Soft serve

Meaghan McLaughlin's quiet side

Cellars by Starlight by Brett Milano

People go acoustic for all sorts of reasons: to show a softer side, to bring out uncharacteristic material, or to avoid paying a band. In Meaghan McLaughlin's case, playing acoustic is something she's done all along -- though usually in her bedroom and not in front of people. "I honestly don't like folk music," she notes. "There's been a struggle with my solo stuff -- if I write something soft, it makes me feel self-conscious among my rock peers. But I try to stay true to myself even if I'm embarrassed by it. If I write a sappy song, then I can't deny it, I'm a sappy songwriter."

When you look back at McLaughlin's previous bands, "sappy" isn't exactly the word that comes to mind. Her initial outfit, SK-70 (who made one 1993 EP for CherryDisc) were out for blood, as evidenced by McLaughlin's fearsome shrieks up front. And she hasn't calmed down much since. Currently she fronts Barbaro and occasionally sings for Lint. Her Meaghan McLaughlin solo disc (on the new Press label) is her first full-length, and though it's a relatively peaceful set, it's also the kind of acoustic album where you wouldn't be surprised to hear a band crash in at any minute. Her voice may be pretty on the surface, but she seems to be holding back a major outburst. There's a notable resemblance to Kristin Hersh in that voice, and she can write similarly haunting tunes. But whereas Hersh's acoustic songs come from a reasonably stable home life, McLaughlin's characters are all in various stages of disorder.

The details -- alcohol, poverty, artistic squalor, failed love, late nights, and more alcohol -- aren't exactly unheard of in rock circles. But McLaughlin catches the allure of this demi-monde without romanticizing it. "Barstool Poets" gets the essence of, say, the Middle East at 1:59 a.m. "Bender" could be the same people about five hours later. The opening "Whore" isn't about being a prostitute, just about the way trying to survive on art or music can make you feel like one.

"I'm almost making fun of myself in that song, but it's about all of us drama-queen musicians," she notes at Davis Square's Someday Café while drinking her wake-up coffee at one in the afternoon. "Sometimes I do pull that starving-artist thing, whining and complaining about how you get up and pour your heart out just for 50 bucks and free beer tickets. Not to discredit the situation, we do that because it means something. But it would be nice to do it without starving yourself."

It's no surprise to learn that McLaughlin was writing stories as a child before picking up a guitar. "I started writing when I was little -- weird, because I thought I was good for my age, and now I'm deteriorating. I am interested by intense situations that people get themselves into, and I can't see myself writing about anything else."

She also admits she's been in a lot of the situations described in the songs. "I wrote `Bender' in the middle of the night, one of those times when you start thinking, `I have to keep drinking now, so my hangover doesn't kick in.' I've been a heavy drinker, but there's a lot of those on the rock scene -- funny how you're either that or you're straight edge, but if somebody's only moderate, that's considered really weird. I like to think I'm on the healthy side of being a waster, sad as that may sound. Drinking can certainly kill your creativity, I've seen that happen to people. But if you can pull something creative out of it, that's definitely a plus."

Although she's friendly in conversation, I can sense the intensity that comes out in McLaughlin's songs. "I do have this weird angry streak; I don't know where it comes from, but it's probably good for my music. Performing keeps some of that under control, but I still tend to throw temper tantrums sometime." With that she takes another sip of coffee. "Thank God for rock and roll, right?"

MYSTIQUE COMP

It says something good for Boston that a handful of high-quality compilation albums have been released in the past three months -- In My Living Room, A Place To Call Home, and the double disc Respond -- and that the latter two have been benefits (there's a third if you want to count the send-up Benefit for El Chupacabra). Many of the best Boston comps -- including the essential Safe and Sound and Castle von Buhler's Soon/Anon/Nigh series -- have been done for good causes, allowing the producers to show their heart and their musical taste at the same time.

Add to that list Mystique, a new comp put together by local producer/ex-Dambuilders guitarist Eric Masunaga and released on his Sealed Fate label to benefit the AIDS Action Committee. It's a tribute to Masunaga's instincts that Mystique flows like an album, because it's one of the more diverse comps to come along in some time. About half of the 15 bands have New England ties; there are three from California, and two from outside the country (the Minstrels, from Tahiti, do a neat update of French pop in the Serge Gainsbourg/Jane Birkin vein). Opening with a pair of moody/rootsy gems from California's Beachwood Sparks and Boston's Purple Ivy Shadows, the disc maintains a low-key flow with a bit of electronics (a Future Bible Heroes remix), a dash of pure pop (Honeybunch, featuring former Velvet Crush member Jeffrey Underhill), even a rap track. This last, by New York's Dopo Yume, includes some deathless verse: "My rhymes are hot like a lava lamp/I'm down with Danielle, but she's kind of a tramp/When I eat at BK I'm known to get a cramp/No, I'm not really down with Peter Framp/Ton." Sheer poetry.

