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Stereo Addicts all over map

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by Tim Williams
Thursday, November 15, 2007

The endearingly long list of "thanks to" credits on Will Phalen and the Stereo Addicts' debut includes, among friends and family, Phalen's former Madison funk-rock band "The Mosaic" and "the Rathskeller crew." Phalen and his brand of "Cosmic American Music" (borrowed from Gram Parsons, so he says) may get a chance to thank that team again in person, when the Stereo Addicts make a homecoming of sorts to Memorial Union Friday night.

Savvy concertgoers have a chance to check out Phalen's 2006 release Visions & Revisions before they go, as the self-distributed album appeared on iTunes this week. And while not every track rises above generic folk rock, there is enough intriguing instrumentation and electronic tinkering to make the cold trek outside worth it this weekend.

The up-tempo, country-rock swagger of the opener, "I Come From the Ocean," is a bit misleading, as this motif is only seen once again on the album, in "Lazy Sundays." Melody is in short supply elsewhere, eschewed in favor of bored, bluesy lines solemnly intoned over dreary guitar and synthesizer. The lyrics also rarely excite, content to package safe descriptions like "She's got a body like a woman/ And the heart of a child."

But the Stereo Addicts never allow themselves to be pigeonholed, and this is the album's saving grace. The repeated excuse of "Can't Come Down Yet" — "I'd be with you… / But I just can't make it there/ You'll have to comb your hair and wait for me" — is nothing special by itself, but the song's shy funk opening, with a lazy Casio/concert bell duet line, brings it all together.

In the final track, "3+20," Visions & Revisions' disparate elements finally coalesce and give the Stereo Addicts a distinctive sound. The swaying rhythms of acoustic guitar and mandolin waltz together and apart in a way that makes the intended wash of Phalen's halting lines work. "3+20" builds into the lo-fi effects to make them central to the sound, rather than flotsam obscuring the song's course, a problem of the album as a whole. If Phalen and company can clear all that away Friday, their river of sound will make a tempting ride, even against the chilly breeze.

 

3 stars out of 5

Will Phalen and the Stereo Addicts will perform with Kinetix at Memorial Union Friday at 9:30 p.m.


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