The former Blake Baby goes solo
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Although the recent release of Vestavia marks the first time Strohm has made an album without a band, he dispels any notion that this is the first time he's worked independently.
"I've been pretty independent for a long time," Strohm says. "Any kind of band I've had over the last four or five years has been pretty much in name only."
Strohm's last record (Caledonia) was, in fact, a semi-solo offering as well. The major difference between the two records is that Strohm played nearly all the instruments on Vestavia -- an aspect of recording that made the whole process just a little more complicated.
"Previously I always had a band who would work up the songs and get them sounding the way we wanted them to," he says. "This time I had to make it sound like a band without having one, so it was more challenging." Not only does Vestavia represent Strohm's first band-less effort, but also his first major collaboration with producer and musician Ed Ackerson (Polara).
The two met in 1990 while Strohm was still a member of the Blake Babies and Ackerson was playing with The 27 Various. Since then they've been talking about doing a record together, but it wasn't until November of '97 that Strohm left his residence in Alabama (where the album's namesake, Vestavia, is located) and ventured up to Ackerson's Minneapolis studio. Together, the two musicians crafted Vestavia's simple, yet slightly eccentric, pop sound. Strohm credits this sound to his and Ackerson's divergent approaches to recording.
"I had an agenda going into this record," Strohm says, "which was definitely counter to what Ed's usual approach to making records is. I wanted to do something that was completely stripped down and basically make a pop record, and Ed's whole thing is that he takes songs that are basically pop songs and he makes them as weird and obscure as possible ... I think that tension made for a really fully realized production."
Straying wildly from Strohm's pop-punk beginnings, Vestavia is a mellow rock record -- something Strohm attributes, in part, to getting older.
"I'm just an old guy," says the 31-year old musician. "I'm really trying to hang in there 'cause I really like to play rock, but as far as playing punk rock ... I just don't physically have it in me."
As disappointing as that statement might be for fans of his earlier work, Vestavia shows that Strohm's talent for catchy song-writing hasn't faded with time. "Wouldn't Want to Be Me" starts the album off with a Tom Petty feel, while songs such as "Jesus Let Me In" and "In Your Dreams" offer bouncy guitars and Strohm's familiar, sincere vocals.
The musician's knack for quirky balladry can also be found on this record. On "Drive-Thru" Strohm gets sad about being without a car, having to walk through the drive-thru, and then triumphantly declares "I'm not in love with you." Meanwhile, "Ballad of Lobster Boy" (one of the album's strongest tracks) finds Strohm sympathizing with the plight of the circus freak with the line "There's a little Lobster Boy in everyone."
After years of playing with various bands, Strohm is finally in complete control of his music and Vestavia turned out exactly the way he wanted it to -- a straightforward pop record. Thankfully, his unconventional songwriting gives this album a sense of humour, making it likeable despite its failure to break new ground.
KATHARINE KELLY |