| Issue
#57
Dec. '03
Calling Generation Mojo,
the 2nd
release by the NYC based Beatlemanics, the badge,
is subtitled “File
under 60s mod beat pop.” Therein lies the tale
of the tape. Do you know what
mod beat pop is? Do you feel that there still hasn’t been a
band to rival, let alone
match, The Beatles as the total musical package? Do you wish the
influences of the 60s
could still be reproduced with a faithfulness that escapes all the
so-called
retro-popsters that are currently attempting to reconstruct it with
results that teeter
between “almost there” and “what the hell
is that?”? Or, as the
badge states on the title
track “Everything
you’ve heard before / sounds like it’s been done
before / and now we’re
gonna blow your mind /
Yeah, do you believe
in love? / do you want to be free?” With Pete
Townsend power chords ripping
through the George Harrison sitar-style guitar solos, vocal harmonies,
and a backbeat that
is total Mod, the badge lives up to their
pretensions of stepping into
the musical void created by the absence of The Beatles.
And fill it they do, along with every other
influence gathered along the way, from the
60s Motown Holland/Dozier/Holland 4 Tops classic “Reach
Out, I’ll Be
There,” to the 70s Beatles
disciple, Jeff Lynn penned ELO song “Telephone
Line.” These are two covers that
you’d never expect to find on the
same CD, let alone covered by the same band, yet the
badge proves their
versatility by fleshing out both these songs with original
interpretations that do homage
to the roots of each.
But even more so than the covers, it is the
original songs written by the badge
founder Jeff Slate (vocals, bass, organ),
as well as partner Marc
Teamaker (guitar, vocals, piano), that establish the
badge as a
band worthy of creating thoughtful intelligent musical compositions.
These show a maturity
not only through lyrics of poetic significance that engage each of us
on a human level,
but also with arrangements and studio finesse that convey a passion not
only to the songs,
but the craft as well.
Where their 1st
album,
“…digital
retro…” (IndepenDisc’s
Dec. ’98 Feature),
took the baton and carried on from where The Beatles left off, Calling
Generation
Mojo is the badge’s
white album. The areas covered, the
places we are taken, and the range in which it sweeps, are epic in that
same white album
proportion. Yes, the similarities are drawn from the range and
influences copped from that
monumental LP. To write about and point out every one would be too
overwhelming a task,
for this is the type of CD where every time you sit down and listen to
it, you find more
and more, and it is then that you realize to what extent the members of
the badge
are pure Beatles scholars.
The perfect example would be “Hole In My
Head” and “All
For Love.”
Penned individually by Teamaker and Slate
respectively,
these two songs are the heart and soul of this CD and form the ideal
center for the band,
which also includes Drew Edwards
(keyboards, vocals) and Nelson
Pla (drums, percussion, vocals). “Hole
In My Head” is a ballad
of sincere proportions that uses the
metaphor of contemplating suicide to establish the helplessness we all
sometimes feel in
the face of the staggering complications brought forth through the
rigors of everyday life
and the complexities and anxieties that accompany them. With a solemn
vocal set to a
melancholy piano and a light traipsing drum beat, we are drawn to the
realization that
this is not an uncommon individual mindset, but one of universal
significance in which we
become aware of not only our own personal faults and feelings, but also
of those of our
fellow man. So fine (that’s
F - I – N – E fiiiiiiiiiiiiiine) a song that it
fills you with wonder and leaves
your senses agape.
A homily of John Lennon’s
philosophy of
“All You Need Is Love,”
“All For Love”
takes us in another direction and
creates what would’ve amounted to a #1 record in 1967 with
all the psychedelic wonder
of that most mystical of musical times. High harmonies of “Love,
Love, Love”
abound and draw us into the 60s culture again, where Peace and Love
ruled the day and
“though no one is perfection / we all shine on.”
We understand and
believe when we are told (and consciously sing along) that “yeah,
it’s all
for love.”
Perhaps what the badge
is trying to get through to the mojo generation
(or should I say the generations that were, could be, and should be
Generation Mojo) is
that the 60s, and mostly The Beatles, got it all right when they based
their brand of
Rock-n-Roll around not only the necessity, but the power of Love. And
for all those who
think and believe that it all begins and ends with them, that they are
the Mods of their
time and their generation – you are, but there were those who
came before you, and
you really should take note and learn from their accomplishments which
helped to establish
the standard, that paved the way for you not only to break the mold,
but to have the
platform and the means to even attempt to. And when all is said and
done, before you shut
out the lights, give thanks for what was, what is, and what can be.
“So open your eyes / for
the
first time / everything you’ve known before
/ is gone and further more / and now we’re gonna blow your
mind / Yeah, do you
believe in love? / do you want to be free?”
the
badge
is Calling Generation Mojo.
That’s you. Are you listening?
You should be.
Calling Generation Mojo by
the badge
is available now for: $9.98 +s/h*
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