'No Genre To Tie Us Down' Route .44
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The new release from Route .44, This is My America (Blue Radio Records), provides further insight into lead singer Ian "Lefty" Lacombe's affinity for the dark side, as the enigmatic southpaw guitarist delves even deeper than on the acclaimed 2'07 debut, Worthless Lessons. But Providence native Lacombe and his seven mates know that accolades and first-prize ribbons don't pay the bills.
"We have won a lot of awards over the past couple of years, and it's nice to be recognized for our hard work, but we can't make a living off of awards," Lacombe said. He then addressed the Rhody music scene, tongue firmly planted in cheek: "Bands are now competing with 300 channels of high-def cable, the Internet and video games, and people can now live their entire existence without ever leaving home," he said. "People can text their dealer, have a bag of weed dropped off at their house, order pizza, and play Guitar Hero until the sun comes up. Why leave that glorious life?
"You'll see long lines at the downtown discos while phenomenal musicians are playing in front of nobody. You can blame everyone — from bars to clubs to bands to fans — but the reality is that live music is a dying art, and unless we find out how to get people into the clubs, we will lose live music. Maybe that's not so bad to some, but to me it's another lost resource, another piece of civilization discarded."
But misery loves company, and the octet attracts fans with a unique sound, often drawing comparisons to Morphine (thanks to the horn section of Matt Swanton and Paul Choquette), with Lacombe playing the part of Mark Sandman, especially on tracks like "Barfly" and "Lonely Together," where he quips, "I say that patience can wane on the hardest man, a couple of drinks and the walls are coming down tonight." Vocalist Jess Powers often offers an ethereal counterpoint to Lacombe's bluesy outlook; on "What I Am," she rides shotgun while he slyly addresses his female antagonist: "I'm a serpent in a man, a serpent in human skin." And on "The Blame Game," Lacombe channels Tom Waits with a throaty growl: "Blame is the name of the game you refrain from accepting," followed by an eerie chuckle of "it's all good, man, it's all good." This Is My America (available at cdbaby.com, Route44.org, and iTunes) is bookended by songs addressing the current (and shaky) state of the union, but the core of the text remains unrepentant heartache and revenge. Lacombe has said he's not inspired by happy-go-lucky love.
"Yeah, my wife was really happy to read that quote," he said, cracking wise, "but it's the truth. There was a long time following Worthless Lessons when I couldn't write anything. Simply put, I was a happy man. Not that I'm unhappy now, but I am looking outside of my personal life to find inspiration and, sorry to say, it's everywhere now. That's where the darker tone of this album stems from."
Lacombe expounded on his lyrical approach: "All of the songs are about people in my life, or people within me. Not in a split personality sort of way, but more like the characters I wish I'd been in certain situations within my life. You know, when you wished you had done things a different way or handled things differently.
"It's a very strange place, my brain, and the stories that you hear in our songs are basically the stories I see or imagine on a daily basis."
Call it rootsy-blues, an eclectic indie symphony (bolstered by Teri Pimley's viola and the active percussion of Judson Lisiecka), or fired-up folk — the Route .44 sound is impossible to pigeonhole. "We have no genre to tie us down, which is exactly what we want," Lacombe declared. "We want people to hear one of our songs and say, 'That's Route .44.' We want to create our own vibe and sound, though we're all hard-pressed to describe it."
Gigs are lined up throughout the region over the summer, including the Roxy in Boston, the Cantab Lounge in Cambridge, and multiple appearances at the Blackstone, where Lacombe refereed to as "home base for Route .44.
"You'll see that symbiotic relationship we have with our fans on Friday night," he proudly said. "Expect to celebrate the ever-encroaching darkness, and liberate your soul through whiskey and foot-stomping revelry."
ROUTE .44 + RUSTIC DRAMA + JEFF BYRD & DIRTY FINCH | The Blackstone, 1005 Main Street, Pawtucket | Friday May 8 @ 9 pm | $6 | 401.726.2181
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