Blowing in the wind

Letters to Cleo sail on, solo

Cellars by Starlight by Brett Milano

Getting dumped by a major label may be the best thing that ever happened to Letters to Cleo. The well-liked local popsters might not appear to be in the most enviable position these days. They recently split with their label Revolution (formerly Giant) after three albums -- each one a musical step forward, and each a worse seller. They don't have another deal in the works just yet, don't have any high-profile shows coming up, don't even have a drummer. So why are the band members having such a good time? It all hinges on where you draw your priorities.

"Look at our history -- we've gone from getting discount beer at shows to free drink tickets to a free case of beer to 'just ask.' It just keeps getting better," notes guitarist Greg McKenna when we talk (over coffee, of all things) at the Middle East. "We can sit around lamenting the fact that we're not on a label anymore," adds singer Kay Hanley. "But look, we've put out three records -- that's not getting fucked over. Beyond that, I blame the climate more than I blame any individuals. But we've still got enough money to pay our rent, and to buy a fancy dinner once in a while. And it supports our alcoholism just fine." Adds McKenna, "All we wanted at the start was to open for O Positive on a Thursday. So by now we've exceeded any expectations we could have had. I don't want to be famous anyway -- screw fame, it's annoying."

In fact, the Cleos haven't spent the last few months sitting around drinking beer -- or even smoking dope, though they did contribute an enjoyably gung-ho song on that topic ("Let's Get High") to the forthcoming Hempilation 2 comp (on Capricorn). Instead, they're turning up everywhere. Hanley just wrapped up a successful run in the Boston Rock Opera's Preservation, which may yet wind up playing in England if author Ray Davies has his way. Guitarist Michael Eisenstein and bassist Scott Reibling began work last week (with former band drummer Stacey Jones) on a solo album by former Veruca Salt singer Nina Gordon. Hanley and McKenna will take the time to demo songs for the next Cleos album.

Meanwhile, soundtrack offers have been rolling in, and they'll be involved in at least two films next spring. Oh, and there's also a new Letters to Cleo album, sort of: next week will see the CD release of Sister, their original demo cassette from 1993. Recorded when the band were nowhere near as tight as they are now (and including an embryonic version of the local hit "I See"), the tape's become a desirable item in fan circles -- even though the band have had few nice words for it over the years.

"It's not very good," Hanley admits flat out. "And yeah, I have a few misgivings about putting it out. But from a fan standpoint it's a missing link to what we were doing before Cleo became Cleo, even if I never listen to it myself. Honestly, I doubt we'd be doing this if people weren't swapping the tape on the Internet, so people have generation after generation of terribly dubbed Sister tapes. Then I heard that people were offering to burn CD copies for each other, so it was time we stepped in and did some quality control."

The original tape wasn't quite album-length, so the CD version will be beefed up with some more recent tracks, mostly cover versions that appeared on comps and soundtracks -- though alas, their ace cover of the Cars' "Dangerous Type" remains under license to Sony for the soundtrack of The Craft.

More film soundtracks are underway, including the January release Jawbreaker (for which they've recorded yet another version of "I See") and next spring's Ten Things I Hate About You, for which they've covered two great pop nuggets, Nick Lowe's "Cruel To Be Kind" and Cheap Trick's "I Want You To Want Me." As for the latter film, Hanley says "It's one of those dumb -- no, I shouldn't say that. It's one of those popular teen flicks, an adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew. Adds McKenna, "It's gratifying to have these gigs, after what happened with the last two albums. It's like people are saying, `No, you don't really suck.' "

It's no secret that major-label deals are getting harder to hold on to. Just ask the increasing number of Boston bands who've been dropped recently. But more bands are proving they can survive without one. Juliana Hatfield sold out the Middle East two weekends ago, though she's technically unsigned (she licensed the Bed album to Zoé/Rounder in a one-off deal). And Letters to Cleo are finding themselves in more demand than when they were signed. They figure they can't be the only people in the business who don't get along with Irving Azoff, the long-time industry shark (and Eagles manager) who ran their label.

"I know I was singing the praises of Revolution last year," Hanley admits. "It was the battered-wife syndrome -- `He's changed this time, I know he has!' I know that people who wanted to work with us wouldn't approach us when we were with Irving. Because we didn't hustle for those film soundtracks we got, they just came to us. After we had a very public parting of the ways with Revolution, people must have figured that it was safe."

