Pop shop

Jules Verdone, Girls, Lemonheads

by Brett Milano

It seemed a sure sign that Jules Verdone had arrived, at least locally. In the back room of T.T. the Bear's Place, there currently hangs a wall full of performance photos of assorted local and national bands, and Jules is there, along with Letters to Cleo, Silverchair, and Gigolo Aunts. When I meet her at T.T.'s, Verdone's photo is the only one with a big "Sold" sign hanging next to it. So she's already got fans who love her enough to buy a photo? "Yeah, but it was my boyfriend," she notes sheepishly. "He bought it to give my father for Christmas."

Okay, so Verdone hasn't made it big just yet. But she's used to taking things slowly. Her new CD, Diary of a Liar (on Q Division), was the result of two years in the studio, during which time her band broke up, new songs got written and old ones thrown out, and the singer/songwriter/guitarist did a lot of growing up in public. Five years ago she moved to Boston as an editor and a social worker/AIDS counselor (and a part-time rock critic, an occupation of which she's less proud) who'd never performed. Nowadays she's one of the brighter hopes on the local pop circuit. And the CD tells a lot about what happened in between.

The songs on Diary of a Liar aren't necessarily the best she's got. Her songwriting has taken some major strides in the past two years; the CD is given over mostly to her earlier efforts. You can hear how she's progressed, however: she started out aiming for maximum catchiness (the two earliest numbers, "Through My Teeth" and "Baltimore or Less," have plenty of that), then began to add left curves (the more recent "When I Snap Out of This" and "Dumb Rock Song" point to the more idiosyncratic style of the new songs she's playing live).

The songs on Diary have a loose storyline. In a nutshell, the singer leaves an old hometown ("Baltimore or Less"), struggles in a new one ("Debt"), and recovers from a really bad relationship (just about everything else). Since Verdone is known as one of the nicer people on the local rock circuit, it's a kick to hear her sing something as vindictive as "Everything's Your Fault." But even on a downcast moment like "When I Snap Out of This" -- a movingly creepy song from the middle of an unspecified personal crisis -- her songs exude a basic saneness and smartness, something one doesn't always find in rock lyrics. And she's got a conversational way of singing that makes you think everything spilled out at just that moment.

Of course, the album's title begs the question of how autobiographical it all is. Like some of the songwriters Verdone admires (Mark Eitzel, Elvis Costello), she spills more personal details -- or reasonable facsimiles thereof -- in songs than she'd want to do in person. "This is true. And I wouldn't necessarily want to say what -- and definitely wouldn't want to say who -- they're all about. I'm not singing every song as a made-up character, but it doesn't all have to be about myself, either. And some of real life can be dreadfully boring. I hope to avoid that."

Which brings us to the old Richard Thompson question of whether you need turmoil in your life to write good songs. "Hope not. But the good news is, isn't life always up and down? I don't think I need a crisis in my life -- but then, it might help."

Verdone made a lot of friends on the local circuit before getting up the nerve to perform herself. Her involvement with Boston goes back to the late '80s, when she was Orangutang's booking agent. After moving here in 1992, she worked as a publicist for the (Corporate Sponsor) Boston Music Awards and later joined Kay Hanley and Dicky Barrett to organize the Safe and Sound shows and CD, which came together in the wake of the Brookline abortion clinic shootings. Notably missing from the Safe and Sound disc were any of her own songs, even though it was an obvious opportunity to get her name out.

"I could have done that, and I was asked to," she admits. "But I wanted it to be clear what my role was, and to put my music on would have been inappropriate. The people on the disc had ties to Boston, but they were people who were heard of outside of town -- people who could have drawn attention to the disc. I wouldn't have felt comfortable including myself."

Her own performing debut, back in '93, was done incognita at an open mike in Salem. "I was terrified, so I couldn't do it in front of anyone I knew. And sure enough, the guy asked me to come back the next week. He asked if I had enough songs; of course I lied and said yes. Then I had to bring along people who did."

The friends she brought along -- drummer Nathan Logus and guitarist Avram Gleitsman, then doubling as the Barnies, and Gravel Pit bassist Ed Valauskas -- remained her band for the next two years, before everyone got too busy. The current group is drummer Mike Baumer, bassist Tom Richards, and guitarist Scott Bowser (the last two ex-Boy Wonder). All of the above appear on the CD, with guests including Kevin Salem, Merrie Amsterburg, and Trona's Chris Dyas. The latter two will also appear at her CD-release party, next Friday (December 12) at T.T.'s.

If Verdone took the back door to the pop spotlight, that's because she never intended to get there at all. "This may sound naive, but I always felt that performing was something other people did. I just strummed guitar in my living room, which wasn't the same thing. So I don't have the same attitude of someone who's wanted to do this all their lives -- I was terrified to do it in public, and I was surprised at first that people even responded. But I knew, just speaking for myself, that the songs were good company."

GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS

Back to the ever-popular topic of women in rock, which to these ears is becoming as silly a phrase as "women in tennis" or "women on television" -- they're there and why the hell not? Especially in Boston, where Robin Lane, the Bristols, and Salem 66 broke the boundaries nearly two decades ago. By the time Throwing Muses, Lazy Susan, and Malachite came along, any novelty attached to female musicians should have been just a memory. If Curve of the Earth's recent Girls, Girls, Girls (a sequel to 1993's Girl) proves anything, it's that the good female bands in town may now outnumber the good male ones.

The disc features 24 tracks by 24 bands, and it doesn't even include the front line of major-label locals (Trynin, Donelly, Bonham, Cleos), the Matador crowd (Helium and Come), or the Q Division crew (Merrie Amsterburg, Jules Verdone). Also missing are Trona, Fuzzy, Thing from Venus, the Darlings, and a few I'm probably forgetting.

What's left is often very good indeed, a sampler of bands who are still working their way up in the scene. Some of the better-known tracks (by Curious Ritual, Serum, Chelsea on Fire, Mistle Thrush, and January) are all repeated from the bands' own albums. But there are some pleasant surprises: Sara Mann's "Little Premonitions" (with three Cleos doing back-up) has the sinister feel of Tracy Bonham's early stuff, and Cherry 2000's "Rodeo Clown" is the best of the handful of tracks they've released, showing a more streamlined melodic approach. Also surprising are a heavily psychedelic number by the Foundation (whose leader, Robin Vaughan, has mostly led pop groups in the past) and an uncharacteristically punkish one by Ramona Silver. The only slack is in the hard-rock/metal category: tracks by Half Cocked, Purrr, and the recently split 3-1/2 Girls are heavy enough, but Boston still hasn't come up with a female metal band to rival Malachite. And just as Tracy Bonham's "The One" was the pick hit of the first Girl compilation, Betwixt's "Sea Horse" is the standout here. I tapped this heavy-but-mysterious song in "Demo Derby" two weeks ago, but after another listen I've figured out where the guitar/cello riff comes from: yes, it's the best "Kashmir" variation that anyone's done in years.

LEMONHEADS SINGLE

The strange tale of the Lemonheads takes another twist: after the creative comeback but commercial flop of the last Atlantic release, car button cloth, Evan Dando and company have a new import-only single. And it's a surprising one. Both songs are covers. The sound is less clean and poppy than it's been since the days when the Lemonheads were a Taang! band. Sharp-eared locals will recognize the A-side, "Balancing Act," as an early Volcano Suns song written by Peter Prescott (now of Peer Group) and Steven Michener (later of Big Dipper). Dando gives it a more wholesome vocal treatment than Prescott did, but the band take on a Sonic Youth-type layered-guitar sound, with Youth member Lee Ranaldo guesting. The flipside is the old Glen Campbell hit "Galveston," but it's not as tongue-in-cheek as Dando's previous covers of "Luka" and "Mrs. Robinson." Instead he plays it slow and doomy, with help from another guest guitarist, Howe Gelb of Giant Sand. This single doesn't seem likely to be on an album anytime soon -- the unconfirmed rumor is that the Lemonheads have been dropped from Atlantic -- so fans should seek out the import.

CORRECTION

In "Demo Derby" I identified Josh Lattanzi as the singer/songwriter on Señor Happy's tape; in fact Lattanzi plays rhythm guitar and Derek Schanche is the frontman. (The drummer on the tape was Tom Polce, who just parted company with Letters to Cleo in the middle of a tour.) You can catch Señor Happy at T.T.'s this Friday with fellow popsters the Figgs.

COMING UP

Tonight (Thursday), Bevis Frond play acoustic at the Middle East tonight with Bright and neo-psychsters Abunai! opening; John Lincoln Wright heads a country bill at Johnny D's, Smokin' Joe Kubek is at the House of Blues, the Gravy are at the Lizard Lounge, and ex-Alarmer Mike Peters is at T.T. the Bear's Place . . . On Friday, Helium return from a national tour to headline the Paradise, the Big Bad Bollocks are at the Phoenix Landing, the Swinging Steaks play the House of Blues, and Artificial Joy Club are at Bill's Bar. . . . Saturday it's Fuzzy and Flying Nuns upstairs at the Middle East, 6L6 and El Dopa downstairs, Arlo Guthrie beginning four nights at the House of Blues, and Eddie Kirkland at Johnny D's . . . Mark Sandman's Hypnosonics are downstairs at the Middle East on Sunday . . . And on Monday, Canadian transplants and promising popsters Another Girl are at the Kendall, and Star Ghost Dog are at Bill's Bar.