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MP3 The Coosters - Worn Out Libertines
If you''re going to make "eclectic acoustic" your self-defined style of music then you''d better sound a little bit like no one else and a little bit like everyone else. And you''d better be acoustic.
The Coosters, a Toledo band comprised of a murderer''s row of veteran local musicians, succeeds on all fronts, producing a quirky collection of eight songs that keep everything in perspective.
The group is fronted by Steven Jay Athanas, known for his stint as the Homewreckers'' lead singer, with Richard Lange, Dave Saygers, Larry Reinstein, and Jim Briggs providing the instrumentation.
Athanas writes all the songs, a collection of observations on relationships, the foibles of man (and woman) and the underrated pleasure of spending a gray day in bed. The instrumentation is fascinating, with Saygers'' tuba used as a rhythm instrument and Lange''s jazzy solos giving way to Reinstein''s mandolin work. Briggs holds down the bottom with subtle, effective
8 MP3 Songs in this album (25:16) !
Related styles: Folk: Folk-Rock, Pop: Beatles-pop, Type: Acoustic
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“The Coosters” are a quintet, formed in February 2009, featuring some highly talented veteran musicians based in NW Ohio. The group’s eclectic lineup of guitar, mandolin, upright bass, tuba and percussion, nonetheless, displays a pop sensibility with an alternative twist that draws from a deep well of Americana music. The band is made up of Larry Reinstein on mandolin and vocals, Dick Lange on guitar and vocals, Jim Briggs on percussion, Dave Saygers on tuba, upright bass, vocals and didgeridoo and Steven J. Athanas on acoustic guitar and vocals.
It’s because of the diversity of their music that they have dubbed their style as “eclectic acoustic.” Life and its variances is at the core of “Worn Out Libertines”, the debut CD from “The Coosters”.
Guitarist Richard Lange’s jazz filled playing is imbued with a seductive richness that draws the listener deeper into “The Coosters’” sound. Dave Saygers double duty on tuba and upright bass, adds a solid soulful bottom to “Libertines” that is rounded out by Jim Briggs on percussion. Meanwhile, Larry Reinstein’s playful mandolin adds just the right amount of whimsy to keep an audience engaged.
Far from being “Worn Out”, the album lyrically contains veteran Toledo musician/artist Steve Athanas at his best; musically exemplifying the pinnacle of being a libertine: “with no acceptable beliefs to break his fall, he has no choice but to become a renegade and a freethinker”.
The eight songs on “Worn Out Libertines” were all written by Athanas, whose 2006 release “We Are Our Own Parade” was met with critical acclaim, and maintains Athanas'' slightly skewed version of the world at large. The singer/songwriter attains his most subtle effects through an imperceptible turn of a phrase; his lyrics flow smoothly; his expressions are always unlabored; his irony is as devastating as its touch is light.
“Worn Out Libertines” was recorded and mixed at Gregg Leonard''s Big Sky Recording Studio in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Musicians make foray into fun
By ROD LOCKWOOD
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Steven Jay Athanas may be the only singer in the United States who doesn''t flinch at the prospect of singing a Frank Sinatra song and a Sex Pistols tune in the same set.
From the sublime pipes of the great master to the guttural yowl of punk god Johnny Rotten, Athanas and Toledo band the Coosters will tackle them with an appropriately twisted sensibility that fits the band''s self-proclaimed label:
Eclectic-acoustic.
With a new disc - "Worn Out Libertines" - the band features an elite group of Toledo musicians taking a break from jazz and classical underpinnings and focusing on a style of music that is quirky and more than a little off the wall.
That it works is a testament to the power of creative adventure.
"It''s a blast," said guitarist Richard Lange, who teaches guitar at Adrian College and is a well-known local jazz player.
"When I play with [jazz man] Gene Parker, that''s challenging. The Coosters is pretty much, if I can quote the Ramones, ''We play at the level of our ability.'' We''re not trying to create art music or anything."
The band includes Athanas on vocals and guitars in addition to writing lyrics for all the songs, Dave Saygers (tuba, upright bass, vocals, and didgeridoo), Larry Reinstein (mandolin and vocals), and Jim Briggs (percussion.) Individually the various members have played with everyone from the Toledo Symphony to the Homewreckers and Maureen Davis & the Movers.
The band was born when Athanas needed backing for a Christmas song he wrote a year ago. Lange helped him out and from there the singer/songwriter started assembling musicians to work on his latest songs, which were far more acoustic and, yes, eclectic, than his previous work on the 2006 disc "We Are Our Own Parade."
"I sort of took the bull by the horns in that I started picking some songs knowing that with the musicianship of these people - Saygers plays with the orchestra - was way above anything I''ve ever worked with," Athanas said.
The result is an eight-song disc of musical excursions that feature arrangements that use tuba as a rhythm floor, and difficult-to-descibe forays into trad jazz, straight-forward acoustic arrangements, and rock.
For Athanas, the cool part is just listening to the other guys.
"One of the fun things is when we''re playing and I''ll just walk off the stage and say, ''You guys do something,'' and they''ll break into some standard and start swinging," he said.
The band is having a CD-release concert Saturday at Ground Level Coffee, 2326 West Central Ave., at 8 p.m. The show will feature a portion streamed on the Internet at https://www.tradebit.com The disc is available locally at Culture Clash, Ramalama Records, and online at https://www.tradebit.com.
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