Chris Barron
ANGELS & ONE ARMED JUGGLERS
Chrysanthemum Records
21st Century Classy Adult Orientated Late Night Alt. Rock .
The name Chris Barron didn’t actually mean anything to me, but the cover artwork looked outstanding so into the player the silver disc went; and the opening track Angels & One Armed Jugglers hit me like a punch to the nose. A really classy piece of music with a multi-layered approach; but ‘that voice’ is just mind-blowing; so I fumbled around for the accompanying Press Release as track #2 April and May punched it’s way out of the speakers.
“Of course!” I chided myself as Chris Barron is/was the frontman for the Spin Doctors; one of the ‘gateway’ bands that led me to what I now know and love as Alt. Country via Alt. Rock and this second song has all that iconic band’s hallmarks stamped all over it.
With that in mind don’t think this album is an artist trying to re-live his glorious youth; far from it; it’s a lot more ‘grown up’ and now, five days on it actually reminds me of Donald Fagan’s Classic Nightfly album; although sounding nothing like it really……just a ‘feel.’
As you’d expect the songwriting and storytelling is quite exceptional with the gently sad In a Cold Way and the nod in the direction of Tom Paxton, Still a Beautiful World which I’ve played on repeat five or six times, like a smitten teenager looking for the ‘hidden meanings’ in Barron’s words. Then, of course there is the ‘I can’t believe that’s not a Randy Newman song’…………Till The Cows Come Home, which the whole album probably pivots around.
The overall ‘feeling’ here is of an album designed for actually ‘listening to’ which may sound odd; but too much of our time is spent with albums as a backdrop to something else; that would be a huge loss as you would miss the intricate lyrics of Gonna Need Someone and the Alt. Country gem (Too Old to Burn) Too Young To Fade which closes the album.
On an album that held a myriad of surprises the first few times I played it; two songs stood out right from the get go and become ‘equal favourite tracks’…..the dark and contemplative Darken My Door and the straight forward Alt. Rocker Saving Grace; not least for the feisty guitars and pounding bass; but hey with lines like “Her skirts too tight for a Monday night” and “I’ve tried songs about Angels/I could use a punch in the face” you know you’re not in Josh Groban territory any more!
It’s probably all too easy for guys like Chris Barron to sit back and count the cash from their mega-hits as it rolls in; but I salute this fella for having the cojones to put his money where his heart is and write, record and release such an interesting and often beautiful set of songs into such a cynical world as this one.
Released October 20th 2017
The Rocking Magpie 