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(Clicka qua per la versione Italiana)
Summary.
Madder Rose was an oddly schizophrenic band that relied on the contrast/friction (rather than the amalgam/fusion) of Billy Cote's abrasive guitar and Mary Lorson's sweet vocals. Bring It Down (1993) and Panic On (1994) were poetic, idyllic works whose mood fluctuated between autumnal singalongs and tormented rockers. They converted to trip-hop with Tragic Magic (1997) and reinvented themselves with the surreal stylistic melange of Hello June Fool (1999).
Full bio.
(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)
Madder Rose, formed in Los Angeles by Mary Lorson (vocals) and Billy Cote' (guitar), drew inspiration from Codeine, but also from Hugo Largo and Cowboy Junkies, as well as the Blake Babies and 10,000 Maniacs. The single Swim became iconic with its dizzying riff.
The album Bring It Down (Seed, 1993), however, pairs the sweet lullabies of While Away, Razor Pilot, and especially Lights Go Down which exude a sense of nighttime solitude and autumn wind - with powerful rock and roll, such as the single Beautiful John and especially Lay Down Low, featuring guitar solos worthy of Southern rock. The enchanting instrumental Pocket Fulla Medicine and the surreal serenade of Sugarsweet crown an album among the most poetic of the year. Swim was the lead single.
The follow-up, Panic On (Atlantic, 1994), is driven by the effervescent pop of Drop A Bomb, but the albums moral landscape is better defined by the cocktail-lounge-like litanies of Car Song and Panic On: a hopeless existential crisis. Sleep Forever and Ultra Anxiety layer additional pop hooks over slightly more complex and aggressive structures, aligning with the leitmotif of anxiety. The solemn je ne sais quoi of Black Eye Town, the sweet What Holly Sees, the shiver-inducing whisper of When You Smilerecalling the Velvet Underground and Nicoand the nightmarish finale of Mad Dog seal a work that, despite brighter music and a variety of tones and styles, remains extremely dark.
Tragic Magic (Atlantic, 1997) brings them closer to trip-hop (My Star, Real Feel) and Mazzy Star (Hung Up In You), but with countless disruptive elements, from raga-rock (Delight's Pool) to hip hop (Peter And Victor), from garage-rock (Scenes From Sterbright) to ballads (Float To The Top).
Hello June Fool (Thirsty Ear, 1999) is both a calm, relaxed album set in a sunny existential mood and a bold experiment in rock song structure and arrangement. On the traditional side, standout ballads include Train (a delicate folk lullaby caressed by light guitar fuzz), Feels Like Summer (reminiscent of hippie acid rock and Walkabouts-style folk-rock), Fade (noir atmosphere, syncopated rhythm, folk alto), and the frantic psychedelic country escape closing the album, Dark Rain, marked by metaphysical Chris Isaak-style twang and a Jefferson Airplane bolero. These are whimsical ballads, stretched in all directions by the unearthly guitar sounds and propelled by a solemn pulse.
On the futurist front, Cote' and Lorson touch cosmic heights in Overflow, a psychedelic funk with Afro-Caribbean rhythms (learning from the Stone Roses) with continuous arrangement metamorphoses; Something, a softer, more melodic take on the same idea (wah-wah, soul organ, jingle-jangle); Goodbye June Fool (abrasive, deafening shoegaze-style guitar) and Should Have Known (whispered Mazzy Star-like melody, folk violin, almost raga progression).
The masterpiece of the album, and perhaps of their career, is Hotel: an epic melody over a martial cadence, with a monumental guitar riff tearing through the harmony and a delightful music-box piano emerging in the chorus. Cote' has found an exceptionally balanced maturity, capable of layering a nearly futuristic electronic and danceable framework onto the traditional folk ballad structures. As a guitarist, he has created one of the least personal styles ever, in the sense that he skillfully employs all techniquesfrom wah-wah to raga, from heavy metal riffs to psychedelic distortion, from country picking to blues chords.
(Original English text by Piero Scaruffi)
Lorson formed Saint Low (Thirsty Ear, 2000) and Cote' formed Jazz Cannon,
which debuted with Amateur Soul Surgery (Function 8, 2000).
Cote' and Lorson also released Piano Creeps (2003).
Lorson's Tricks For Dawn (Spinart, 2002) collects an even more
disturbing set of jazzy piano ballads and pop-soul hymns, making her a
serious candidate to take Joni Mitchell's and Laura Nyro's place.
Madder Rose
reformed for To Be Beautiful (Trome, 2019).
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