"House of Confusion" has a bed of sparse rockabilly guitar under the distinctive voice of
Barbara Keith to open 2003's
Rise from the Ashes, another good collection of tunes from the Tibbles family of Western Massachusetts. With references to
Marc Bolan's "20th Century Boy" one can hear the retro
T. Rex riff taking center stage, kind of like
Bolan doing battle with
Robert Gordon and
the Stray Cats. The vocal rap is mellow, oozing over the rugged '50s guitar line and the resulting product is as intriguing as "Rock Harder Than You," another gritty composition that producers
Chinn & Chapman would no doubt love to get their hands on. With an off-gold phoenix proudly on the cover and an elegant 16-page booklet of lyrics inside,
Keith, with some help from husband/drummer
Doug Tibbles, composes all 13 titles, in the style the fans have come to expect from this eclectic trio. It's the ballads on this disc, though, that really stand out, and the authoritative "The Sailor's Song" with its graceful tones proves that point.
Keith is a master of melancholy melody and her descriptive words glide along the accompaniment with her trademark ardor. It's a great song topped only by the final track, "Adriana," a tremendous narrative in the vein of "Free the People," though without the gospel. The former vocalist from Boston area band
Kangaroo with
John Hall could be speaking of herself in "The Phoenix" with its "wings of gold" hook; and where
Tracy Chapman will engage the audience by "Telling Stories" with large production,
the Stone Coyotes team keep it simple letting Mama Tibbles multi-track her voice on a tune that
Linda Ronstadt could easily launch into the stratosphere. On second thought, it's
the Eagles who should pick up on "Your Hour to Sing," material very much along their lines though with a bit more edge than that venerable unit has mustered in awhile. They could also pick up on "Ain't Nobody Home," another strong essay from
Keith's perpetual fountain of melodies.
Rise from the Ashes is a good addition to the
Stone Coyotes collection with some key music that entertains and inspires.