True colors

Fuzzy keep it tough and tuneful

Cellars by Starlight by Brett Milano

One of the best things I've ever seen Fuzzy do on stage was a dumb cover they performed at the Middle East last month. This was no ordinary dumb cover: it was Pat Benatar's "Heartbreaker," a song so sublimely silly that you can't get away with it unless you've got the genuine urge in your soul. True, singer-guitarists Chris Toppin and Hilken Mancini couldn't get through the a cappella part without cracking up (then again, it's near-impossible to sing "You're the right kind of sinner to release my inner fantasies" with a straight face). But it was the kind of hell-bent performance, half goof and half homage, that had that unmistakable "born to rock" quality about it.

For a band who are often filed as a sweet little pop combo, Fuzzy can be tougher than meets the eye. The evidence is there on their new Hurray for Everything (Catapult) -- a sublimely melodic set with a slightly darkened lyric slant. And the evidence is there in the band's very existence. In the past three years they've parted with their label, drummer, and manager. And they've maintained their local-favorite status only through constant and consistent live shows. The days when they'd get gigs just because friends like J Mascis or Evan Dando were headlining are long over.

"People used to think we had everything handed to us," Toppin reflects as we talk at the Middle East. "Lately we're more accustomed to things going wrong," adds bassist Winston Braman. "Look what happened to all the bands we came up with -- the Posies, Dinosaur Jr, the Lemonheads, the Dambuilders. We're the only one that's still around." Indeed, Fuzzy were ahead of a trend by getting dropped from Atlantic Records back in 1997, before the Boston signing binge had gotten played out. The then-recent Electric Juices, one of the better local releases of '96, died of under-promotion, with the label throwing some token muscle behind its Beach Boys cover ("Girl Don't Tell Me"), much to the band's chagrin. It's a song Fuzzy hardly play live anymore. And within a year of each other, drummer Dave Ryan (who got the band some early attention through his dual membership in the Lemonheads) and manager Brian Dunton both packed it in and went back to school.

But the bandmembers made their biggest strides as songwriters just when support was falling out. Toppin's "Summer Is Gone" and Mancini's "True Colors" both date back to the post-Juices shows -- the former was on a demo that got unsuccessfully shopped to the majors. They're Fuzzy's breakthrough songs, and they illustrate the complementary nature of the two writers. "Summer Is Gone" is a '60s-ish ballad full of melancholy, with some gorgeous counterpointing in the chorus. "True Colors" is an exhilarating pop number, just sassy enough to suit the screw-you tone of the lyric.

"It's about someone who's a poser and a fake," Mancini offers.

Toppin reveals that "Summer" is the kind of thing she winds up writing when she tries to do a loud song. "I still want to write my big rock song, but things like `Summer' just come out. The chorus originally said, `Summer of love, keep it in my heart.' I thought I could get away with that, but these guys [her bandmates] kept making hippie jokes. So I caved in to peer pressure on that one.

"It probably helped us that nothing was going on. This way we had time to write the songs and really rehearse them. We didn't have to learn everything in a week so our drummer could go on tour with the Lemonheads."

One can also credit the band's woodshedding for the album's consistent sound, even though it was recorded over two years with five producers and three drummers (Ryan, ex-Cleo Stacey Jones, and current full-timer Nate Darden). The title was an in-joke that got thrown around during a good weekend of recording in Vermont. The phrase suited the band's high spirits at the time; only later did they they realize they'd borrowed it from a Simpsons episode. The new set also includes two cover tunes. Neil Young's "The Losing End" is the teaser for a country album they'd like to make someday (others of this sort, including a couple of Emmylou Harris songs, have shown up on stage). Nat Freedberg's local hit "All Hung Up" (dating back to his Flies days) is the earliest thing here, recorded live at the Fort Apache release party for Electric Juices.

"People were pretty juiced-up that night," recalls Toppin, "but we stayed sober because we were recording. I still got nervous and sang a wrong verse, so we fixed it in the studio because it's such a great song." "Plus," jokes Braman, "we didn't want Nat to beat us up."

Even at their lowest point, Fuzzy still had a few friends pulling for them. Fort Apache co-owner Gary Smith, who manages Tanya Donelly, Juliana Hatfield, and Natalie Merchant, added them to his managerial roster. And they signed with the up-and-coming local label Catapult, which offered moral support along with the financial commitment. "We kept hearing things like 'This guy at 4AD really likes your demo,' " says Mancini. "We didn't want to hear that. We wanted to hear, 'They like it and they want to give you money to make a record.' "

Fuzzy will celebrate the release of Hurray for Everything next Friday, April 30, at the new Milky Way in Jamaica Plain.

