CONCERT REVIEW
From Good Homes away from home
by Seth Rogovoy(PITTSFIELD, Mass., May 3, 1997) -- The New Jersey-based band From Good Homes entertained a small but enthusiastic crowd at the Studio on Friday night with its upbeat, feel-good style of acoustic rock music.
While the group occasionally ventured into jam-rock territory, for the most part From Good Homes stuck to a song-based approach, emphasizing melodies and lead and harmony vocals. And unlike some of the band's rootsier cousins, From Good Homes didn't shy away from a smooth, pop orientation that relied on a variety of hooks and riffs -- some borrowed, some original -- to help get across its songs.
The uniquely configured quintet was fronted by Todd Sheaffer on lead vocals and guitar. Bassist Brady Rymer sang close harmonies and occasionally took a turn on lead vocals. Patrick Fitzsimmons played drums, Jamie Coan juggled lead guitar, violin and mandolin duty, and Dan Myers handled saxophones, melodica and back-up vocals.
With such an array of instruments in its arsenal, From Good Homes had a lot to draw upon. But rather than scatter its sound all over the map, the group integrated its influences, which ranged from soulful R&B to old-time and bluegrass, into an organic style of country-soul in the approximate orbit of older groups like The Band and the Allman Brothers.
What differentiated From Good Homes from older groups, however, was its reliance on pop hooks rather than raw funk to connect with its audience. This was both a strength and a weakness. It made for happy listening in catchy tunes like "Cool Me Down" and "If the Wind Blows," which boasted light lyrics to match the light approach.
At the same time, however, the group's lack of an edge -- its almost too-wholesome veneer -- threatened to betray its homespun, back-to-the- earth message. It was a case of light being confused with "lite."
It may also have been a case of a band still in search of itself. The group threw a few bones to the groove-heads in the crowd, opening up its tight song structures a few times for some extended jamming. And some of Coan's more creative fiddling almost brought the group into prog-rock territory -- more Kansas than country.
But Sheaffer and Rymer made for an endearing, front-line duo. There was no artifice in Sheaffer's pinched, earnest vocals that recall Arlo Guthrie's -- how could there be? -- and rare is a group that can so effortlessly mix the crunch of rock with country mandolin and an R&B saxophone break in one song.
Albany-based Ominous Seapods warmed up the crowd with a set of its psychedelic hippie-rock derived from the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers and Phish. One supposes there is a place for this sort of thing in contemporary music. One also wishes, however, that fans interested in hearing improvisational virtuosity would seek it out among the truly gifted musicians who play jazz, and not among the many Phish wannabes polluting the airwaves.
[This review originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on May 5, 1997. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1997. All rights reserved.]
Seth Rogovoy
rogovoy@berkshire.net
music news, interviews, reviews, et al.
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