A wistful, dazzling CD about dreams; Art, life, musicians explored in album.Byline: Scott McLennan By the time Dennis Brennan reaches the conclusion of his brilliant new album "Engagement," a mournful mourn·ful adj. 1. Feeling or expressing sorrow or grief; sorrowful. 2. Causing or suggesting sadness or melancholy: the mournful sound of a train whistle. performance of Charlie Rich's "Feel Like Going Home," there is nothing left on the table. Joy, sorrow, resignation, humor humor, according to ancient theory, any of four bodily fluids that determined man's health and temperament. Hippocrates postulated that an imbalance among the humors (blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile) resulted in pain and disease, and that good health was , sadness and remorse have been wrung wrung v. Past tense and past participle of wring. wrung Verb the past of wring wrung wring clean from a batch of songs that affirms Brennan's place as one of Boston's great songwriters and performers. In the 6-1/2 years since Brennan last released an album, he has seemingly dug all the deeper into his craft, redefining his well-established "roots rock Roots Rock is a sometimes vaguely-defined genre of Americana music that draws on early rock and roll, blues, country music, country rock, and/or other related forms.
Likewise in the top half of "Engagement," which consists of eight new studio tracks, listeners will find little clutter but a mighty racket, starting with the rambunctious "After the Ball," a Tom Waites-like excursion into low-level fame. The song can certainly come across as self-mocking, alluding to an artist with great press clips from a bygone by·gone adj. Gone by; past: bygone days. n. One, especially a grievance, that is past: Let bygones be bygones. era now slugging it out weekly in local watering holes. Brennan himself developed much of the material for "Engagement" playing a regular Wednesday night gig at The Lizard Lounge in Cambridge and occasionally making stealth runs out to Worcester to play low-key shows in some of the city's smaller music rooms. Yet Brennan's "After the Ball" sounds more unhinged than bitter, a declaration of sorts that artists are simply a different breed, people following an instinct others may not understand and living lives most others would not want to contemplate. It's a theme Brennan revisited on "Engagement" with a song about story writer and poet Delmore Schwartz Delmore Schwartz (December 8, 1913 – July 11, 1966) was an American poet from Brooklyn, New York. His first published work was the short story "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities," which was published in 1937 in the Partisan Review. , a writer whose work may not be part of the public discourse at the moment but certainly stirred a progressive spirit in American literature American literature, literature in English produced in what is now the United States of America. Colonial Literature American writing began with the work of English adventurers and colonists in the New World chiefly for the benefit of readers in between the 1930s and 1960s. From Schwartz's example, Brennan wrote with a simple, sincere directness that runs like water downhill away from places of comfort and complacency. "I want to do well because I'm usually playing to people who make the effort to come out on a Wednesday night to see me. You don't want to disappoint them. It's not like I'm putting on a show for a bunch of record company jerks," Brennan said. "I really wanted people to get into the lyrics. I really tried to keep things simple and about things people understand and care about. I didn't want to be too downbeat down·beat n. 1. Music a. The downward stroke made by a conductor to indicate the first beat of a measure. b. The first beat of a measure. 2. Informal A period of stagnation or inactivity. , but I also wanted to be realistic." Even on the funny "Personal Assistant," there is a feeling that the protagonist is failing at his attempts to get closer to the object of his desire; in other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently , don't go looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. happy endings on "Engagement." Instead, "Engagement" is the place to look for mature and well-made music. Brennan cut the album with top-shelf players Duke Levine and Kevin Barry
Brennan's trip to "Engagement" started back in his youth growing up in Marlboro. He kicked around garage-rock bands before finding some local success in the late '70s with The Martells. In the '80s Brennan was part of Push Push, which achieved some recognition before falling apart amid record-deal meltdowns. Brennan emerged as a solo artist in 1995 with "Jack in the Pulpit," a record that fused together his loves of rock 'n' roll rock 'n' roll: see rock music. , country and R&B. Brennan followed up with "Iodine iodine (ī`ədīn, –dĭn) [Gr.,=violet], nonmetallic chemical element; symbol I; at. no. 53; at. wt. 126.9045; m.p. 113.5°C;; b.p. 184.35°C;; sp. gr. 4.93 at 20°C;; valence −1, +1, +3, +5, or +7. in the Wine" in 1997 and "Rule # 1" in 2000. While all of the records he made under his own name earned heaps of critical praise, Brennan never saw his music spread to the extent it was capable of. But commercial performance has done little to dim Brennan's allure around Boston. Singer Peter Wolf regularly sits in with Brennan at The Lizard Lounge, and the former J. Geils John Geils (born February 20, 1946), popularly known as J. Geils or Jay Geils, was the blues-rock lead guitarist, singer and founder of the J. Geils Band, he has also recorded with several jazz musicians. Band front man was a steady presence during the making of "Engagement." "If something needed to be said, he said it. He wanted to be involved, and he was hanging around the studio and going to the shows. His support was important to me because he is such a big part of the community. Having him acknowledge my work is something that is very special to me," Brennan said of Wolf. The quirky quirk n. 1. A peculiarity of behavior; an idiosyncrasy: "Every man had his own quirks and twists" Harriet Beecher Stowe. 2. nature of Brennan's songs is well-reflected in the way he put together "Engagement." With eight new songs in hand, he was ready to write two more for the project when recording engineer Tom Dube urged Brennan to flesh out the project with live recordings. "Tom insisted on recording the live shows, and I was not enamored en·am·or tr.v. en·am·ored, en·am·or·ing, en·am·ors To inspire with love; captivate: was enamored of the beautiful dancer; were enamored with the charming island. by the idea, especially about having to go back and listen to the shows," Brennan said. "But Tom recorded 10 shows and after the first one, we forgot it was even happening. We found all the pieces fit together in the end." Thus "Engagement" has the feel of being an old-fashioned album with an A side and B side, though the artist himself concedes that the album itself may be a dying form in the age of the shortening attention span. "On my Web site I tell people they can do what they want. They don't have to listen to the whole record all the way through," he said. No, you don't have to listen all the way through "Engagement" to appreciate what Brennan does. But he tackles his craft so well that you will want to listen to "Engagement" all the way through. Scott McLennan can be reached at tgmusic1@yahoo.com Dennis Brennan When: 6 and 8 p.m. Saturday Where: Cafe Fantastique inside Rotmans, 725 Southbridge St., Worcester How much: Reserved seats available at virtuous.com, $16 for both shows, $10 for either show individually. Balance of seats not reserved are available for free ART: PHOTO CUTLINE: Dennis Brennan's new album is mature and well-made music. |
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