RINGLEADER'S REVOLT

Beat Circus' first studio release finds the band working hard to define their sound and occasionally succeeding. Unlike the first two-thirds of band founder Brian Carpenter's 'Weird American Gothic Trilogy' that would follow, this is mostly an instrumental album and is full of raucous, rambling and clearly highly improvised weird American gothic circus music.

It's difficult to put a label on the Beat Circus sound, although "Weird American Gothic" works as well as anything else. It's also difficult to not conjure up images of acts like Blue Mountain, Reverend Glasseye, Drive-by Truckers and the like when toe-tapping along to Carpenter's bizarro blend of Chautauqua carnie riffs, hardscrabble Appalachian bluegrass and jaunty ragtime. On tracks like "Mandalay Song" the band also shows hints of a klezmer-leaning sound that will emerge considerably stronger and more vibrant on subsequent albums. Carpenter even manages to hearken back a bit to Wild West saloon burlesque on "Escape From the Big House", a saucy and slow number that gets a surprising ending of nonsensical lyrics courtesy DJ Hazard (more name-dropping below). These are also about the only vocals on the album save for sporadic moaning and unintelligible rants.

Carpenter clearly has strong and broad connections throughout the music industry, as evidenced by the many guests appearing on all his albums. Here those include Karen Langlie (Orgy of Noise), jazz saxophonist Charlie Kohlhase, Alec K. Redfearn (Fern Knight), and Brandon Seabrook (John Zorn) among others. Considering Carpenter now calls music-rich Cambridge, Massachusetts home it's not surprising he managed to nail down such highly-accomplished and professional accompaniment. But sideman pedigree aside, Carpenter's clear love of fun and well-crafted music shines through from start to finish.

I'd love to say this is a masterpiece but it's not. It is forty-five minutes of highly energetic, very well-played and enthusiastic fun music though, and about as far removed from cookie- cutter pop as you might think possible. For that Brian Carpenter and his mad, merry henchmen deserve both kudos and thanks. I was going to say this is a two-star album (for collectors only), but really if you haven't heard these guys this one will prime your pump for the much more complex and grandiose works that would follow. If you do know the band, this is a great glimpse into where they came from. Either way it's hard to imagine you'll regret shelling out the few bucks this one will set you back, so three stars and a hearty, belly-laugh recommendation to check them out.

peace