Music Blurbs Vol. 5

More of my capsule commentaries.

Danielle Nicole
Danielle Nicole makes music informed by the blues yet not constrained by it. The electric bassist and singer debuted with siblings Nick and Kris as Trampled Under Foot in 2000. After honing both her considerable chops and stage presence with that group for well over a decade, Nicole released her solo debut, Wolf Den, in 2015. While her work has long had its foundation in the blues, Nicole often uses the idiom as a jumping-off point for her musical excursions. In her solo career to date, Danielle Nicole has had no difficulty finding quality musicians with whom to work. 2018’s Cry No More featured an array of guest stars, including Luther Dickinson, Sonny Landreth, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Walter Trout. But her strong musical vision and force of personality means that even among those stars, Nicole easily holds her own, never getting overwhelmed or overshadowed. And while Cry No More displayed her affinity for (and understanding of) the classic Stax Records soul vibe, on her latest, The Love You Bleed, Nicole aims toward a more mainstream classic rock character. Varied throughout, The Love You Bleed can serve as a sampler of Danielle Nicole’s wide-encompassing approach to her craft; it’s also a very pleasing listening experience.

Oingo Boingo Former Members
For a significant subset of late-period boomers and the first Gen-Xers, Oingo Boingo was an important part of the soundtrack of their teenage and college-era lives. Starting in 1972 as an outlandish musical theatre troupe known as the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, this Los Angeles ensemble combined many musical genres and a sense of the wild and absurd. With inimitable front man Danny Elfman as the group’s most prominent member, the band shortened its name, sharpened its approach and trimmed down its 12-person lineup to a more manageable number. Between 1981 and 1994, Oingo Boingo released seven studio albums, a live set and three compilations. The group also contributed to many film soundtracks and appeared in several films. They crafted many songs that would remain in the public’s consciousness. “Only a Lad,” “I Love Little Girls” (with its slightly unnerving MTV video), “Weird Science” (from the film of the same name) and “Dead Man’s Party” are just some of Oingo Boingo’s classics. Elfman, of course, left the group for a highly successful career of scoring and film soundtracks (Batman, The Nightmare Before Christmas), but he has given his blessing to this band that brings the music of Oingo Boingo to 21^st century audiences. Five key members from the band’s ‘80s-’90s heyday are in today’s group; joined by four more ace players, they serve up the exuberant and mysterious music of Oingo Boingo.

Pink Martini featuring China Forbes
Founded in 1994 by Thomas Lauderdale, Pink Martini has carved out a unique niche for itself in the world of music. The large and ever-expanding group combines many genres of music – from pop to classical to ethnic styles – and delivers it all in an exuberant, engaging and multilingual manner. A Pink Martini concert experience is a musical travelogue, taking the audience on a trip that celebrates the varied musical character that defines the human race. Key to Pink Martini’s appeal is the fact that the group – which features up to a dozen instrumentalists and an equal number of singers – presents music in many languages other than English. The group began in Portland, Oregon in 1995; over the years, members have come and gone, but Pink Martini’s vocal and instrumental firepower allows the group to tackle most anything it wishes. The group has fourteen albums to its credit; titles display that variety: Non Ouais!: The French Songs of Pink Martini (2018) and Besame Mucho (2019) are among their recent collections. Pink Martini often collaborates with outside vocalists as well, including Rufus Wainwright, The Dandy Warhols’ Courtney Taylor Taylor and many more. Unsurprisingly, the group’s music has been featured in a wide array of television programs and movies, including Better Call Saul, Sherlock, Parks and Recreation, Nurse Betty and many others.

Queensrÿche
In the musical world, umlauts seem to be the domain of hard rock and metal bands: Motörhead, Mötley Crüe, Spin̈al Tap… and Queensrÿche. The last-named of those came roaring out of the Pacific Northwest in the early 1980s, brandishing a sound that combined the passion power of heavy metal, the arena-rock sensibility of ‘70s giants like Queen and Van Halen, and the finesse and sophistication of progressive rock. The three-time Grammy-nominated group’s lineup has changed over the years – only guitarist Michael Wilton and bassist Eddie Jackson remain from the original lineup – but Queensrÿche has been remarkably consistent in crafting intelligent and compelling music. Since forming in 1982, the group has released 16 studio albums of new material, five live albums and assorted other sets. Queensrÿche’s peak commercial period came in the late ‘80s and 1990s, with a three-album run of Platinum-selling releases, Operation: Mindcrime, Empire and Promised Land (1990’s Empire went triple-Platinum). But the group endures to this day; 2022’s well-received Digital Noise Alliance charted in four European countries. While the latest album eschews the conceptual character that made albums like Operation: Mindcrime special, it delivers subtlety and heaviness in equal measure.

Redd Kross
Fueled by a giddy obsession with trash culture and a knowing appreciation of pop music values, brothers Jeff and Steve McDonald launched Redd Kross in 1979 when they were teenagers (Steve was still in middle school). Initially billed as Red Cross, the bratty punk band was inevitably forced to change its name before releasing its debut EP in 1980. The band’s lyrical subject matter has always been playfully transgressive (Charles Manson and The Exorcist star Linda Blair were both the subject of early Redd Kross tunes). By the time of 1987’s Neurotica – and even more so upon the release of 1990’s Third Eye and Phaseshifter from 1993) Redd Kross had (somewhat) matured into a winning melodic rock band, combining its sly pop perspective with roaring yet supremely melodic songs. They even enlisted legendary vocalist Susan Cowsill for the lovely harmonies that grace Third Eye’s “Bubblegum Factory.” Never the most prolific outfit – they’ve released ten albums and three EPs in the last 44 years – Redd Kross more than makes up the difference with quality songwriting, top-notch playing and an always exuberant stage show. The group’s latest release, 2024’s double-LP Redd Kross is a loving nod to The Beatles’ 1968 “White Album,” full of buzzsaw guitars, creamy harmonies and the McDonald brothers’ trademark timeless take on punk-meets-pop-meets-psych meets what-have-you. The irresistible “Stunt Queen” distills all of Redd Kross’ virtues into a tidy four minutes and change, and it’s not even the best tune on the album.