No laurels

The Gigolo Aunts Learn To Play Guitar

by Brett Milano

In the fall of 1995, the Gigolo Aunts went into the studio to begin work on the already overdue follow-up to their major-label debut, 1994's Flippin' Out (RCA). This week a new Aunts disc finally hits the racks -- just 15 months, two personnel changes, one scrapped album, and one failed record deal later.

But Learn To Play Guitar isn't the high-profile, major-label follow-up the Aunts began work on back in '95. It's a six-song EP of eight-track recordings released on a hometown indie label (Wicked Disc). It's also the work of a substantially different band, since ex-6L6 guitarist John Skibic came in last year to replace original member Phil Hurley (current drummer Fred Eltringham replaced Paul Brouwer in '95). Skibic doesn't exactly metalize the Aunts, but he doesn't copy Hurley's approach either. For starters, he's got absolutely no Neil Young influence, and he plays plenty of power chords without forgetting he's in a pop group. And his approach is just different enough to inject some adrenaline into the works, making this one of the rare occasions where a personnel change is a revitalizing move rather than a last-ditch effort.

It's no surprise that the songs on Learn To Play Guitar are real good; songwriters Dave Gibbs (guitar/vocals) and Steve Hurley (Phil's brother, bass/vocals) would have no problem coming up with six keepers after a three-year recording break. More surprising is the vibrancy of the eight-track sound, which proves once again how unnecessary expensive production is when a band know what they're doing. There are hooks and harmonies all over the place, with "Sway" and "Sloe" reviving the pop melancholia the Aunts have shown in the past. There are surprises as well, including a countryish stomper ("Rocking Chair"), their first truly nasty break-up song ("Wishing You the Worst") and a scrappy, Stonesy rocker ("Kinda Girl," co-written by ace tunesmith Jules Shear). Capping it all is the most left-field Aunts song to date, "The Sun Will Rise Again." It begins with a big blast of guitars before dissolving into an acoustic bridge . . . but the band never kick back in, which puts a more ominous twist on the hopeful sentiment. If they'd thrown on four more tunes and called it an album, this would be a thoroughly solid follow-up to Flippin' Out.

"A lot of people wanted us to do that, and we've got millions of songs recorded," Gibbs acknowledges as he sits with his bandmates at Cambridge's Liberty Coffeehouse after a long night out (they commuted to Providence to open for the Connells). "We wanted it to be an EP so we could say, `Here's the new line-up, here's the new band.' " Indeed, they threw out most of their old repertoire after Skibic joined, saving only a few of their best-known tunes ("Gun," "Bloom" and "Serious Drugs"). They also scrapped most of the material from the second RCA album -- some 18 songs that were worked up just before the sessions and played live only a handful of times. One of the few they salvaged was "Super Ultra Wicked Mega Love" -- an obvious single that they're saving for the next album, though they worry it may be too much of a novelty. "We'd hate to be lumped in with that `goofy rock' thing," Gibbs says.

That scrapped album will never see the light of day, since neither the band nor RCA has any interest in releasing it. "We fucked up," says Gibbs, who asserts that the album -- which took three months of studio work with producer Fred Maher (best known for Matthew Sweet's Girlfriend) and cost a lot of money -- simply wasn't very good. "We knew it, four days into the recording." "They were trying to make us sound like Smashing Pumpkins -- it's heavy, but in a cold way," adds Steve Hurley. "We usually do a sloppy, more joyful kind of heavy." It didn't help that the chemistry with Phil Hurley was souring: already he had one foot out the door, and he took the other after it when the album was scrapped. He's since moved to Seattle and landed a plum gig as Tracy Bonham's guitarist.

At the time there were no shoo-in guitarists around, and the band have some good horror stories about those who auditioned -- suffice to say that they got a few young kids and one 45-year-old guy from a North Shore cover band. It was Kustomized/Peer Group member Peter Prescott who suggested that Skibic might be the man for the job. "All I knew about 6L6 was that someone in the band had called Phil a `pop fag,' " Hurley notes. Skibic landed the gig in part for his guitar playing, in part for doing a Pete Townshend leg kick at the first audition. "The problem with 6L6 was that they didn't want to tour much; I wanted to travel, play shows, and meet cute girls," he says. "Especially meet cute girls." The contents of the new EP are the very demos that eventually got them bounced from RCA, much to their relief.

