It's About...Time
Tracks:
- Why Don't You Love Me
- Gun Shop
- I Think I Know
- Strait Shooter
- Hangman
- Louse House
- Future
- Got A Feelin'
- Chunk of Steel
- Big Fat Sow
- Ride the Red Dragon
- Goin' Away Baby
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R E V I E W SThe Boston Phoenix:
The Time Beings, an overdue debut
Some albums call for thousands of words investigating
the meaning of every lyric. Others demand
you shut up, grab a beer, and go mental. It’s
About…Time , The Time Beings se released
debut CD, falls in the latter group. Released
almost two decades after the group's formation,
the disc is just what you'd expect from a
band who wouldn't be embarrassed to admit
Keith Richards is their spiritual stepfather.
It's About...Time opens with 'Why
Don't You Love Me', a straight-ahead rocker
with a singalong chorus that ends up subliminally
entrenched in your mind. This "beer fueled
rave up" is heavy on guitars and short on
philosophy, unless you're convinced that the
world's wronged you and revenge is your goal.
When Jay Martorano, whose vocals have the
same attitude as John Felice's, screams, "I
can't take it, I can't take it anymore," on
"Gun Shop,' he's singing a song millions of
workers on the brink of going postal can relate
to. "Got out of bed, it was 6 a.m./jumped
in my car back' to work again ... Got into
work and I'm punching in a clock/Got to be
here but I'd much rather rock."
That's been the law of the land for guitarist
Preston Wayne, a member of the final line-up
of the legendary '70s Boston garage band DMZ.
When that group imploded, Wayne and guitarist
J.J. Rassler formed the Odds, with whom he
spent much of the '80s before hooking up with
the Time Beings, a band who shamelessly recall
rock and roll's great moments - and, being
from Massachusetts, the Bay State's great
club-rock acts. There are touches of the Nervous
Eaters on ‘I Think I Know’ and ‘Golden Earrings’
‘Chunk of Steel,’ and Real Kids-like moments
throughout the disc. Like the Flamin' Groovies
(who’ve spent a career answering charges of
being too retro by responding, 'Nothing can
top the Beatles, Stones, and Byrds, so why
try?'), the Time Beings are defensive of their
rock-and-roll roots. And they should be.
Their take on the Mamas and the Papas' ‘Straight
Shooter’ sounds the way the original would
have if it had been recorded in Swingin’ London
as opposed to sun-drenched California. ‘Got
a Feelin’, a second Mamas and Papas tune (some
sort of record), features waves-on-the-beach
falsetto backing vocals and beautiful dueling
guitars. When Wayne and felow guitarist Dave
Roemer bond together in a chorus of bliss,
they remind us that rock and roll may be an
individual's ultimate outlet, but its most
elated moments are those shared with others
The instrumental ‘Hangman’ borrows heavily
from the Tornadoes and the Ventures, with
a fuzz-guitar sound resembling early-'80s
London garage-rockers the Milkshakes or the
Prisoners. Surprisingly, It’s About
... Time lags during the MC5's
‘Future’, a selection on which you'd expect
a guitar-heavy band like these guys to reach
their peak. Instead, they trade their normally
frantic playing for bow-taking showmanship.
Neither the MC5 nor the Time Beings were
intended for jazz fusion, so it's self-penned
blitzkrieg numbers like ‘Louse House’, driven
by drummer Jim 'Buck' Burbury, that raise
the tension level. "The time is right, the
time is now, there ain't a lot of time to
waste anyhow," they declare on ‘Big Foot Sow’.
The fashion police may walk on by, but the
Time Beings assure you the party will continue.
'Sometimes I wonder what it's all about, but
who really cares, let's scream and shout."
For the Time Beings, it's all about playing
and paying tribute to those whose music made
life worth living. Like the greatest groups,
they remind you why you fell in love with
rock and roll in the first place, complete
with all of its exhilaration, wildness, individuality,
and attitude. So grab a beer, push away the
chairs, and go wild. It's about time.
- Brian Goslow
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
OK, so The Ramones decided to call it quits.
Fear not intrepid punks, Worcester's The Time
Beings is supplying what you need - rough
and tumble primal rock 'n roll - on the band's
debut CD.
The project is aptly called "It's About ...
Time," and marks the quartet's first full-length
recording in a career that stretches back
to the late '70s.
"It's About ... Time" is one of three discs
featuring local bands that celebrate rock's
black-leather-jacket contingent. Rick Blaze
and The Ballbusters just put out a self-titled
and self-produced disc, and a French-made
tribute to Iggy Pop called "I Wanna Be a Stooges"'
features such hometown heroes as the Surreal
McCoys, Ladd Foundation and Blind Pineapple
Phillips.
These days, The Time Beings are bass player
Jay Mortorano, guitarists Preston Wayne and
Dave Roemer, and drummer Jim "Buck" Burbury.
The disc includes some of the band's older
material, such as "Why Don't You Love Me,"
and even features some surprising covers.
There are not one, but two, tunes here originally
done by The Mamas and The Papas: "Straight
Shooter" and "Got a Feelin'. " In the hands
of The Time Beings, the rich vocal harmonies
are replaced by speed-demon guitar duels.
Among the band's originals, the edgy "Gun
Shop," and the instrumental "Hangman" rise
to the top. Overall, the 12-song disc (which
includes an unlisted "hidden" song) is solid
from start to fmsh. The singing and playing
bear more grit than any younger punk outfit
could muster, proving there is an art to playing
rough.
-Scott McLennan
Time
Beings Home Order
TheTimeBeings.Com
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