The Chords You Need
It’s a beautiful spring Saturday in the Sonoran Desert; birds are chirping, fruit blossoms are fragrantly blooming and “Electric Caribou” is dancing forth from the speakers.
This is an afternoon with The Modeens; singer/guitarist/songwriter Jamie Laboz, bassist/singer/songwriter Cristina Williams and drummer Jeff Diday. Missing is keyboardist/harmonica/contributing singer/songwriter Dave Prival as the herpetologist is in Cali tracking a reptile. Prival’s genius is evoked throughout the album and the interview. Laboz describes Prival as a “reserved guy, a quiet scientist, but, you wouldn’t know that seeing him onstage. The first time I saw him play, he did a keyboard solo with his head!”
The conversation bounces around from chatting about the desert’s biodiversity to the stylistic diversity of the band’s third release and second full length, “Electric Caribou.”
Laboz and Williams laugh when asked about the album name, and the story goes like this: “I was playing in a blues band in LA, and this guy came in with cooked caribou on a platter,” Laboz starts, “he looked like a lumberjack.” Williams adds, “a Santa Claus lumberjack but huge!” The surreal experience had the couple saying caribou aloud over and over that night.
“I was loading gear out of the car after the show,” Laboz remembers, “and in this stream-of-consciousness moment, I said ‘Electric Caribou!’ and Cristina laughed.”
The words stuck with the couple, they knew they had to use it somehow, somewhere, and as Laboz says, “a good song or good title keeps coming back.”
With this 10-track release the band has songs that were in its live repertoire for years but not recorded, others were recorded for previous projects; but the songs all come together seamlessly – even with the divergent styles (overall, a 60s vibe that channels classic rock sounds, punk, country and even a ballad).
“Fen (Ikner, who mastered the album) helped us sequence the order of the songs,” Laboz explains, “and we realized he put it in order of a story, in order by key, and it drew a narrative.”
As the album listening party progresses, Laboz, Williams and Diday give the inside scoop on the tracks. Track one, “Modeens Theme” is a groovy rock-romp party song, beginning with the sound of a beer can opening and Williams’ sultry, “Ah yeahhhh.” Prival’s mad genius keys are front and center, with hand clapping and the rhythm section rocking the beats. Then there’s a smattering of beer bottles clinking together, courtesy of Diday, “I do all the weird things besides playing drums. On the last album, I played pots and pans.”
The rock continues with a Laboz penned tune, “Drinkin’ Is A Full Time Job.” He explains: “I wrote that song at Parkside Lounge in NYC, I was on unemployment and drinking.” As we listen, Laboz says, “Fen said this sounds like the Stones and Steve Miller. But, the bridge is Bob Seger.” Cristina seconds that, “Yeah, it is totally Bob Seger!”
The conversation jumps around, as conversations customarily do, so not every song is talked about, but what is shared is songwriting contributions were split between Laboz, Williams and Prival, with Laboz crediting Prival as “the real rocker, he is always the jilted lover in his songs.” Prival’s tunes, “Caroline” and “Not About Me” definitely cull from punk sensibilities – hard driving, intense and fast. Beyond that, Laboz stresses, “Dave is such a sick harp player, he’s so crazy, and there’s so much harp on the record!” It is true, and Prival’s powerful harmonica parts add fantastic depth to the tunes.
When track six starts, “Favorite Shoes,” Diday says, “I googled funtry, it’s not out there.” Funtry, as a music style described by Diday, is “a fun version of country, using all of the clichés of country…” Williams adds, “Yes, but delightfully so!” It’s no disrespect to country; it shares a light-hearted twist on this song, highlighted by Prival’s rag time/honky tonk piano and Aaron Gilmartin’s banjo.
Fun is certainly what we need these days, with all of the craziness of the world torn apart by misunderstanding and fear-based hate. The Modeens offer an album to lose yourself in, a place to let the chords take your mind out of time, to relax and dance. As my husband says, “Baby, I need to get some chords,” and as my father once told me, “Jamie, never underestimate the power of entertainment.”
Have rockin’ fun at The Modeens’ CD release on Saturday, May 18 at Barrio Brewing, 800 E. 16th St. Shrimp Chaperone opens, St. Maybe closes. More info at TheModeens.com.
Category: DOWNTOWN / UNIVERSITY / 4TH AVE, MUSIC
