From Up the Coast to Down Under

Tony Peyser
Mirror contributing writer
  
   The Cowlicks, which suggests something that normal grooming can’t contain, is a good name for a band. C.W.A. —- which stands for Cowlicks With Attitude —- is an even better title. And what a swell album it is. This Bay Area band delivers country and alt-country goods but there’s a sweetness of melody and harmony that’s as good as any power pop I’ve heard lately. I’d compare them to other folks I’ve written about like The Cash Brothers who are still together and The Delevantes who aren’t. “Maxfield Parrish Sky” will linger in your mind like images from that artist’s paintings. And The Cowlicks’ cover of Roger McGuinn’s “Mr. Spaceman” has a laid back feel from its conversational asides to letting the mandolin soar out towards the heavens.
   From the opening guitar chords of Virginia Creeper, it’s clear you’re in for something special. Grant-Lee Phillips has crafted a record of rustic beauty. On the back of the album is a sepia-toned double-exposure of three people from an old photo disappearing into trees. It’s not just a moving image but an entirely appropriate one. Go ahead, like me, and try to just listen but it won’t work. Before you know it, you’ll happily drift off into Phillips’ landscapes, too.
   Local blues singer Peach is moving up in the world. Keyboards and producing on The Real Thing are done by Marty Grebb, who’s played with Etta James and Bonnie Raitt. Other musicians include Paul Barrere from Little Feat and Garth Hudson from The Band. The brass lends plenty of sass on “Won’t Be Long,” “Lie Down” is mighty darn sultry and Mae West would’ve felt Peach done her right with “Come Up and See Me Sometime.” Oh, and then there’s “The Real Thing,” a duet with Taj Mahal. When you sing like Peach does with a legend like him, you can hang out the You’ve Arrived shingle.
   One of the great unsung singer-songwriters is Australia’s Paul Kelly. He’s right up there with Nick Lowe or Ray Davies. The brokenhearted “You Broke A Beautiful Thing” is so soulful, you’d expect to hear it on an Al Green album. In the wise and wistful “King Of Fools,” there’s some simple but unforgettable wordplay. It’s when Kelly refers to himself as “the King Kong king of fools.” Every black piano key that’s hit will hit home to those still nursing romantic scars. And “Young Lovers” mines the same terrain with even more melancholy results. I started this column to find people like Kelly and albums like Ways & Means. So stop reading and go get it.
   Miles Of Music has C.W.A. and Virginia Creeper for $11.99 and Ways & Means for $13.99. Amazon has The Real Thing for $12.99.
   Oops! Honky tonker Mark Erelli plays McCabe’s on April 16, not March 16.
   California Democratic State Senator John Vasconcellos wants to drop the voting age to 14. That nutty proposition makes as much sense as this week’s Goofy Band Name Of The Week: President Bongo.