn't get the gig, and then went crying to everybody about it, should tell you why he didn't get it. Van Halen were probably thinking, `Yeah, Extreme, "More Than Words," whatever,' but they didn't realize how Gary comes from the Mick Jagger school of performing. I'm just waiting till Gary gets on stage and kisses Eddie and tries to hump his ass. He's gonna be out after one show."

OCASEK MEETS CORGAN?

A familiar local face is apparently checking into the Fort Apache studios this season. Former Cars leader Ric Ocasek, whose last album hit the $6 bin at Nuggets in record time, will be recruiting some fresh blood for the next one. According to a report that reached the Internet this week, his studio band will include Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur and Bad Religion guitarist Brian Baker, along with Cars keyboardist Greg Hawkes. Most of the tracks will be produced by Paul Kolderie and Sean Slade, save for a handful produced by the last guy to release a Cars cover -- none other than Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan. (The folks at Fort Apache weren't confirming or denying the rumor). It's surprising to see Ocasek with outside producers, however, since his production skills -- with Weezer, Bad Religion, and Nada Surf -- have been his career focus lately.

LAZY SUSAN REUNION

Lazy Susan, a fondly remembered pop/folk/country combo who sported some of the best female harmonies I've ever heard in a local band, are doing a one-off reunion show this Saturday at the Lizard Lounge. Original singers/writers Shirley Simms and Therese Bellino and guitarist Dan Coughlan will all be aboard. (The latter two will also play with their current band, Thing from Venus, at the Middle East tonight.) The Lazy Susan show will be headlined by the Bristols, whose increasingly rare gigs are also very catchable.

COMING UP

Get a zydeco fix from Geno Delafose at Johnny D's tonight, hit the surf with Los Straitjackets at the Middle East, or rock with the Finch Family at the Linwood . . . Slide play their annual Mardi Gras show at Club Bohemia Friday with the Wheelers & Dealers; Sloan and Gravel Pit do the pop at the Middle East, Kevin Salem and the Sky Heroes are at T.T. the Bear's Place, Buckwheat Zydeco continues the Louisiana invasion by playing Harpers Ferry, Mark Cutler's at Mama Kin, and former Hendrix drummer (also former California Raisin and former jailbird) Buddy Miles plays the House of Blues . . . The Mekons' countryish offshoot, the Waco Brothers, play T.T.'s on Saturday, Angry Johnny and the Killbillies do the Linwood, Mudfoot and the Shods are at the Middle East, Merrie Amsterburg plays Club Bohemia, the Bruisers and Big Bad Bollocks are at the Rat, Chuck are at the Phoenix Landing, and hot blues-rocker Tinsley Ellis is at Harpers Ferry . . . Start Valentine's Day a few days early with the always romantic Fuzzy at Charlie's Tap on Monday . . . Or trash Valentine's Day a couple of nights early with the seldom romantic (unless you count "Alcohol") Gang Green at Bill's Bar on Wednesday.