minibar

"Once I was born to be leaving

Once I was cruel to be kind

But lately I've been dreaming

Of things I left behind."



So begins the third installment of Minibar's rambling

trek across the back roads of Americana, 'Desert After

Rain'. It's a landscape littered with "posters of

bands I once played with", "snap shirts" and "books

full of words underlined", the detritus of years spent

playing on the margins of mainstream USA. And yet, as

the title suggests, this album is full of certain

rugged resilience and the feeling that somehow their

dogged determination is finally coming to fruition.



Nowhere is this upsurge more apparent than in the

sound of this record. The rhythm section of Malcolm

Cross on drums and Sid Jordan on the bass have

developed a startling muscularity over the years,

providing guitarist Tim Walker with the perfect canvas

for his sweeping delay and heart wrenching pedal

steel. In the song 'Wide Open', for instance, the

trademark husk of Simon Petty's vocals is sweetened by

soaring two, three and four part harmonies reminiscent

of Teenage Fanclub, while Rami Jaffee of the

Wallflowers adds B3 organ to the celebratory feel.

'Crime Scene Ribbon' opens with battering drums and

B-bender guitar, the chaotic urgency suggestive of the

song's depiction of a whiteout snow storm in New York.

Even the break up songs refuse to look back in

anything other than upbeat righteous anger; 'Can I

Call You a Cab?' has to rank up there with some of the

most furious kiss-off songs around, sample lyric "it's

your turn to learn, someday you're going to crash and

burn". There's a directness and cohesion here that

only comes from night after night of playing together

for years, whatever the size of the stage.



Survivors of transatlantic relocation, major label

incompetence, radio indifference and eleven years of

carrying their own amplifiers, Minibar deserve to be

heard. They have toured with The Wallflowers, The

Jayhawks, Wilco, Teenage Fanclub and The Old 97's.

Their music has appeared in 'Shrek 2', 'Jay and Silent

Bob Strike Back', 'The OC', 'Nip/Tuck', and most

recently in 'Men in Trees'. Out on tour until April

2007 with Pete Yorn, both as his support band and his

backing band, they continue to make records and play

them regardless of the downs and downs of the music

industry. Catch them while you can. Go to minibarfans.com for dates and photos.



Minibar - Desert After Rain



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