WAYFARING STRANGERS

When most people talk about "fusion music," they're referring to a well-defined mix of jazz and instrumental rock. Composer/arranger Matt Glaser has something more wide-ranging in mind: in his concept piece Wayfaring Strangers, Glaser says he's "trying to fuse the music of Bill Monroe with the music of Billie Holiday with the music of Greek clarinet players and traditional Irish fiddlers." If that doesn't sound eclectic enough, consider the singers he's working with: popular folkie Lucy Kaplansky, Story-member-turned-soloist Jennifer Kimball, bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley, and local rock figure Tracy Bonham. The work will be performed tomorrow night (Friday) at Berklee at 7:30, with a group including jazz pianist Laszlo Gardony and a chamber orchestra. Kimball will be the featured singer, and it's possible that Bonham will make an appearance.

Glaser has been the chairman of Berklee's string department for the past 18 years, and this project represents a fusing of his own musical split personality. "It sprang out of my own background as a bluegrass and a jazz musician, and a deep personal need to validate what I find to be a value in both of these. There have been a lot of attempts to mix jazz and bluegrass, but they've all been on more of a `hot lick' kind of level. This is more of an attempt to mix the high lonesome sound of the mountains with the high lonesome sound of the city. The basis of the material is all traditional songs -- folk material put through the wringer with jazz harmony and intense elements from other ethnic traditions. And I'm trying to connect these styles on their emotional import."

Some familiar folk and gospel songs, including "Wayfaring Stranger" and "Working on a Building," are woven into the piece. "I definitely needed something from the emotional quality of these great singer/songwriter ladies. A classical singer just couldn't get it." Glaser is also working on a recording of Wayfaring Strangers for later in the year.

VELVEL FOLDED?

Marking another possible casualty in the world of independent labels, Velvel Records -- the independent label owned by ex-CBS president Walter Yetnokoff -- is "reorganizing," according to Net-circulated reports. The office has been closed and no phone calls or faxes to the company have been answered in the past week. Along with a roster of veteran bands ranging from the Smithereens (who had just completed a new album) to ex-Stone Bill Wyman, the label was also home to two Boston-associated bands, the Amazing Crowns and Talking to Animals. This continues a run of bad luck for Talking to Animals, who released Manhole on Velvel nearly two years after its completion.

HONEYCHROME

For those wondering whatever happened to brothers Chris and Tom Gorman, who were formerly the male half of Belly, they'll debut their new Honeychrome tomorrow (Friday) at the Lizard Lounge. This will be one of the few non-NEMO club shows in the city all night, and it'll feature a strong bill with Baby Ray and Francine. Tom Gorman, who plays guitar and sings in Honeychrome, has also been playing some dates as bassist for Kristin Hersh, whose forthcoming Sky Hotel is an electric-band effort and whose new group, with long-time partner David Narcizo on drums, are about as close as it gets to a Throwing Muses reunion.

And while we're on that topic: big congratulations to Tanya Donelly and husband/bassist Dean Fisher, whose daughter was born two weeks ago today (Thursday).

COMING UP

Reformed punks Last Stand and eternal punks the Outlets are at T.T. the Bear's Place tonight (Thursday). Edith Frost and Danielson are at the Middle East, Latin group Kilombo are at the Lizard Lounge, and Four Piece Suit are at the House of Blues . . . In the week's rootsy dream bill, Wilco and Vic Chesnutt play Avalon tomorrow (Friday). The Pressure Cookers are at the Milky Way. And NEMO shows begin with Count Zero and Sheila Divine at the Middle East, Half Cocked at the Linwood, the Pills at T.T.'s, My Favorite Relative at Bill's, and Dub Station at the House of Blues . . . There's a rockabilly showcase at T.T.'s Saturday afternoon with Kim Lenz and the Racketeers. At night they've got Laurie Geltman and Ramona Silver. Meanwhile Superhoney, Splashdown, and Betwixt are at the Middle East, Barrence Whitfield is at Johnny D's, and Chapter in Verse play their CD-release show at the Paradise . . . Ramona Silver plays an early set at Toad on Monday . . . Former Men at Work frontman Colin Hay plays the Kendall Café on Wednesday, and the Genitorturers do the bondage thing at Axis. And Derek Trucks, who was recently made a bona fide Allman Brother, hits the House of Blues.