The compilation served another purpose for Masunaga: to fill a void in his musical life after his band broke up last year. "The Dambuilders had just ended and I felt at a crossroads -- should I try to tough it out with this crazy music thing, or should I just bail and go back to school? The idea for the compilation came to me during a nap, so my logic was a little fuzzy. But I started thinking about AIDS and how it's been such a burden on the culture. I'm thinking it will probably get cured in our lifetime, and what an amazing, unifying thing that will be."

Always a major supporter of indie music, Masunaga drew the comp from bands he'd worked with, admired, or met on tour. "I had vowed I would never do a compilation, because they tend to be fragmented or low-quality, and a lot of times they don't generate much of a donation. But all the work and materials on this one were either donated or greatly discounted, so we'll have no problem clearing a profit."

One would expect Masunaga's production career to be taking off, since he produced Sebadoh's new The Sebadoh (see page 14) -- whose radio hit, "Flame," is perhaps the track bearing his strongest production influence. "The phone hasn't rung once," he admits. "But it's okay, I wasn't actually thinking that things would change very much. And it's not like I've seriously pursued any production work, since I want to get busy with this label."

TRAVIS'S BLARNEY

Now here's something you don't find much of at this time of year: a bunch of drunk guys singing Irish songs. But at least Chandler Travis is one of the more entertaining yahoos around, and with a recent CD (Ivan in Paris) having shown his serious pop chops, he's back to his reprobate ways on the limited-edition release Raw Blarney (on his own Iddy Biddy label). Recorded at Club Bohemia last St. Patrick's Day, it's an audio-vérité document of a band getting severely trashed in front of an audience. When they're not tripping over cues or heckling back at their hecklers (one of whom sounds as if he could be Kenne Highland), they're doing spontaneous versions of "Blame It on the Fuckin' Irish" (based on Eydie Gorme's "Blame It on the Bossa Nova") and "Secret Irish Man" (based on, take a wild guess). Travis and company promise to greet the holiday in similar style this Wednesday at the Lizard Lounge.

CELEB SIGHTING

You can't say that Counting Crows leader Adam Duritz hasn't been going the extra mile for his buddies the Gigolo Aunts: he flew from Los Angeles on the morning of their CD-release party at the Paradise two weekends ago and wound up on stage with the band for the encore, sharing lead vocals with Dave Gibbs on the Byrds' "So You Want to Be a Rock  n' Roll Star." Duritz proved a friendly and approachable type, hanging out with local media and musicians at both the before- and the after-show parties. And since he owns the label releasing the album, local industry folks got not only to shake his hand but to drink for three hours on his tab.

COMING UP

Vic Firecracker and Dismemberment Plan are at the Middle East tonight (Thursday), the Lune are at Toad, the Austin Lounge Lizards are at Johnny D's, and Francine and Watercress are at T.T. the Bear's... Weird and great triple bill at the Middle East tomorrow (Friday) with the Make-Up, the Danielsons, and ? and his mighty Mysterians. Pooka Stew have a reunion upstairs with Ramona Silver opening, Jules Verdone and Todd Thibaud open for Jim's Big Ego at T.T. the Bear's Place, Broken Toys and Nobody's Heroes are at Jacques, Anson Funderburgh & the Rockets rock the House of Blues, former School of Fish man Josh Clayton is at the Lansdowne Street Music Hall with the Gravy, second-generation cult hero Rufus Wainwright is at the Paradise, Orbit are at Bill's Bar, and Chelsea on Fire, whose new demo kicks major butt, headline the Linwood... Full Powered Halo and Helicopter Helicopter are at T.T.'s on Saturday, Natalie Flanagan is at the Lizard Lounge, Duke Robillard plays the House of Blues, and Binge are at the Lansdowne Street Music Hall... The Tortoise spinoff Chicago Underground Duo hit T.T.'s on Sunday... St. Patrick's Day options on Wednesday include Clannad singer Máire Brennan at the Copley Theatre, the Mighty Blue Kings at the Middle East, and the Tradition at the House of Blues.