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The Connection - Labor Of Love (2015) [Original 24bit Digital Download]

Posted By: Rehabilly
The Connection - Labor Of Love (2015) [Original 24bit Digital Download]

The Connection - Labor Of Love (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | 30:48 mins | 401 MB
Original Digital Download | Garage Rock / Power Pop

They've been applauded by rock pioneer, visionary, and former Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham. They're championed by "E Street" legend Little Steven Van Zandt and heard just about every day on the Underground Garage. Now The Connection on the roll again with their new album. - "Labor Of Love" is the soundtrack to the love child of Nick Lowe, Flamin' Groovies, the Kinks, and Graham Parker stumbling through the Bowery with the swagger of Exile-era Rolling Stones; finishing off the night by passing out on the Ramones' studio floor.

The band plays Power Pop with classic Garage Rock undertones, making them sound like, well, a garage rock version of The Undertones. But not just any strand of Garage Rock, The Connection are more akin to the straight, early Rock and Roll influenced side of the genre. To give you an idea, The Connection is a lot more clean cut and melodic like, say, Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders. They lack the grit and intensity of The Standells or The Sonics and they're a thousand miles away from the overall weirdness of ? and the Mysterians. They've set their sights on clear cut pop hooks and riffs that lift from vintage Chuck Berry. This is a band who wear their influences on their sleeves.

Producer (and member of the Dictators) Andy Shernoff surrounds the band with a clean, smooth sound, with all the instruments ringing as clear as day. This was obviously the right move, as placing unwarranted fuzz or distortion over these songs would sound severely off putting. It'd be like seeing Richie Cunningham in The Fonz's leather jacket. Other collaborators include ex-Screeching Weasel member Dan Vapid, who delivers backup vocals on "Don't Come Back." Though, to be honest, if you don't know he's there, his vocals are not remotely noticeable.

The band doesn't mix things up too much, making it obvious that they belong to the school of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Most of the songs on this album feature uptempo, bouncy instrumentals and chipper vocals. "Let the Jukebox Take Me" and "Treat You So Bad" are the only tracks here that really break from the mold in any way. With a countrified ballad posture, the former track saunters along and absorbs some ragtime influenced piano stabs before it reaches it's muddled end. "Treat You So Bad" is a New Wave influenced rocker no doubt taking a cue from Elvis Costello's first couple of albums. Neither of these songs make much of an impact, however, as they mostly wallow in their influences and fail to catch your ear with a bland chorus.

Just as the album title says, this is clearly a labor of love and the band members are undoubtedly having fun playing the music. The album is bolstered by a handful of genuinely catchy tracks ("Circles" and "Pathetic Kind of Man" come to mind), but there is some filler to be found here. The 30 minute album is too short to become tiresome, but The Connection should have definitely put a little more labor into this labor of love anyway.

– Review by fretty, taken from www.punknews.org



Tracklist:

01. Labor Of Love
02. So Easy
03. Circles
04. You Ain't Special
05. Pathetic Kind Of Man
06. Don't Come Back
07. Let The Jukebox Take Me
08. Red, White & Blue
09. Treat You So Bad
10. Good Things

all songs by Marino/Palmer


01. LABOR OF LOVE - This song really says it all about being in an ‘indie rock n roll” band in 2015. This one was mostly Geoff’s, I helped fill in some lyrics. But I really dig the message and I’m a fan of self depreciating humor and I think the song is an honest view about bands like us. Or some bands who think they’re bigger than they really are.

02. SO EASY - Geoff sent me a demo of the slide riff and the first verse one day and I just thought it was great the moment I heard it. I wrote the 2nd and 3rd verse and the bridge a few days later cuz I was so excited to have a song in this style. Its obviously heavily influenced by The Stones. I think the lyrics are pretty badass and I love the slide and the Open G-“Keef” tuning. Craig also did a killer job on doing a Charlie Watts type beat. I played the bass on this one to.

03. CIRCLES - A couple years back Geoff got a new Gibson SG and this was the first riff he wrote on it. When he showed me the riff one day I pretty much wrote the chorus “I keep running around in circles..” on the spot. So we had this awesome riff and awesome chorus but we were almost scared to mess those up by writing the rest of the song. So it took a couple years to piece this one together. I’m happy with the final result as its one of our catchiest songs. Geoff also plays a killer bass on this tune too.

04. YOU AINT SPECIAL - This one’s obviously about a girl. I think Geoff had someone in mind while writing it. Andy Shernoff kept comparing this one to an Arthur Alexander song, which I thought was cool. Andy also lent his Bass playing skills to this track.

