You know, it's a pretty satisfying thing to not know what you are expecting and end up getting exactly what you wanted.
I've been a Blue Oyster Cult fan for more years than I have not, which is a sure indication that I am getting longer in the tooth with each and every deafening crash of the second hand. To me BOC always represented the very best of a long gone age when bands were seemingly packed, and splitting at the seams, with an abundance of talent. Then, as now, there were bands that were dominated by a single talent and presence; that is a main song writer, vocalist, guitarist, etc., all balled up in the same person. But BOC, along with a handful of other groups, always seemed to have it's input coming from the many varied directions of all the members. They all wrote songs, they all did some singing (some much more than others of course), and they all added their own distinctiveness to the collective. The end result was something very special with each anticipated release.
So when the original lineup of Blue Oyster Cult all started to go their separate ways, it seemed that it would only be a matter of time before the musical talent contained within started producing it's own independent sounds. Dark smoke was once again beginning to pour forth from the once cooled stacks of drummer Albert Bouchard, who's band THE BRAIN SURGEONS was generating all kinds of wonderfully twisted fables for our delight. It seemed like a perfect time for original BOC bassist Joe Bouchard to return to the ring for a few punches, and now, Joe is back with the 1997 Cellsum Records release "The X Brothers- Solid Citizens".
The album features Joe Bouchard on vocals and playing an arsenal of keyed and stringed weapons, Brain Surgeons guitarist Billy Hilfiger doing what HE has proven he can do unmatched, Andy Hilfiger on bass, and Jimmy Cacala on Drums. The songs, mostly written by Bouchard, have that unmistakable mark on them that Joe's songs with BOC had on them. With the release of each subsequent BOC album that was heavily laden with songs by the other band members, it was refreshing to hear the songs that Joe wrote and sang, as it added nicely to the diversity of the band. Joe's songs had a subtle genius to them. Many times buried under the hits (for lack of a better term) of the band and the more "in your face" songs that dominated each album, they stood apart with remarkable scintillation.
"Solid Citizens", containing 13 songs, starts off with a strange instrumental tune called "Pray". While not really a "song" in the true sense of the word, it is more of a strange and ambient intro to the album, which sounds like a guitarist warming up in a smoke filled room of people chatting and laughing, perhaps warming instruments themselves in preparation for an on-stage battle. The album also features two other very similar pieces called "Inner bit" and "End Post", which are spaced throughout the length of the album. These quirky little numbers give the whole album a unique feel, as if each one is a warm up before the next "set" of songs that is to come on the album. The remaining ten songs are of varied pace, ranging from the drastic and dynamic to ballads. "Hot Time In Hell" is a tongue-in-cheek rocker about a raucous party in hell gone out of control, with ear-catching lyrics like "Here's Fu ManChu at the barbecue, bakin' hot Hiroshima pies". The catchy number "On Fire With Love", with it's hooks a mile long, reaches into the guitarist inside of us all and make us want to sling our invisible six-string low and rumble right along with the killer riffs it delivers. The smooth and haunting ballad "Love's a Killer" brings back memories of BOC's "Light Years of Love", and "Dream Machine" provides an atmospheric and melodic break from the more clamorous and thundering songs on the album. Putting forward a bit of personal taste, my favorite X Brothers songs come at the very close of the album. "Run For The Sun", a Joe Bouchard/ Richard Meltzer written tune that sounds enough like a song that Joe could have easily slipped into a BOC release, and "All Things Paramount" with its careful and methodical pace and its unpredictable peppering of guitar scribblings throughout, has seen to it that the album is rarely returned from my CD player to it's protective plastic case.
All together, these songs and others make up an album that anyone who ever pounded a foot or raised a fist to a Blue Oyster Cult album should grab. In my opinion Joe has remained silent for too long, as this album is merely the small tip of a huge iceberg of talent that the man has always had. It's almost as if the original Blue Oyster Cult lineup was a "Super Group" in retrospect. They were the best of the best, all working for the same cause. We knew they were a talented group back then, and now that they have broken off and followed some different paths, it really sinks in. Perhaps no single band was strong enough to contain the pressure and surge of so many powerful forces. Perhaps I'll go listen to this album again.
Robert "Torgo" Sedler
