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Rats - Turtle Dove
Another Lone Ranger - David Kubinec
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DAVID KUBINEC :: Some Things Never Change ~ 7.8 | “More Ego” (single) ~ 7.0
A&M | SP-4766
Philips | 6017 259
On the front cover of Some Things Never Change, David Kubinec antagonistically points at the music lover holding the record. With popped collar and raised eyebrows, captured mid-rebuke, he strikes a confrontational pose. He looks a little older and not terribly cool, but he wants to prove his worth to the listener. And he does: he ably rocks with glam sensibilities and a dash of punk attitude. Throughout the record, he uses both technique and sheer rawness to achieve a vocal style that is ragged in the best sense. A light effect is typically applied to Kubinec's voice, but the instruments always sound punchy and natural. The music breathes. The album could be used as a reference recording to demonstrate stereo equipment. My copy is also exceptionally clean and free of surface noise, easily one of the best sounding records in my collection.
A vivid portrait of life on the road, the opener "Another Lone Ranger" addresses expectations, angst, and doubt. Kubinec really goes for it vocally and I get the sense that he's accepted his nomadic life and wouldn't have it any other way (the reflective, almost country-like "Comin' Home" is a hopeful sequel). He's playfully poetic about his adoration of the unattainable on the title track ("I ain't no fanatic, ecclesiastic, or Captain Fantastic, no nothing that drastic"), the chorus of which is one giant knockout hook. His writing is also sharp on "Love in the First Degree," which contains some subtle UFO sounds after Kubinec declares that "not even Captain Kirk could beam me up." This track is very airy with lots of space (one drum fill is a single timbale hit) and a bit wobbly thanks to its odd descending bass line. Some serious existential dread is confronted on "Out in the Rain," which begins with heavy organ and warpath snare drum before transforming into an "All the Young Dudes"-type anthem. As Kubinec howls the song title in the home stretch, it sounds like he's being dissolved by acid rain. The snare rolls return with loudly honking bagpipes as he's stomped into the road in a nightmarish parade march. The album's razor edge becomes a little dull on side B. "Sit on It" is a sleazy rocker that is largely indecipherable (what "pterodactyl on the trampoline" means should probably remain a mystery). Atmosphere seems to be more important than lyrics in the waltz-time number "On the Edge of the Floor." Again, many of its lines are difficult to decipher, and Kubinec can't help but crack up when delivering them. It may be purposefully obscure ("heavy on the rhythm but light on the rhyme" is one phrase I could make out), but it features a swirling arrangement and seductive little melody. Chris Spedding has a moment to shine near the end of "Tear Myself Away," a rockabilly thing that's fun but feels like a disposable genre exercise. "The Elf Sires" is a clever bit of songcraft: Kubinec's career framed as an ancient fable. He begins as a young, wide-eyed fan and is eventually swept up in the business, making music himself and witnessing what really happens behind the curtain. Through ups and downs, he becomes savvy and slightly bitter, repeating "I was better off alone but we've got to progress" as a kind of twisted mantra to push himself forward. Near the end, the song spirals into a cacophonous racket, indicating that the tale doesn't end happily, but it's a powerful closer to a lean and mean album that was unfairly lost in the shuffle.
A couple years after Kubinec's LP, a single inexplicably appeared in the Netherlands. Upon first listen, it's a bit of letdown, only because it sounds like it was recorded in the janitor's closet of the studio where Some Things Never Change was created. The single is self-produced and credited to "Kuby," suggesting an artistic retreat. Nonetheless, with repeated spins, the tunes slowly emerge from the murk. "More Ego" contains a classic '60s-sounding melody backed with the kind of ska bounce that Joe Jackson honed around the time of Beat Crazy. "We don't need more ego" is the song's central theme, but Kubinec pronounces "ego" with a short “e,” making it sound like he’s singing about the popular frozen waffle. Perhaps he had his eye on jingle writing. Pronunciation quirks aside, if there is a Kuby earworm, "More Ego" is most definitely it. Serve it with maple syrup and fruit topping, and your guests will rave. The verse of "The Little Ships" is trademark Kubinec and would have sat comfortably on Some Things Never Change. When a twangy guitar plays the main riff in the fist-pumping refrain, the strings are plucked with such exaggerated force that it sounds like they're going to pop right off the fretboard. You probably won’t find it thumbing through used 45s at your local record shop, but it’s a neat curiosity in this era of Kubinec’s recorded work.
June 5, 2020
