“If you was hit by a truck and you were lying out in that gutter dying, and you had time to sing one song...you telling me that's the song you'd sing?
Or would you sing something different? Something real, something you felt? Because I'm telling you right now - that's the kind of song people want to hear. That's the kind of song that truly saves people.” -some guy, Walk the Line
Fabulous Entourage is a New York band that fuses glam rock with an ear for musical theater on their first full-length album, Play Nice Now. Many of the songs have a catchy beat, a range of guitars, piano, and synthesizers, and a full complement of vocal choruses, often in call-and-response format. It’s a creative start, and their sound certainly offers a change from your typical punk band or singer-songwriter. They even seem to have a good sense of how to create an effective song arc, as in the rising drama of “Lying Song,” and their delivery is never lacking in energy.
However, in the current concept of the band there lies what would appear to be a major limitation as well. The fact that their songs are so theatrical leads to an unfortunate side effect: their singers sound like they are… well, acting. The singers are never selling the words as conveying their own true feelings, which makes it difficult for the listener to gain any experience of catharsis or engagement in the music. On the other hand, the lyrics aren’t exactly the sort of ironic, seedy tales that might lend themselves well to a campy delivery, as would, say, a good Velvet Underground song.
This is why I thought it appropriate to open not with a quote from the album, but from Walk the Line. It may be a manufactured moment in a Hollywood flick, but the sentiment from that recording studio guy stands true. Word on the street is Fabulous Entourage puts on a fun show, but this is an album, not an act. If a disc is to really withstand repeated listens, it needs to convince the listener of a feeling, not just display a band that knows how to have a good time.
The concept doesn’t need to be scrapped, just modified. Whether sincerely or ironically, the lyrics need to be written with a dedication to conveying something personal or universal, not just something that will be fun to call back-and-forth across the stage. The vocals might be simplified; there can still be a place for embellishment with an over-the-top backing chorus, but perhaps whittling it down to just one lead vocalist at times might focus the affective intent of a song.
Fabulous Entourage has something intriguing going on stylistically, and I would love to see them mature and focus their music into substance. Only then will they move beyond the status of a novelty act into something greater. |