Madder Rose
Country of origin:
U.S.
Type of music generally:
Alternative pop/rock
Status:
Most recent recording, Hello June Fool (1999)
See also:
Wikipedia's entry on Madder Rose
Comparisons:
Hex, The Sundays, Cowboy Junkies. (mapravat@prairienet.org)
Covers/own material:
own
General comments:
Consistent, quality band; once heard, their sound is instantly recognisable, or perhaps it's just thanks to Mary's voice? (afries@zip.com.au)yay! i really like mary lorson's voice. (woj@smoe.org)
Recommended first album:
Any
Recordings:
- Bring It Down (1993)
- Panic On (1994)
- TragicMagic (1997)
- Hello June Fool (1999)
Bring It Down
Release info:
1993—Seed Records
Availability:
Available
Ecto priority:
Recommended
Group members:
Billy Coté—lead and rhythm guitar, bass
Johnny Kick—drums and background vocals
Mary Lorson—vocals and guitar
Matt Verta-Ray—bass, slide guitar, background vocals and rhythm guitar
Brian Doherty, Allan Bezozi and Kevin Salem—drums on various different tracks.
Comments:
A recent item in the press claimed that Madder Rose was either inspired by Patti Smith, that she was their role model, or that their music was patterned after hers (I forget which). I cannot fathom how said publication (whose identity likewise escapes me :-) ) arrived at said conclusion(s); Madder Rose's music sounds like none of Patti Smith's that I can recall listening to at this sitting. But irrespective of whom they do or don't sound like, this is a new band worth listening to. The genres of rock that the various tracks on this album evoke run the gamut from punk/new wave (albeit much better done, or at least easier on the ears, than The Muffs [q.v.]), to ethereal, to ballads with a heavy-duty electric guitar accompaniment, to something akin to mainstream hard rock. I was often reminded of the Hex album [q.v.] while listening to this; some of the slower tunes are reminiscent of the Cowboy Junkies. Mary Lorson sounds very like Harriet Wheeler of The Sundays. In the aggregate, Madder Rose comes across as a versatile bunch of rockers from whom I would hope to hear much more in the future. I suspect we will. (mapravat@prairienet.org)
Panic On
Release info:
1994—Seed Records/Atlantic
Availability:
Available
Ecto priority:
Recommended
Group members:
Billy Coté—lead and rhythm guitar, bass
Johnny Kick—drums and background vocals
Mary Lorson—vocals and guitar
Matt Verta-Ray—bass, slide guitar, background vocals and rhythm guitar
Produced by:
Madder Rose and Mark Freegard
Comments:
99 tracks, every one a winner! :-) Actually, this CD steals the honorary Reznor Award for Best Extra Track Coding On A Digital Medium for 1994. The album proper has 14 tracks, and tracks 15 to 98 then fly by silently at a rate of two per second before we hit 99 and the bonus track. Cute. I haven't spent as much time with this album as I'd liked to have done but it sounds great, highlights being the Mazzy Star-like "Car Song" (oh, okay, it's the Doors influence), the title track and "Black Eye Town". The band for the most part sound like The Breeders Go Permanently Melodic. It also reminds me a bit of Liz Phair in places. Just a bit though. (ahoran@ozemail.com.au)"Panic On" and "What Holly Sees" count as some of my favourite songs. I love Mary's voice, too. (afries@zip.com.au)
Tragicmagic
Release info:
1997—Atlantic
Availability:
Widely available
Ecto priority:
Recommended
Group members:
Billy Coté—lead and rhythm guitar, bass
Mary Lorson—vocals and guitar
Chris Giammalvo—bass, vibes
Johnny Kick—drums
Produced by:
Billy Coté and John Hollbrook
Comments:
Indierawk with soul and a sense of groove. love it. two thumbs up. (woj@smoe.org)With this record Madder Rose reinvent themselves to some degree. While still predominantly indie-pop, they add a touch of all this stuff that seems so essential nowadays—elements of dance music, drum machine beats, loops...whatever. It does work quite well though. (afries@zip.com.au)
Thanks to Andrew Fries for work on this entry.
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