| I wrote this is mock review of a Robin Lane and the Chartbusters reunion and it actually got taken seriously. Parts were reprinted in various reviews. I guess it’s fine line between parody and hyberbole in the world of rock crit! There IS no Rock Vanity Journal that I know of. . . . The Return of The Chartbusters From Rock Vanity Journal by Tim Jackson It was the 80’s. Or was it the 70’s? The sweating bodies that undulated in a drug and music induced ecstasy could care less. The throaty primal warbling of Robin Lane charged the air and her band the Chartbusters attacked its audience with incendiary guitar and rhythm assaults. Like the many shows that had enthralled millions of hypnotized fans around the country this one was approaching orgiastic levels. It was just another night for Boston’s premier proto-punk-new wave-folk-chick-Christian-guitar-rock septet. Now at last, as if a frozen behemoth of another age had lumbered from the ice to rampage anew, Robin Lane and the Chartbusters is back. Together with punk-rock-God and guitar maestro and producer David Minehan the original band has set forth from the appropriately named Woolly Mammoth Studio to bring to an adoring public more remarkable gems of musical wonder. Has Lane been fallow all these tears? Hardly. She has spent the past two decades sharpening her skills, honing her songwriting to new levels, deepening her vision, living hard and turning that experience into lyrical visions. Now, back with her boys, new and never-before recorded masterpieces are available on a CD called “When Things Go Right.” The astonishing chemistry of the Chartbusters that made for some of Boston rock’s most brilliant live moments is back in full charge. Throughout the years the band has continued to work at their respective musical visions and has together shared moments of life and love, hope and tragedy, never losing touch with one another, never losing the keen edge of their combined musical genius. With their new CD they return like samurai warriors focused, committed and ready for battle. Rock Adonis Asa Brebner has pulled from the ranks of Cambridge’s leading guitarists the redoubtable Pat Wallace to replace the one loss to the original group, who is reported incarcerated. The intricate guitar thrashing of the Chartbusters is now deepened in texture through age and experience and approaches previously unrecognized levels of sensitivity and awareness. Despite his dwarfish physiognomy, drummer Tim Jackson provides almost poignant drum rhythms of alarming simplicity, while lumbering giant Scott Baerenwald’s bass pulses with a tender sensitivity and substantive sexiness. Grab this CD and you will feel not only the power that once enthralled millions, if not thousands. To quote English Author and Jewish Leader Israel Zangwill: “The Past: Our cradle, not our prison; there is danger as well as appeal in its glamour. The past is for inspiration, not imitation, for continuation, not repetition.” Get yours TODAY! photo credit: Paul McAlpine |
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