05. PATHETIC KIND OF MAN - This is one of my favorites on the record. I wrote this one about some guy who filled in for a couple shows in Europe and got kicked off the tour on the third day for being a baby and yelling at everyone. I had the 12 string riff written for years but never really went anywhere with it. Till I met this guy. I love the lyrical content a lot of it is just quotes from this loser. Its a kind of Ray Davies “well respected man” but the exact opposite.

06. DON'T COME BACK - I wrote this one in about 10 minutes one morning while my girlfriend was at work. Geoff gave me his old M-BOX so I could make demos on my computer with drum beats and everything and this was the first one I ever did on the iMac. I wanted to just write a dirty sounding punk rock n roll song like The Boys or The Damned. Its kind of like if The Ramones had Johnny Thunders playing Lead guitar. Dan Vapid from The Riverdales and Methadones did some back up vocals on it.

07. JUKEBOX - I love this song. It's total country, Gram Parson’s/BYRDS “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” type song. Geoff again sent me his demo for it and I was blown away. I’ve always wanted a song like this. The lyrics are amazing and I honestly believe its one of the best songs we’ve written together. It’s just about some guy who never gets out of town, likes to just drink BUD HEAVY’s at his local dive and spin records at night. He loves his hometown and has no plans on leaving. Great classic sounding stuff. Zach Unlces is our resident pedal Steele player.

08. RED WHITE & BLUE - Another that I wrote in one sitting. Just a rock n roll song. Chuck Berry meets the Ramones. I started writing it when that Seymour Hoffman guy OD’d. Its about as political or topical as we get in a song. Just about some of the going-ons in the world at the time.

09. TREAT YOU SO BAD - I started writing this one when on my way to work one day the melody and words “Treat you so Bad” popped into my head. When I got to work I made a little voice memo on my phone in the parking lot. It’s kind of a soul inspired/Elvis Costello maybe Kurt Baker-ish tune. Its not exactly about me or anything but It is sort of “1st person” you could say. At least the line about the Red Sox. (Especially this year).

10. GOOD THINGS - I wrote the riff while watching the 2013 World Series. I write a lot of riffs and lyrics while watching TV. Especially sports. One night me and Geoff were hanging and I was about to leave when I started playing the Riff. It was like 2:30 in the morning and the lyrics just started flowing like all the beer and wine we were drinking. Geoff had the “good things happen to bad people” Chrous written for years and it just fit in perfectly with all the little one liners we used in the verse. Another one that I like the lyrics in because unfortunately it is kind of true. Good things happen to bad people all the time. That’s the way of the world I guess.



Produced by Brad Marino & Geoffry Palmer. Executive Producer: Andy Shernoff
Recorded by Geoff Palmer at Friar Park East; Jacobs Dive Studio’s and Thundering Sky by G. Palmer, C. Magruder and B. Marino

• Brad Marino - lead & backing vocals, lead/rhythm/acoustic guitar, bass on "2,6,8,9,10"
• Geoff Palmer - lead/rhythm/slide/acoustic guitar, additional & backing vocals, bass on "1,3,5"

additional musicians:
- Rick Orcutt: drums on "1,4,5,6,8"
- Craig Sala: drums on "2,3,7,9,10"
- Kris "Fingers" Rodgers: keyboards
- Zach Uncles: pedal steel
- Andy Shernoff: bass on "4,7"
- Dan Vapid: guest backing vocals on "6"

Not available - it's officially downloaded FLAC files.
Source: http://the-connection.bandcamp.com/


Release Date: July 24, 2015
Label: King Yum Records
Catalog No.: RUM-008

Analyzed: The Connection / Labor Of Love
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR7 -0.71 dB -8.51 dB 3:13 01-Labor Of Love
DR7 -0.65 dB -8.56 dB 3:22 02-So Easy
DR7 -0.69 dB -8.51 dB 4:04 03-Circles
DR8 -0.71 dB -9.68 dB 2:29 04-You Ain't Special
DR7 -0.73 dB -8.95 dB 2:42 05-Pathetic Kind Of Man
DR7 -0.72 dB -8.53 dB 2:19 06-Don't Come Back
DR8 -0.71 dB -9.34 dB 3:17 07-Let The Jukebox Take Me
DR6 -0.72 dB -8.22 dB 2:03 08-Red, White & Blue
DR7 -0.72 dB -9.03 dB 3:28 09-Treat You So Bad
DR7 -0.71 dB -8.21 dB 3:52 10-Good Things
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Number of tracks: 10
Official DR value: DR7

Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 24
Bitrate: 1700 kbps
Codec: FLAC



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