DRIFTERS & TRACTORS

Tony Peyser
Mirror contributing writer

   Better Day is the third CD (compact disc) by CD (Continental Drifters.) They haven’t made a bad one yet. Last year I wrote about their last album, Vermillion, which landed at that happy plateau where power pop meets alt-country. Since I wrote that column, John Phillips died, which caused not a few critics to wonder what bands since The Mamas & the Papas have their signature chiming guitars, memorable melodies and soaring male and female vocals. 
   Well, there’s nobody else that jumps to mind except this New Orleans-based group. The Continental Drifters are comprised of Susan Cowsill, Mark Walton, Robert Mache, Peter Holsapple, Russ Broussard and Vicki Peterson. Cowsill’s “Someday” pretty much sums up the band’s basic mind-set: “I’m gonna pay my bills and stand where I stand/And maybe even start a little rock and roll band/And maybe my friends will give me a hand/And if that doesn’t take away my sorrow/I’m gonna get up again and do it tomorrow.” Even if you’re not in a group, this simple philosophy makes pretty darn good sense. 
   Holsapple’s “Live On Love” is a bouncy, horn-driven song with an r&b beat about soldiering on when adversity keeps showing up like a pesky Amway salesman. You might also want to check out their self-titled debut album from 1994 which their current label, Razor & Tie, reissued last year. Boy, did they hit the ground running. 
   Among the gems worth noting is their cover of Michael Nesmith’s pioneering country-rock track, “Some Of Shelly’s Blues” and Holsapple’s eerie “Invisible Boyfriend” about a girl whose dead lover seems to not want to leave her alone —- literally. Holsapple is reminiscent here of local fave Peter Case, and he slips in this perfect, short line which sums up the girl’s dilemma: “The man of her dreams has returned to her dreams.” 
   Continental Drifters will be at The Troubador on June 7. You don’t want to miss them or their new CD. 
   Holsapple first made a name for himself in the cult 1980s alternative pop band, The dB’s. Another group also getting started back then was Love Tractor. Like R.E.M —- with whom Holsapple has often played and recorded —- they hail from Athens, Georgia. Love Tractor have just released their first album in 12 years. 
   In the intervening decade and one-fifth, the band members have worked in some other groups but also separately studied art history, literature, ancient languages and Italian opera. (Do these these pursuits make them art-rockers instead of alt-rockers? Just asking.) Anyway, Love Tractor used to do a fair number of songs without any lyrics. On The Sky At Night, there are all (or mostly) instrumental tracks that will linger after you take the CD off with a wistful, jangly 1980s vibe. And I do mean the good stuff from that decade, not the Stupid Haircut One Hit Wonder Now I’m Working At Staples kind of bands. 
   If R.E.M. had never gotten to be superstars, this is what they might have sounded like. Start with “Christ Among The Children” and then you’re on your own. 
   CDNow has Better Day for $13.49, Continental Drifters for just $9.99 and The Sky At Night for $14.99.
   *Another gig to mention: Lysa Flores (whom I not too long ago raved about big time) will play The Viper Room on June 6. 

   The Goofy Band Name Of The Week is ...Mama Sutra.