BRAIN: Review of *Trepanation*

[John A Swartz]

The April issue of "The Nebula" (a NY-area music 'zine, now also covering
news in the Boston and NJ areas; I picked up a free copy at my local
Newbury Comics) has a review of *Trepanation* in it.  For those who might
be interested, I'll re-print it here:

artist:  THE BRAIN SURGEONS
label:  Cellsum Records
songs:  Gimme Nothin', Stones in my Passway, Medusa, A Kiss is a Promise,
Sally, My Civilization, Happy New Year, Sisters of the Precious Blood,
Ramblin' Rose, Hansel & Gretel, Everything is Blue, If U Come Close, Bad
Habit, Night of the 1,000 Guitars
personnel:  Albert Bouchard, Deborah Frost, Peter Bohovesky, Billy
Hilfinger (JS note: that should be "Hilfiger"), David Hirschberg

If some of the names on the personnel list seem familiar, it probably
isn't your imagination.  Albert Bouchard is the former drummer of Blue
Oyster Cult, and music journalist Deborah Frost has penned work for
Rolling Stone and The Village Voice, among other publications.  Now
married, Bouchard and Frost form the foundation of this heavy-rock
quintet and "Trepanation" is the follow-up to their debut disc,
"Eponymous" (Cellsum).  With their credits, you would expect - if
nothing else - a professional-sounding release, which for the most
part, this is.  At its best, "Trepanation" effectively mixes old and
new.  The power and mystique of '70s metal and acid rock is enhanced
through modern production techniques that give much of the material a
certain goth-rock and alternative edge.  Instrumentally, there are
glimpses of some '70s giants - a little Zepplin here, a little Aerosmith
there - but at other times I was reminded of Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Concrete Blonde, and Killing Joke.  Most of the latter examples are due
to Frost's truly unique voice and unbelievable range.  She moves from
metal goddess to no-nonsense blues/rocker to flat-out punk wailer.  her
vocals propel otherwise average tunes to new heights.  The gothic vocal
undertones of "Medusa" and "Gimme Nothin'" are strong examples of her
vocal abilities.  She knows when to lay back and do the Johnette
Napolitano thing, and when to let loose with a sound like the evil
vocal spawn of Patti Smith and Geddy Lee.  What I don't quite under-
stand Bouchard singing lead vocals on several tunes when the band
already has such a strong lead vocalist.  His voice is adequate, buit
it just doesn't measure up to Frost's, and the intensity of the disc
dropped a notch for me on those tunes.  On the other hand, Bouchard's
no-nonsense, old-school style of rock drumming is a treat.  He doesn't
try to fill in every hole of sound with a fancy inflection, but relies
on the tried and true driving eighth note drum style many of us grew
up with.  However, I was confused by the drumming on the droning,
"Everything is Blue", which seemed tentative and almost sloppy,
completely inconsistent with the rest of the disc.  Oh well, no matter.
There is enough strong material and interesting variation on the hard
rock theme to overlook a few mishaps, and as long as Frost is singing,
I'm listening.  CONTACT - Cellsum Records, PO Box 1070, Fort George
Station, New York, NY  10040-9998     (Rich Lupescu)



My reaction:  Well, the guy was apparently quite impressed with Deb,
but not Albert.  My guess is that the guy likes a certain type of

vocal style and doesn't appreciate Albert's vocals the way many BOC
fans do.  I think its hard to compare the two since Albert and Deb
have rather different styles, but I think that Albert's vocals work
well for the songs he does - in particular "My Civilization".  By the
way, who is John Napolitano?  The other comment that I didn't quite
understand is the reviewers impression that Albert's drumming was
"tentative and almost sloppy" -- I didn't get that impression at all,
and wondered if the reviewer confused the off-beat snaredrum hits in
the song with tentativeness --> those off-beats are intentional, but
it seems to me that the reviewer was just confused by them.  But then
again, "Everything is Blue" isn't one of my favorite tracks - I mean
I think it's good, but I just prefer the heavier stuff.


John Swartz