{"id":602,"date":"2011-09-14T04:29:08","date_gmt":"2011-09-14T09:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=602"},"modified":"2026-08-25T09:39:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T13:39:04","slug":"tommy-keene-a-parade-of-timless-albums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2011\/09\/14\/tommy-keene-a-parade-of-timless-albums\/","title":{"rendered":"Tommy Keene: A Parade of Timeless Albums"},"content":{"rendered":"

Consistency is often thought of as being anathema to creativity. Ralph Waldo Emerson famously asserted that \u201ca foolish consistency<\/span><\/em> is the <\/span>hobgoblin<\/span><\/em> of little minds.<\/span>\u201d Yet there are a special few in the arts, those who can both remain consistent and create enduring works of value. All that may sound a bit lofty when the subject is rock\u2019n\u2019roll, but there you are: Tommy Keene<\/strong> is just such an artist. From his earliest work as a solo artist –1982\u2019s indie release Strange Alliance<\/em>, a work that Keene all but disavows these days \u2013 to his latest (2011\u2019s Behind the Parade<\/em>), Tommy Keene\u2019s music has distilled the best things about melodic rock into three- and four-minute slices of pop transcendence.<\/p>\n

Perhaps consistent isn\u2019t quite the right word, though. Behind the Parade<\/em> is actually better than Keene\u2019s last few recorded outings, high quality though they were. He has a signature sound: chiming guitars, the sturdy tempos, chord progressions that sometimes verge on anthemic, and the sound of your overdubbed vocal harmonies. Keene can be counted on for catchy rock songs that balance the oomph<\/em> and power of rock while delivering emotional content that makes them more than run-of-the-mill powerpop, good as that may be. And he does so while navigating clear of formula. Tommy seems to agree. \u201cI think this one nailed it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not afraid to depart from the trademark sound \u2013 or better said, to build upon it \u2013 and Behind the Parade<\/em> is full of successful examples of that attitude. \u201cDeep Six Saturday,\u201d for example, uses horns, something one doesn\u2019t find much on earlier records. \u201cI always start with the music,\u201d he explains. \u201cIn the old days, I\u2019d make demos [first]. This record was done differently. We did the [real] drums last; I played to a drum machine. And when I had that song 70% finished, I \u2018heard\u2019 the horns.\u201d<\/p>\n

With its Mellotronish sounds, the moody instrumental \u201cLa Castana\u201d sounds closer to Mike Oldfield<\/strong> or Brian Eno<\/strong> than what people have come to expect from Tommy. While it\u2019s missing the elements of his distinctive voice and lyrics, it\u2019s a really effective number, and it\u2019s intriguing to think that he might continue in this direction on future albums. He chuckles when I ask him if it was a \u201cget it out of my system\u201d exercise. \u201cI\u2019d love to do a whole album of that sort of thing,\u201d he laughs, \u201cbut it would be incredibly indulgent unless I was more popular.\u201d<\/p>\n

He explains that the piece grew out of \u201cnoodling around\u201d on an old Baldwin Fun Machine (pictured on the album\u2019s inner spread) he recently picked up. \u201cThe main inspiration for it, really, was the second side of David Bowie<\/strong>\u2019s Low<\/em>,\u201d he admits. \u201cI did the whole song last Halloween; I started at eight o\u2019clock at night, and by four the next morning, it was done.\u201d Remarking on the cinematic nature of that instrumental, Tommy says, \u201cI \u2013 and eight thousand other guys — would love to do soundtracks. But it\u2019s very competitive. If somebody who likes my music in general [asks me], I\u2019m there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though such stylistic departures are peppered across the disc, the bulk of Behind the Parade<\/em> is filled with memorable, hooky, multilayered rock songs. While the songs might sound relatively simple on a casual listen, closer attention shows that there\u2019s often a lot going on. On \u201cAlready Made Up Your Mind,\u201d Tommy\u2019s bass line moves under the guitar chords in a way that wordlessly telegraphs the track\u2019s emotional element.<\/p>\n

\u201cBass had always intimidated me,\u201d Tommy says. \u201cI didn\u2019t really start playing until I got my home studio together, around \u201903. I practiced, and it was really satisfying when I got competent. Because now I can play exactly what I\u2019ve always heard [in my mind].\u201d He jokingly characterizes his style as \u201cPaul McCartney<\/strong> channeled through Jah Wobble<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

I unintentionally make Tommy cringe at my observation that \u2013 to my ears, at least — the faded-in fingerpicked guitar on \u201cNowhere Drag\u201d is reminiscent of\u00a0 \u201cMore Than a Feeling\u201d by Boston<\/strong>. \u201cIt reminds me of the Smiths<\/strong>, but now that you say that\u2026oh boy.\u201d He says it\u2019s his favorite song on Behind the Parade<\/em>.<\/p>\n

One of the supposedly big deals about Tommy\u2019s major-label debut (1986\u2019s Songs From the Film<\/em>), was the fact that a big-time name (Geoff Emerick<\/strong>) produced it. Yet the production on Behind the Parade<\/em> sounds even better, and the sleeve note reads \u201cRecorded by Tommy at Home.\u201d The direct approach seems to afford the truest results for Tommy. \u201cI have a pretty minimal, bare-bones studio. I have all that I need to do everything but the drums and mixing. I have one really-good vintage mic, and I found it sounds the best on my voice; better than the mics in some very expensive studios.\u201d But in the end, he credits the sonic success to his concentration on getting the right guitar sounds. \u201cNow I get the guitars sounding exactly the way I want them. It\u2019s all about guitars.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a timeless quality to the sounds on Behind the Parade<\/em>; little on it feels as if it will become dated over time. \u201cSome of my records sound dated — Songs From the Film<\/em>, Based on Happy Times<\/em> (1989) \u2013 but that\u2019s because they were done in studios, and they wanted a hit, something that sounded like everything else on the radio.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a just world, the songs on Behind the Parade<\/em> would be hits. Tommy agrees when I suggest that one of the secret weapons in his musical arsenal is the tambourine. That little percussive instrument mitigates any tendency his song might have to move into \u201cpower rock\u201d territory. \u201cI just mess around until I get the right sounds, until it all fits,\u201d Tommy says. He also gives credit to his mixing engineer Walt Vincent<\/strong>, a man who knows what Tommy wants the songs to sound like. \u201cThis is the fourth album we\u2019ve done together, counting the Keene Brothers<\/strong> record [with Bob Pollard<\/strong> of Guided by Voices]<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Consistent (there\u2019s that word again!) with the timeless, classic quality of Tommy Keene\u2019s music, Behind the Parade<\/em> is also being pressed on vinyl. \u201cIt\u2019s a real thrill\u201d to have a vinyl album again, Tommy says. \u201cI haven\u2019t had a vinyl release since 1996. And I think a lot of people in my crowd are going to be excited; they\u2019re going to buy the vinyl.\u201d Speaking of vinyl, he mentions that he has some new old stock of his own. \u201cI have a bunch of the [1984] Places That Are Gone<\/em> EPs in my dad\u2019s crawlspace,\u201d he laughs. \u201cWe sell them at shows for fifteen, twenty dollars. I took a case out last time, and we sold out of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Note:<\/strong><\/em> You may also enjoy my previous conversation with Tommy Keene<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Consistency is often thought of as being anathema to creativity. Ralph Waldo Emerson famously asserted that \u201ca foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.\u201d Yet there are a special […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,73],"tags":[2239],"class_list":["post-602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-review","category-vinyl","tag-tommy-keene","cat-65-id","cat-73-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=602"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32283,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602\/revisions\/32283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}