Platypus and Jelly Jam collaborator and King's X frontman Ty Tabor hits the candyfloss again when he releases the follow up to his debut solo album Moonflower Lane. Again the Beatles influences can be found all over the place mixed with a fair amount of psychedelic titbits and contemporary rock'n roll. If you listen to "Missing Love" and you imagine this song being sung by Lenny Kravitz then you'd probably end up with a heavy rotation single! Opener "Tulip" follows a steady rhythm but does hold some Beach Boys references in the vocal department. In "Better To Be On Hold" Ty's guitar sounds vicious and mean trying to find its way alongside the vocals. Three years of hard work has gone into creating this album which opens like a sad diary highlighting the seperation from his wife for a final time after he already shared his emotions with us on the Platypus Ice Cycles album. Combined with the respect for his great heroes The Beatles, John Lennon and everything seventies, Ty delivers ten wonderfully crafted songs fuelled by highly emotional guitar playing. Psychoanalysis by means of music! And it works! Both for the musician and the listener the music feels like a womb, creating a haven of "safety"! The "ease" with which these songs are delivered maybe has something to do with the inclusion of Christian Nesmith on bass. After all, as a son of original Monkees member Michael Nesmith, Christian certainly knows the feel of quality poptunes. Ty's love and admiration for John Lennon is at its peak during "True Love" sharing his emotions to the fullest. Throughout the album you'll witness a mix between good clean singer/songwriting and alternative guitar rock which is why a song like "Now I Am," Ty's self-analysis of his way out of the crisis, gets close to the acceptable nature of some of the Foo Fighters material. Also "Anger" sounds like ideal stuff for daytime alternative radio, so what are we waiting for? The closing track 'I Don't Mind" is the longest on the album and reminds us of XTC and even a little bit of Porcupine Tree. If you like your rock music to have a little more zest, then Ty's solo stuff will take you wherever you want to go. Together with Derek Sherinian, Ty has teamed up with Matt and Gregg Bissonette in order to deliver a mix between Foo Fighters and Beatles under the moniker of Jughead. It looks like there's no end to his many talents. Bespreking: John 'Bobo' Bollenberg |