The relative flop of last year's Go album is still a surprise, however, Didn't the label grease enough palms to get it played on the radio? "I know they did, because I saw it happen," says the always-frank Hanley. "And I know I had to kiss a lot of people's asses. Guess I should have sucked their dicks instead."

They figure they won't bother seeking out another label until they're ready to go back into the studio, which should happen next spring. And the drum chair is likely to stay vacant: a number of part-timers have been in since Stacey Jones gave notice three years ago. Jones came back for a handful of recent shows, though he's now fronting his own band (said to be the object of a major-label bidding war). Tom Polce and Jason Sutter (respectively with Señor Happy and Jack Drag) have also been aboard. And more recently it was the ubiquitous Mike Levesque (of Talking to Animals and scads of sessions) who sat in for their Paradise opening slot with Cheap Trick. In the future they'll go the R.E.M./XTC route, bringing in hired hands as needed. "At this point I can't imagine anyone else coming in," says Hanley. "I've been with Greg for 10 years and with Michael and Scott for seven, so who else could fit in?"

Not that there haven't been some discouraging moments over the past year -- including a recent one where they read a CMJ review noting that Hole's big-selling Celebrity Skin sounded like Letters to Cleo. "As it does," says Hanley. "There have been times when I was ready to walk out at any second -- millions of times like that. But really, there's no question anymore of walking away from the band. The band is who I am. It's what I've done since I was 18 and I'm 30 now, so that would be walking away from my entire life's work -- and from my relationship with the other people in the band. They're my brothers [and, in Eisenstein's case, her husband]. I've got nothing to be bitter about. We've had a great ride. And the ride continues."

RICK HARRIS

For my money, former Knots & Crosses member Rick Harris is up there with the best roots guitarists in town. A master of the less-is-more approach, with a lyrical touch influenced by Richard Thompson and Robbie Robertson, he was largely responsible for the simmering tension that lay behind his old band's quietest moments (he currently plays in Todd Thibaud's band). He's also the one member of K&C who hasn't released a solo album (since the 1994 break-up Carol Noonan has done three albums and Alan Williams one). Now he's partly rectified that by the release of Demo -- a five-song EP that he circulated among the industry last year and is now putting up for sale.

The EP finds his knack intact, and fans of Knots & Crosses will be glad to hear that he hasn't cheered up a bit. His band always took the dark and haunting option, and he continues to do so here, though the musical roots have shifted from Celtic folk to country, and his voice has taken on an appropriately grizzled tone. Harris writes mainly of love affairs that have either crashed and burned or are about to. And, repeating an old K&C trick, he saves the cathartic guitar solo for the very end of the disc, on "You're the One," a plodding Thompson-esque ballad with vocal harmonies by Jennifer Kimball. Harris's big solo heightens the romantic desperation of the words -- the wailing tone he uses carries as much weight as the notes, and every lick sounds as if it were being pulled from a deep and painful place. He throws two extra minutes of the same solo on as a bonus track, but that still ain't enough.

COMING UP

Tonight (Thursday) it's Baby Ray at the Lizard Lounge, the Lune and Todd Thibaud at T.T. the Bear's Place, and acclaimed songwriters Beth Orton and Ron Sexsmith at Mama Kin . . . Tomorrow brings former Crowded Houser Neil Finn to Karma Club, the Afghan Whigs to the Paradise, Ray Corvair to Bill's Bar, Hovercraft and Abunai to the Middle East, and a big, bad Lookout Records bash to T.T.'s with the Donnas, the Smugglers, and the Hi Fives . . . Saturday it's Komeda and His Name Is Alive upstairs at the Middle East and Swervedriver downstairs, Edith Frost, Wheat, and Archer Prewitt at T.T.'s, Jim Carroll at Mama Kin, the New Orleans Klezmer All Stars at Johnny D's, and Al Kooper's Rekooperators at Berklee . . . On Monday catch John Doe in a songwriter's roundtable at the Paradise and Mr. Airplane Man at the Plough & Stars . . . Tuesday brings ex-Velvets legend Moe Tucker to T.T.'s with Jules Verdone and a new regrouping of Parliament/Funkadelic (not including founder George Clinton) to the Middle East.