BoDeans' `Resolution': A long time comin'
By BARRY A. JECKELL
Wednesday, July 14 2004
Wednesday, July 14 2004
Published on AllBusiness.com
The reason there's been eight years between Bodeans studio albums is pretty simple. According to the core songwriters/guitarist/vocalists Kurt Neumann and Sam Llanas, life got in the way.
"It was a big jumble of things," Llanas says.
After 1996's "Blend," the Wisconsin-hailing band split with longtime label Slash/Reprise for which it had released seven albums that could be described as the epitome of heartland roots rock.
After a little time off, Llanas decided to try his hand at some solo work, "and that ended up taking a little longer than I thought," he says.
Neumann also explored the solo route, while the BoDeans continued to perform select dates yearly, leaning on pockets of the Midwestern United States where they have traditionally been most successful.
But when it came to planning a new album, differences with management led the core original group _ Neumann, Llanas and bassist Bob Griffin _ to "really take it upon ourselves to put this record together ourselves and present it to record companies ourselves and just move forward ourselves," Neumann says.
Llanas concurs. "They [management] just weren't working with us and they had their own ideas about how we should be approaching it and blah, blah, blah. Finally we just sort of took it into our own hands."
The 14-track "Resolution," released June 22 on Rounder Records' Zoe imprint, was produced by the band and recorded in Neumann's studio, the Slamshack, in Buda, Texas, not far from Austin.
"For me this record reminded me a lot of our first record," Neumann explains. "We approached it a lot that way. Just `Go in here and try to find the soul of the song and put it down on tape,' which is really what we learned from T Bone Burnett making our earliest record [1986's "Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams"]."
To that end, "Resolution" boasts familiar BoDeans hallmarks: jangling pop songs of love and longing punctuated by Neumann and Llanas' exceptional vocal harmonies.
Kevin Leahy plays drums and vibraphone on the album and joins the group on the road. Nick Kitsos also contributes drums several tracks, while Michael Ramos played accordion and Hammond B3 organ. On tour, recent find Bukka Allen will play keyboards and accordion.
Album standouts include such songs as "Wild World," "Crazy," "We Can Live" and opener "If It Makes You," all of which have been road-tested over the last year-and-a-half.
"I think it's pretty much what we've always done," Llanas says of the new songs. "We've never ever been a band that was trying to break new ground. We were always trying to pass on the torch that's been passed on to us.
Excited to have a new album to support, the BoDeans will kick off an extensive U.S. tour later
"It was a big jumble of things," Llanas says.
After 1996's "Blend," the Wisconsin-hailing band split with longtime label Slash/Reprise for which it had released seven albums that could be described as the epitome of heartland roots rock.
After a little time off, Llanas decided to try his hand at some solo work, "and that ended up taking a little longer than I thought," he says.
Neumann also explored the solo route, while the BoDeans continued to perform select dates yearly, leaning on pockets of the Midwestern United States where they have traditionally been most successful.
But when it came to planning a new album, differences with management led the core original group _ Neumann, Llanas and bassist Bob Griffin _ to "really take it upon ourselves to put this record together ourselves and present it to record companies ourselves and just move forward ourselves," Neumann says.
Llanas concurs. "They [management] just weren't working with us and they had their own ideas about how we should be approaching it and blah, blah, blah. Finally we just sort of took it into our own hands."
The 14-track "Resolution," released June 22 on Rounder Records' Zoe imprint, was produced by the band and recorded in Neumann's studio, the Slamshack, in Buda, Texas, not far from Austin.
"For me this record reminded me a lot of our first record," Neumann explains. "We approached it a lot that way. Just `Go in here and try to find the soul of the song and put it down on tape,' which is really what we learned from T Bone Burnett making our earliest record [1986's "Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams"]."
To that end, "Resolution" boasts familiar BoDeans hallmarks: jangling pop songs of love and longing punctuated by Neumann and Llanas' exceptional vocal harmonies.
Kevin Leahy plays drums and vibraphone on the album and joins the group on the road. Nick Kitsos also contributes drums several tracks, while Michael Ramos played accordion and Hammond B3 organ. On tour, recent find Bukka Allen will play keyboards and accordion.
Album standouts include such songs as "Wild World," "Crazy," "We Can Live" and opener "If It Makes You," all of which have been road-tested over the last year-and-a-half.
"I think it's pretty much what we've always done," Llanas says of the new songs. "We've never ever been a band that was trying to break new ground. We were always trying to pass on the torch that's been passed on to us.
Excited to have a new album to support, the BoDeans will kick off an extensive U.S. tour later
