Neo-vaudeville folk outfit Curtis Eller's American Circus are entertainers pur sang, seemingly relying on tried and true styles, but with plenty of twists and turns, both musically and lyrically to capture the listener's attention. On their new album Another Nice Mess - yes, the title track is a hat tip to Laurel & Hardy - band leader Curtis Eller leads his band on a grand tour of bygone American folklore. Learn about the tragedies German gymnast Lillian Leitzel and heavyweight champion Sonny Liston, whose careers ended badly. Actress Fay Wray of King Kong fame, on the other end, made a glorious comeback after she had to start working again, to overcome financial troubles. People could run into her in the street and do a double take once they realized who they just saw.
They have been a band that have a soft spot for outcasts, losers and people going their own way like the unnamed protagonist in Conscientious Objector. They make a case of straying from the mainstream and not give in to the values of Standard White Jesus, with the killer line "Everybody want to be on a stamp, but nobody wants to die". True Love in the Exclusion Zone offers some pointers on how to write a good love song while he was at it. O, and don't waste your youth on being part of a firing squad. There are plenty of these "what to fuck" moments, making Another Nice Mess a thrill ride that you don't want to end.
Curtis Eller's American Circus:
Curtis Eller: banjo, lead vocals
Stacy Wolfson: harmony & lead vocals
Hugh Crumley: electric & fretless bass, background vocals
Andy Lyth: drums, percussion, timpani, background vocals
Steve Cowles: saxophone, flute, singing saw
Joseph DeJarnette: upright bass
Rima Fand: violin, viola
Saffy Lyth: background vocals, finger snaps, sage counsel
Chris Walldorf: church bells, cicadas, mellotron
Another Nice Mess is a self-released album (vinyl, CD, digital). Buy it from their website Release date: October 8.
Tracks:- True Love in the Exclusion Zone
- Goddamn Loser
- Conscientious Objector
- We Know This by Heart
- Carry the Faces (for Martha Wills)
- Another Nice Mess (for Laurel & Hardy)
- Sonny Liston Told Us
- An Only Child
- Standard White Jesus
- Time Moves Slow (for Lillian Leitzel)
- I Saw Fay Wray
- 09/29 Séance Listening Room, Durham, NC
- 10/09 What's Cookin', Leytonstone Ex-Servicemen's Club, Leytonstone, UK
- 10/10 The Annunciation Ballroom, Brighton, UK
- 10/11 The Cube Microplex, Bristol, UK
- 10/13 The New Adelphi Club, Hull, UK
- 10/15 Blues Cafe Bar, Harrogate, UK
- 10/16 The Greystones, Sheffield, UK
- 10/17 The Ferret, Preston, UK
- 10/18 Barrow Underground Music Society, Barrow-in-Furness, UK
- 10/19 The Snug, Manchester, UK
- 10/20 Lending Room, Leeds, UK
- 10/22 The Cluny 2, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
HCTF review of A Poison Melody.