Pop-o-rama
by Brett Milano
Three weekends ago, I was at T.T. the Bear's Place watching John Doe doing an encore of the Beatles' " Baby's in Black. " Doe's performance was improved by some audience participation going on behind me: the night's opening act, Dave Aaronoff, was singing in the rear of the club with his bandmate Corin Ashley, the two of them filling in the three-part harmonies from the Beatles' version, getting the lyrics as well as the music exactly right.
If there are any lingering doubts about Aaronoff's mastery of classic pop, they should be dispelled by his latest release with his band the Details, The Devil's in the Details (Topless). His second effort as a frontman, it comes off as the sort of album you'd expect from a prolific writer who had to take a back seat in his previous band, the Shods. Aaronoff still sounds like a songwriter cutting loose, working in a bunch of styles, alluding to the music he loves, most of which comes from the late '60s. And the songwriting has a strong enough personality to make all the side trips, from the pure Mod bluster of " Alisa O'Neil " to the string-driven " Down the Drain " to the trippy, multi-layered " Between the Stones, " hold together. Along the way he fleshes out his usual guitar-band sound with strings, trumpet, and Al Kooper's mighty Hammond organ.
" I'm a melody guy, " the singer/guitarist explains over a beer at the Middle East. " It's tough, because I grew up listening to '60s music, and you rediscover things and get further into certain bands. But I don't know how popular that is with the young people these days, so it's a bit of a dangerous thing. "
Either way, Aaronoff fits in comfortably with a number of other like-minded locals, notably Brett Rosenberg and the Pills, who update their favorite '60s sounds for contemporary audiences. Indeed, the Pills and Brett Rosenberg both have connections to Aaronoff's band: Rosenberg was the Details' original co-guitarist, and the Pills' Corin Ashley now holds that slot in a line-up that also includes bassist Deb Klein, drummer Craig Tomas, and keyboardist Jay Buckley. Aaronoff has since returned the favor by joining the Pills.
Despite the diversity of the tunes on The Devil's in the Details, Aaronoff admits that many of the songs share the same inspiration. " Even though I'm writing pop songs, I try not to say anything trite or predictable Ñ but, that said, nearly every song I've written is about being pissed off at a girl. Melodies seem to come easy, so I have more trouble coming up with a lyric that's worth pursuing. I'm not feeling that way anymore, but I still write a lot of pissed-off songs. It's a great topic, but I'm looking for other things to express. "
The connection with Al Kooper developed after Aaronoff contributed to a benefit show that Kooper put on at Passim last year for the late bluesman Dave Van Ronk. And Aaronoff admits he turned some of the keyboards up loud in the mix because Kooper was playing them. " He doesn't like the punk rock very much, but he was able to sit down and pick things out of the air, just like he did on ÔLike a Rolling Stone.' " The link-up was part of Aaronoff's drive to make his second Details album more diverse than the first one. " I was a little anxious to get the first album out, since I'd just come out of the Shods. We're still pretty punk rock when we play live, but when we did the record, I realized I was getting sick of just guitar, bass and drums. " Aaronoff and the Details will play the Abbey Lounge next Saturday, April 5.
March, 2003
| < previous article | next article > |
Read the press
The Noise
Now Wave Magazine
The Boston Phoenix
The Boston Globe
Middlesex Beat & Harbus
Boston Globe
The Boston Phoenix
amuZnet