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When Tony Goddess sings the line: "Losing my hearing from listening to last year," he speaks volumes. The phrase from Papas Fritas' new album, Helioself (Minty Fresh), relates Goddess' disgust with loud and grating grunge rock. This 23-year-old writes songs that recall an era long before grunge - or even before he was born - when pop melodies and harmonies were carefully crafted with symphonic undertones. "I just get so sick of bands saying that their record is 'just us plugging in' and that whole sloppy aesthetic," says Goddess on the phone from his home studio in Gloucester, MA. The new Papas Fritas headquarters - a former Montessori school - is located on a wooded, 17-acre plot of land. The guitarist/keyboardist says he moved there so the band could have a place to play without worrying about neighbors, but the building's high ceilings had an amazing affect on Helioself s sound. Though both of Papas Fritas' albums were recorded in just eight tracks, the self-titled debut sounds thin and plucky, Helioself approaches Paul McCartney-style lushness. "We've Got All Night" combines the giddiness of early Wings with a playful arrangement that nods to "Good Vibrations." "Starting To Be It" hints at John Lennon doowop and Todd Rundgren harmonics. While the songs wear their influences well, they also show the band gelling as a unit. "With the last album most of it was riding on my shoulders," recalls Goddess. Drummer Shivika Asthana was still in school at the time they were recording the debut album and couldn't focus on it completely. "With this one I sat down with everyone and said 'we're three people here, how would we make an album.'" One major difference is Asthana's playing. Where it used to sound drum-machine stiff, it has reserved swing that suits the track's hummability. Goddess now emphasizes piano over guitar. He became proficient on the instrument in between albums by learning Randy Newman and Beach Boys tunes. The studio is filled with a small battery of keyboards including a Hammond organ, Fender Rhodes and two pianos - all of which are on Helioself . And Keith Gendel - well, he's still the wacky bass player with the wild and woolly blond 'fro. It's hardly surprising that Goddess compares his interracial (Asthana is East Indian), intergender band to the interracial, intergender Sly & the Family Stone. Like that peace-loving funk band, Papas Fritas' music gleams with a "Hot Fun in the Summertime" kind of sunshiny vibe. "We're trying to make music that people can feel positive about and make people feel good," he explains. "Imagine when a song like 'Hot Fun in the Summertime' was on the radio, how cool that music must have been. Now you turn it on and what do you hear? Nine Inch Nails and Garbage singing 'I would die for you.'" Even Beck is too detached for Goddess' tastes. If this hippie trip seems a little odd coming from such a young songwriter, keep in mind that he was raised by a father who would play old Rolling Stones songs on the piano and get his family to dance and sing along. Today's American pop culture has gone to the dogs, he laments: "No one's proud of Hootie and the Blowfish, no one's proud of Mariah Carey - except maybe her husband." During his childhood in Wilmington, DE, Goddess was a geeky kid who played guitar in the high school marching band. He also travelled up to Philly on a regular basis to buy records at Philadelphia Record Exchange and Third Street Jazz as well as see shows at the Trocadero. After recalling a particular Troc Soundgarden show, he reconsiders his position on grunge and muses that it might have done some good for American youth. "When I was in high school, I was a typical stoner kid who tried out for the football team and got rejected and beat up. Since Nirvana got big it seems like the tide has turned, you're not cool if you're on the football team, you're cool if you have a good record collection. Too bad I'm not in high school now." |
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