Wee Hours Review -- Roman Candle

Roman Candle
The Wee Hours Revue
V2 Ada

Okay, sigh. Look. I love Roman Candle, okay? Let's just start with that. Well, specifically, I'm a big huge fan of their genius singer/songwriter, Skip Matheny. The rest of the band... eh.

But Skip... dang. As Stacy put it -- "He's got crazy star-power." Charisma. Poetry. Talent. Out his ears. The rest of them? Eh. Alright.

I first encountered Roman Candle during the "Exiled On Main Street" sessions where Chris Stamey was recording them and Thad Cockrell in the Speakeasy section of Tyler's Taproom in Carrboro. I still count this as one of the best and most interesting shows I've ever seen. I'd never heard of this band before -- I was just there to see Thad. But damn. What a great sound! Acoustic with a little electric? Rocky, with country and blues and just a bit of power-pop. Nice. Very Rolling Stones, err, Exiled On Main Street era. Freaking awesome.

I've never heard them sound like that ever again. I've seen them several times, and I've seen both good and bad shows, but I've never heard them sound as good as that first show since.

I saw them at Merlefest 2004, and I was thrilled to pick up their little home-made EP, A Brief Introduction, in the Merlefest CD tent. This EP was what cemented my love affair with this band. It was takes from those amazing Stamey/Exiled sessions, and I loved them.

I tracked down their first feature-length album, Say Pop, and I was really turned away by the amateurish and over-the-top pop production. I loved the songs, but I really couldn't listen to these particular recordings of them. I resigned myself to hearing them at live shows and hoping for a re-release of the material with a better producer. I was hoping for a great producer, someone I really respect, someone like Chris Stamey.

So can you imagine my surprise when I popped in a pre-release version of their new Wee Hours Revue release, a complete rehash of Say Pop album but this time by Chris Stamey, and I hear nary a note that sounded like the "Exiled On Main Street" sessions or the Brief Introduction EP? (Okay, to be fair, they did include one track from that EP and sessions on the new album. Well, I Wish I Was In New York is as far as I can tell the exact version from the EP. Sounds great!)

Is the sound on this new album better than on Say Pop? Yes! Much better! Is it still the great Skip Matheny songwriting? Yes, of course it is.

Is it worth buying? Yes. Begrudgingly for me, but yes. If you don't have A Brief Introduction from one of their shows, then yes, absolutely.

But is it that great "Exiled" sound? No. Only New York has that great sound. The rest has all the same weird intros and overdubs and amateur-sounding effects from Say Pop.

I'm so disappointed. Skip, maybe you're still more kid than genius. That's alright, you'll grow out of it. Chris Stamey, what were you thinking? How did you let them put in the same cheesy intros and effects from Say Pop?

And why do I love these songs so much? Damn they're good. There isn't a bad song on this album. Not a one. I can't bring myself to listen to I Didn't Mind It All though, because the EP version was like two orders of magnitude better. But the rest... man there's some really great songwriting on this album.

(But the production... sigh. It's okay. I'll deal.)