Velvet Crush--Teenage Symponies To God--I Don't Want To Wait Forever To See You Smile

Feeling All Alone But I'm Feeling Hip

I knew of Velvet Crush before there was a Velvet Crush. When I lived in Champaign Illinois Ric Menck and Paul Chastain played under a variety of guises, including the Springfields and Choo Choo Train. I think I saw them perform under the Choo Choo Train moniker a few times. I still remember a young Menck getting on stage with some band and singing an early Beatles song in a ramshackle out of control manner, maybe Twist and Shout. I also remember Paul Chastain's exceptional voice. I had heard that there was an interesting music scene in Champaign when I first moved out there and I wanted to see  for myself. To my disappointment, The Elvis Brothers had recently split up, as had Turning Curious. But there were still plenty of good bands to see, not to mention the many bands that passed through town on tours.

But I really liked what Menck and Chastain were doing. They seemed like throwback performers, who had a great love of traditional classic 60's groups, and they had a great love and enthusiasm for what they were doing. When I heard they had formed a group in Rhode Island with Jeffery Borchardt called Velvet Crush I had to hear what they were up to. Their first album, In The Presence Of Greatness made a huge impression on me, and I even went out and bought the singles that went with the album. But this post is dedicated to their equally fantastic second album, Teenage Symphonies To God. The title is a reference to the famous Brian Wilson quote regarding what he was trying to create with his songwriting and arranging with The Beach Boys. Although some of the songs on TSTG have the 90's alternative guitar crunch you might expect on an album of this era, many of the songs sound like actual relics from the 1960's.

For a simple comparison, let's just say that Velvet Crush and Teenage Fanclub are kindred spirits. Except of course, Velvet Crush never had their Bandwagonesque. Early on, Velvet Crush even performed a nice cover of the classic Everything Flows by the Fannies. On TSTG there are huge hooks, big chiming guitars, soaring harmonies---classic 60's fare. From my ears the biggest influences are The Byrds and Gram Parsons, but you can hear groups like The Records, Raspberries, Big Star, The Beatles, Badfinger. But they are more than mere imitators. The songs are too well crafted, the recordings too well executed. They simply add to very tradition that they obviously hold in such great reverence.

Hold Me Up is the first song and it is an auspicious beginning. A heavy guitar sound with an almost country twang to the guitar leads, with beautiful harmonies perched on top. My Blank Pages is one of the top song on the album, with strong vocals by Paul Chastain, and searing guitar by Borchardt. After this is a musical changeup, an exquisite cover of Gene Clark's country ballad Why Not Your Baby. Well done, guys.

So much excellence. Probably the high point for me is the truly exceptional Atmosphere. "I don't want to sit and watch a good thing going down. And I don't want to wait until I lose all that I've found." This is completely classic power pop--maybe this is their "September Gurls" or "Starry Eyes" moment. Pop doesn't get any better than this surfers. Most remarkably, when I heard Chastain singing the following ballad #10 I thought for a second that it was Elliott Smith for a moment.



Star Trip is also another Velvets classic where they fantasize about being successful. The chorus is about the catchiest thing you could hear. This Life Is Killing Me, on the other hand catapults the band back to the 90's with a furious Husker Du attack. "I believe I'll shut up before I scream". They return to the country on tunes like on Faster Days, and the Gramparsonesque Keep Lingerin'. Another favorite here is the Byrdsy Weird Summer. Songs like that are for sunny blue sky days with the top down on your car. Happy fun classic rock music played by students of the art form.

 As I listen to this album again for the umpteenth time, I ponder the viscissitudes of the music industry. There are a slew of albums a lot worse than this that made people rich. I don't pretend to understand how things get marketed, or the fickle habits of musical consumers. It may just be that in the era of Nirvana people simply had no interest. On the other hand, Teenage Fanclub were pretty successful for a time. And this music I feel is just as good as what they were doing. So if this is style of music you like, by all means dip into this band's discography and enjoy. Teenage Symphonies To God is one good place to start.

We Got Everything But We Can't Have It