Musical and visual artist Scott Sax and his cohorts in Wanderlust are having not one but two release occasions this weekend for their new efforts — the new album All a View, and the videos they’ve done for the album (something they’re prolific and good at). Following up on last night’s (Friday) event at the Dive Motel, where videos — including a documentary history of the band and other visual arts were screened in the cupola by the cement pond, they’ll be taking the show on the road to The 5 Spot this evening (Saturday, June 3) at 6 p.m.
The song (and accompanying video) “Corduroy Moon” is a pop nugget not unlike what Teenage Fanclub would be like if they turned their amps down just a bit. Everything a power-pop nut wants is here in spades: the vocal harmonies, the straight-ahead beat, and the chiming guitars. It’s not unlike Del Amitri, no small comment to make. Two tracks — the aforementioned one about corrugated lunar landscapes and a gem called “Something Happens” which conjures images of Tusk-era Fleetwood Mac meeting Big Star — are already up for your dining and dancing pleasure at wanderlust.bandcamp.com. There, you can pre-order the digital album, the 12” vinyl, the CD AND the vinyl, oven mitts, 10-minute casserole dish recipes you can make at home, and, okay, I’m kidding about the oven mitts and the casserole dishes, but $10 for the digital album, $21.99 for the vinyl, $10 for the compact disc – where can you beat it, when your reward is new music from one of the acclaimed acts of the ‘90s. However, you only have mere hours left to pre-order, after which they will just become sort of order-orders.
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Their new record is called All a View and comes after a break, a substantial one. Active from 1992 to ’98, the original members (Scot Sax, Rob Bonfiglio, Mark Getten, and Jim Cavanaugh), have returned 20+ years hence for their follow-up. Bonfiglio hooked up with the band back in the day when he responded to an ad Sax put in the paper looking for “George Harrison or the next best thing.” Walking in with a Rickenbacker guitar, he practically got the job for that alone. They cranked out lovely guitar pop succor for a devoted fan base, and supped fruits of their labor with 1995‘s chart-topping “I Walked” off their album Prize, which the Sunday Times of London called “one of the greatest rock records of all time.” What, you’re going to go up against the Sunday Times? They’re the only newspaper in England that doesn’t have a topless model on page 3.
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This is the first album from the band in practically decades, but they look pretty good in their photos, so I guess cocaine and Wild Turkey were never their breakfast of champions back in the day. I’ll be there for tonight’s big shindig. Anything without a dobro or a god-damned song about a train is a welcome respite. So check ‘em out. They were great all those years ago and they’re great now. Says Sax: “Saturday night we are talking a full-force rock and roll show. In the years after the rock thing, and that’s what Saturday is shaping up to be. 6 to 8, for the old folks. We like to rock, too, just earlier” TELL me about it! Go see ‘em.
