BLUESY WAIL IS BLACK LAB'S FORTE.Byline: Fred Shuster Daily News Music Writer Paul Durham, the forceful voice behind the polished sound of San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden new-rock quartet Black Lab, boasts a bluesy wail that puts his songs across with genuine emotion. It's fitting, then, that he plays a cherry red Gibson ES-335 guitar originally custom built for Bay Area bluesman Joe Louis Walker Joe Louis Walker (born December 25, 1949 in San Francisco, California) is an American blues guitarist, singer and producer. Walker's parents were blues fans, and introduced him to the music when he was young. . ``It's just so playable,'' Durham said. ``I've never seen a new Gibson that was so great. It's like a rock - really well-made with super sustain.'' Durham spent years searching for the right musical environment. Two years ago, he broke up the self-titled combo he'd formed in Berkeley and set out to find the dynamic sound he'd imagined since high school in Twin Falls, Idaho
The search ultimately led him to guitarist Michael Belfer, a journeyman musician who spent years in San Francisco's punk-rock wars playing with the ill-fated Sleepers and the arty Tuxedomoon. Belfer, who has a uniquely atmospheric sound, contributes washes of color not of the white race; - commonly meaning, esp. in the United States, of negro blood, pure or mixed. See also: Color as well as driving lead and rhythm parts to Black Lab's well-received debut album, ``Your Body Above Me'' (DGC DGC Directors Guild of Canada DGC Distributed Garbage Collector DGC Dystrophin-associated Glycoprotein Complex DGC Data General Corporation DGC Dakota Gasification Company DGC Dirección General de Caminos (Guatemala) ). The first single, ``Wash It Away,'' is getting airplay air·play n. The broadcasting of an audio or audiovisual recording on the air over radio or television. airplay Noun the broadcast performances of a record on radio on more than 130 rock stations across the country. ``I didn't want a backup band A backing band or backup band is a band which accompanies an artist at a live performance or on a recording. This can either be an established group or an ad hoc group assembled for the purpose. Such groups are often made up of session musicians. , I wanted to be part of a group,'' Durham said. ``When I was in high school, I spent endless hours listening to Echo & the Bunnymen, the Jam, the Clash and the Psychedelic Furs. That's really the sort of English-type sound I wanted.'' Sunday, Black Lab - which also includes bassist Geoff Stanfield and drummer Bryan Head - opens for ex-Belly frontwoman Tanya Donelly at the Hollywood Athletic Club. Different Strokes At first, Belfer didn't see how he'd fit into Durham's vision. ``I have my own style, and that's sort of what I do,'' the guitarist explained from a tour stop in Vancouver. ``Paul gave me this demo tape, and it was unfamiliar territory. I wasn't sure why he was getting hold of me. I have a much darker sound, and his tape was very folk-oriented. I wasn't sure how I'd work into that.'' Durham insisted he wanted exactly what Belfer does best. ``He came in and had this melodic wash that was exactly what I was 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. ,'' Durham, 29, recalled. ``It was the power and force of punk rock. Aggressive and atmospheric.'' Once the songs gelled, drummer Michael Urbano Michael Urbano (born 19 March) is a studio drummer, band member, programmer, and record producer. He is best known for being drummer for alternative rock group Smash Mouth from 1999 to 2006. was called in for recording sessions, but would ultimately not become a permanent member of the band. The album was co-produced in San Francisco by the musicians and David Bianco (Tom Petty, Throwing Muses Throwing Muses are an alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Newport, Rhode Island, that toured and recorded extensively until 1997, when its members began concentrating more on other projects. , the Posies). Among the standout tracks on ``Your Body Above Me'' is a reworked version of an early unreleased PJ Harvey song, ``All the Money in the World,'' which Durham received as a demo tape from a friend in the music business. ``That song is about me trying to scam a conversation with (Harvey),'' Durham says. ``I still haven't met her.'' Durham says his own lyrics in songs such as ``She Loves Me,'' ``Thin White Lie'' and ``X-Ray'' are usually autobiographical and often deal with traumatic memories or doomed relationships. Real People ``I don't try and imagine that I was a guy in such and such a circumstance,'' the singer said. ``I write from stuff I've actually experienced or people around me have experienced. I see the songs as almost a road map of the last five years.'' Describing the album track ``Thin White Lie,'' Durham said the song deals with a ``sick relationship you can't walk away from, where you end up pleading with the other person to walk away instead.'' He said the result is a ``very toxic song. In the studio, I could only stand to sing it once, and that's what you hear.'' At a recent showcase gig at the Alligator alligator, large aquatic reptile of the genus Alligator, in the same order as the crocodile. There are two species—a large type found in the S United States and a small type found in E China. Alligators differ from crocodiles in several ways. Lounge, Black Lab commanded attention during a four-song performance. Belfer likens the atmosphere at Black Lab gigs to his days in the late '70s playing San Francisco punk clubs such as the Mabuhay Gardens The Mabuhay Gardens (aka The Fab Mab) was a San Francisco nightclub located at 443 Broadway, on the Broadway strip of North Beach, an area best known for its strip clubs. , a North Beach venue where local bands would gather once a month for free spaghetti dinners while hashing out the club's booking calendar. ``I met everybody at those booking meetings,'' Belfer remembered. ``That, to me, was the closest thing to being part of a musical community I've ever experienced. But getting into the punk scene was something I wanted to do right out of high school. Back then, who went to college?'' THE FACTS Who: Black Lab, opening for Tanya Donelly. Where: Hollywood Athletic Club, 6525 Sunset Blvd Sunset BLVD is unreleased material and remixes by the rapper 2Pac. It was released on September 12, 2005 internationally and the United States. Track listing
When: 8 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: $14. Information: (213) 962-6600. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Black Lab - Michael Belfer, left, Geoff Stanfield, Paul Durham and Brian Head - will be the opening act Sunday at the Hollywood Athletic Club. |
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