THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 5, 1994 TAG: 9408050137
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUE SMALLWOOD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
WITH ITS CHIMING guitars and Mary Lorson's gentle, breathy vocal, ``Panic On,'' the title track and first single from Madder Rose's latest LP, is truly deceptive.
This is no fragile Rose, as the dissonant guitars and thorny lyrics of aggressive cuts like ``Sleep Forever,'' ``Drop a Bomb,'' ``Ultra Anxiety'' and ``Black Eye Town'' reveal.
``We tried to get our live show on tape,'' explained guitarist and band founder Billy Cote recently while en route to Washington, D.C. ``We really work with dynamics, and we tried to get that across on the record.''
Offbeat instrumentation, including vibraphone, violin and upright bass, thicken the alternately grinding and graceful sound. The group brings its sound to the Nsect Club in Hampton for a show at 7 p.m. Monday.
``I was trying to think of other instruments other than guitar to create atmosphere this time,'' Cote said. ``All of us play piano a little bit and there was a piano in the studio and a couple of organs, so we tried to go outside the guitar band approach. We're really going to continue that for the next things we do as well.''
After many years spent playing in post-punk bands in New York City, Cote created Madder Rose to accommodate his more cerebral songwriting.
A mutual friend introduced Cote to Lorson, a downtown Manhattan-based singer who'd busked around Europe.
Lorson auditioned for Cote, and ``the next day, when I listened to the tapes, I was like, `God, this is fantastic.' It was really what I was looking for,'' he said.
Cote has written the majority of the material found on ``Bring It Down,'' the quartet's 1993 debut, the followup EP ``Swim'' and the current ``Panic On.''
Rhythms - whether environmentally or musically created - are a frequent impetus for his songwriting.
``The best songs I come up with pop into my head usually in a situation where there's an outside rhythmic stimulus, like riding in a car or on a subway train,'' he said. ``For some reason, having a rhythm coming from somewhere else makes me start thinking of melodies. A melody will just pop into my head, usually with some words attached to it.''
Cote and Lorson have begun to collaborate in Madder Rose songwriting, recently co-penning ``Should've Known,'' which will show up on the next record, Cote affirms.
He believes writing together will strengthen the quality of the material, as well as keep band relations running smoothly.
``With two songwriters in the band it can get sticky as to whose songs we're going to do,'' the guitarist mused. ``If we work together, it definitely melds our two viewpoints. I think it will be healthy.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
ATLANTIC RECORDS
MADDER ROSE TRIED TO CAPTURE THE DYNAMICS OF A LIVE SHOW ON ITS
NEWEST ALBUM.
by CNB