Houston Press 6/26/97
7/10/1997
Public
News
By and Craig D. Lindsey,
Hobart Rowland, Marlo
Cobb, Mark Towns, Joe
Hon, and Gerard Choucron
Artist:
Carolyn Wonderland and
the Imperial Monkeys
Nomination: Best
Rock/Pop; Best Blues;
Local Musician of the
Year (Carolyn
Wonderland); Best Female
Vocalist (Carolyn
Wonderland); Best
Guitarist (Eric Dane);
Best Bassist (Chris
King);
Best Drummer (Leesa
Harrington Squyres)
; Album of the Year
(Bursting with Flavor)
Sound of choice:
Roadhouse rock
Time logged: Five years
Etc.: Racking up her
annual slew of
nominations, Carolyn
Wonderland has already
proven her gritty
journeywoman mettle in
her home state. Now, it
seems, the only thing
left for her is the
oft-dreaded national
push. How Wonderland
found time in a busy
touring schedule to
grace us with Bursting
with Flavor, her debut
release on Justice
Records and the first
hint on disc that she is
coming into her own as a
songwriter, is anyone's
guess. And with all that
time on the road, the
Imperial Monkeys have
matured from a capable
backing unit into a,
well, more-than-capable
backing unit -- although
their chemistry may be
altered somewhat with
the recent departure of
cement-solid drummer
Leesa Harrington
Squyres.
By and Craig D. Lindsey,
Hobart Rowland, Marlo
Cobb, Mark Towns, and
Joe Hon
Best Drummer
Leesa Harrington Squyres
Best Rock/Pop
Carolyn Wonderland and
the Imperial Monkeys
Album of the Year
Bursting With Flavor by
Carolyn Wonderland and
the Imperial Monkeys
Local Musician of
the Year
Best Female Vocalist
Carolyn Wonderland
Best Guitarist
Eric Dane (Imperial
Monkeys)
Best Bassist
Chris King (Imperial
Monkeys)
Well now, what is there
left to say? Last year,
Carolyn Wonderland and
her crew pulled down
seven first-place
finishes in the Press
Music Awards. And this
year, Wonderland and
company pulled down ...
seven first-place
finishes in the Press
Music Awards. (That's 25
percent of all the top
spots available to
musicians, for those
among you with a
statistical bent.)
Obviously, her fans have
spoken. About the only
change this year was in
the categories won. More
of Wonderland's band was
given a nod for
excellence (last year
Chris King and Leesa
Harrington Squyres took
top honors in their
respective categories,
while this year
guitarist Eric Dane
joined the crowd), and
for the first time in
recent memory,
Wonderland was edged out
in the Best Blues
category, winning
instead the nod for Best
Rock/Pop.
It's doubtful anyone's
more pleased by that
turn of events than
Wonderland herself. In
past years, the singer
has been loath to accept
the Best Blues honor;
after all, she, Dane,
King and Harrington
Squyres are quite
obviously a rock and
roll band, one that
shares about as much in
common with the likes of
this year's blues
winner, Joe
"Guitar"
Hughes, as the Rolling
Stones do with, say,
Muddy Waters. There's an
appreciation, yes, and a
connection, sure -- but
it's a distant one, at
best.
Still, in being an
honest, innately soulful
rock outfit attuned to
its East Texas roots,
Wonderland and the
Imperial Monkeys
inevitably retain a
distinctly bluesy aura.
Bathe that gritty
authenticity in a good-timey
hippie vibe, and you
come up with music that
works equally well in
frat houses and biker
joints. Thus far, the
group has had a banner
year -- busy even by its
own labor-intensive
standards. When not
touring the region in
support of their strong
second release, Bursting
with Flavor, the group
can be found performing
weekends at the Fabulous
Satellite Lounge or
taking up its regular
Tuesday post at the Last
Concert Cafe. Meanwhile,
"Stuck in the
Road," Bursting's
liltingly pretty (yes,
pretty) first single,
has been catching on at
radio stations far
beyond the Texas border.
Despite problems with
their former label
(they're now on
Houston's own Justice
Records) and an insane
road schedule, the easy
symmetry between the
group's core members --
Wonderland, guitarist
Dane, bassist King and
drummer Harrington
Squyres -- remained
steady. But that ended a
few months ago when
Squyres abandoned the
rigors of the Wonderland
orbit to devote more
time to raising her
daughter. For a
replacement, Wonderland
turned to ex-Beat Temple
skin man Chris Axelrad,
who had proven his chops
while filling in for
Harrington Squyres in
the past. And while
Dane's ragged guitar
work, coupled with the
relentless backbeat of
the King/Harrington
Squyres rhythm section,
remains unmatched,
Axelrad's funk leanings
do lend a punchy dynamic
to the mix. So there's
no reason not to predict
another Music Awards
landslide next year.
(H.R.)
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