It's likely to be another year before a full-fledged Gigolo Aunts album appears, but they're not doing badly. A few labels are interested, and they've been flown to the West Coast and back a few times; the current plan is to record an album on their own and license it when they get signed. And though they haven't had a big hit, they've won gold albums for two soundtracks that include their songs: That Thing You Do and Dumb & Dumber (which included "Where I Find My Heaven," also a TV sit-com theme and a Top 20 single in the UK). So the Gigolo Aunts are in an unusual position. Three years after signing their major-label deal (and a full decade since arriving here from upstate New York), they've neither made a big breakthrough nor worn out their welcome. "The idea now is to move ahead and cultivate a fan base on the East Coast," Hurley says. "We can't rest on our laurels, because we haven't got any."

JACK DRAG SIGNED

Considering the way local signings have been working out lately, we're not sure whether to send congratulations or a sympathy wreath. But Jack Drag appear to be the latest local band to join the major-label fray, being just this side of a signing with A&M. Fronted by singer/guitarist John Dragonetti, who already has one album to his credit as a member of Hot Rod, Jack Drag stirred up a buzz with a locally released EP last year. Dragonetti can play rippin' lead guitar when the mood strikes, but he's also in love with lo-fi studio experimentation; much of the EP was recorded with vintage equipment in his attic. In short, one more reminder that as long as nobody's sure what the definition of alternative rock is, some good stuff will continue to slip into the mix. (An A&M staffer said last week that the signing was "99 per cent certain" but wouldn't confirm for fear of that other one percent.)

STAR HUSTLER

One of the least likely country crossovers of the month is Star Hustler, the band fronted by singer/guitarist Jason Hatfield (brother of somebody famous, and former member of the band that became Helium). The group's first album, released last year and including some old proto-Helium tracks, was in the moody guitar-pop genre you'd expect, but the new Vapid Drivel (on Dirt) shows a sudden preference for fiddles, mandolins, spooky backwoods imagery, and male/female harmonies -- all of which are suited to the essentially downcast nature of Hatfield's songwriting. The one outside cover is by Nick Drake, the English depressive whose '70s work has been rediscovered by the doom-pop set lately.

One problem with depressed songwriters is their tendency to write slow, plodding numbers that aren't strong on melody. Hatfield falls into that trap on occasion. But there are a number of effective moments on the album, and the arrangements -- built around the vocal harmonies and Hatfield's multiple overdubs -- show an early Flying Burrito Brothers influence without getting too self-consciously rootsy. "The Aorist" is a nasty little tune about seeing a female friend fall into an abusive relationship -- sort of the flipside of the Lyres' "She Pays the Rent." And "End of the Road" has a haunting melody to match its lyrical nihilism: "I found a penny on the sidewalk today but I'm still plum out of luck/And I've got nothing to say, except for this." It's the surprise twist pulled by those last three words that show Hatfield's a proper writer and not just a whiner.

COMING UP

Wise-asses extraordinaire the Elevator Drops hit the Middle East tonight (Thursday); Todd Thibaud plays Mama Kin and Rippopotamus are at Harpers Ferry . . . Crown Electric Company and Roadsaw are at the Middle East tomorrow (Friday), the Bad Livers and Country Bumpkins are at the Rat, Bim Skala Bim play T.T. the Bear's Place, Laurie Sargent previews her new album at Johnny D's, Dave Herlihy's new band Hurl (a/k/a three-fifths of O Positive) are at Mama Kin, Gravel Pit play the Attic in Newton, and Duke Robillard and Barrence Whitfield tear up Harpers Ferry . . . Sebadoh begin two nights at the Paradise Saturday, with the first night's notable opener being the Apples in Stereo. Meanwhile Chisel and the Push Kings are at the Middle East, and James Montgomery plays Harpers Ferry . . . Ramona Silver headlines a Big Sister benefit at Bill's Bar Monday . . . Louisiana bluesman Kenny Neal hits the House of Blues Tuesday . . . Dave Alvin is at Johnny D's Wednesday, and Sense Field play the Middle East.