by Amy Borer
If there’s one person who’s sick and tired of being compared to the legendary Bob Dylan, it’s probably his youngest son, Jakob. And though his storyteller song writing, raspy voice, clear blue eyes and dark, tousled locks do bear him a striking resemblance to his father, Jakob Dylan is one artist who deserves to be regarded for his own merit.
Constantly trying to shrug off his father’s shadow, Dylan fronts the five-man, roots music band, the Wallflowers, whose second album, “Bringing Down the Horse,” is currently at no. 65 and climbing on the Billboard 200. The Los Angeles based band is also playing club dates throughout the United States, making a stop last Friday night at the Galaxy Concert Theatre in Santa Ana.
Far from being new to the scene, Dylan formed the Wallflowers shortly after high school, following a few brief tries at art school and playing drums and guitars in bands. The Wallflowers released their self-titled debut album in 1992 with prospects of a bright future. Unfortunately, problems at Virgin Records, the group’s original label, caused the Wallflowers to leave their contract and earned them a reputation for being difficult. After a brief hiatus and a couple of personnel changes, the band was picked up by producer T-Bone Burnett and Interscope Records, a label mostly know for producing rap music.
Now the Wallflowers are back in record stores and the only regret should be that they didn’t return sooner.
The group, which includes Dylan on vocals and guitars, Rami Jaffee on piano and organ, Michael Ward on guitar, Mario Calire on drums and Greg Richling on bass, enlist the help of such veterans as Adam Duritz, Gary Louris, Michael Penn and Leo LeBlanc for the new album, a mix of introspective lyrics (all of which were written by Dylan) and extraordinary musical harmony.
The first single off the album, “6th Avenue Heartache,” is the sole song to land extensive radio play thus far, but is definitely not the only one deserving of the attention. Though there isn’t a bad song in the collection, “Josephine,” a sorrowful love ballad; “God Don’t Make Lonely Girls,” an upbeat ode to a peep show star; and “I Wish I felt Nothing,” a tribute to the late Leo LeBlanc, who played pedal steel on the record, are certainly worth a listen.
It’s lyrics such as “I guess I should be ashamed, but I forgot to be vain/ Well I did the best I could I guess, but everything just bleeds,” from “Bleeders,” that prove Dylan’s ability as a songwriter (and earn him the comparisons to his father’s writing style of the 1970s).
While the Wallflowers have been likened to such musical role models as Bruce Springsteen, Warren Zevon and The Band, they have a style all their own that is a fresh change from most of the music played on the radio lately.
“Bringing Down the Horse” may be good, but the band is even better live.
With the exception of the high prices for food and drinks at the Galaxy, there can be few complaints about the show last Friday night. Even the openers, May Pole, a typical alternative band also from Los Angeles, were enjoyable to listen to and prepped the crowd for the Wallflowers.
In a set which lasted about an hour and a half, the Wallflowers performed all the songs off the new record, plus a few from their debut, a great new song called “Skinny Lips” and their own rendition of Madness’ version of the Smokey Robinson hit, “Tears of a Clown.”
Far from being difficult, the band interacted with the audience, and the musicians genuinely looked like they were having fun performing together.
Afterwards, Calire said that he thought the concert went well. He attributed part of the success of the show to the good acoustical sound at the Galaxy.
If one is planning to catch the Wallflowers live the next time they are in town, she should keep her eyes open for Calire before the show. He was spotted mixing with the crowd at the Galaxy and also at the Troubadour in Hollywood last month prior to going on stage. Also, Calire and his band mates can usually be found hanging around the club after the set too, although Dylan is noticeably absent.
Until then, check out the Wallflowers tomorrow night as the musical guests on “Saturday Night Live.” According to Calire, the group just recently found out about the upcoming performance, and is very excited to be a part of the show.
