‘Let Come What May’
by Skamasutra

The title track of Skamasutra’s new disc sounds very much like a Mighty Mighty Bosstones tune, except with more polished vocals replacing Dicky Barrett’s raucous growl. The Exeter indie band accurately replicates all the hyper reggae guitar riffs, New Orleans brass accompaniment and bouncing beats and rhythms of quintessential ska, rapidly shimmying through eight original songs and one cover.

The latest disc follows the band’s 2005 debut, “You and What Army?” The six band members have honed their skills and fine-tuned their tight sound over the last two years to produce an exceptional follow-up. Having formed the band as teenagers in the late fall of 2003, Skamasutra has matured with each performance, and its revolving door of members seems to have established a solid core, with Nick Gilbert on trombone and vocals, Steve Duhamel on alto sax and vocals, Dan Boisvert on guitar and vocals, Tristan Nowak on baritone sax, Jon Campbell on bass and Evan Lerch on drums.
The album’s opening lyrics establish Skamasutra as a band that has grown since its inception four years ago. “It just seems like yesterday when I was 17. / How could I have known then what my future would bring?” Gilbert sings, already reflecting on a still nascent musical career with plenty of promise. Gilbert’s singing truly helps to carry the music throughout the album, surfing over the tightly manipulated instruments with a clean voice that sounds somewhere between Sublime’s late singer Brad Nowell and Green Day’s front man Billie Joe Armstrong.

A delightful surprise is the CD’s fifth track, a ska version of Danzig’s “Mother.” Skamasutra somehow manages to maintain the original song’s hard rock ferocity while injecting a playful, tongue-in-cheek sort of mischievousness, amounting to a fun and well-executed cover.
Elsewhere on the disc, the lyrical content ranges from frustrations over flirtatious women on “She’s Mine” to anti-racist ranting on “Colorblind.” The album closes with the courteous refrain of “Pardon My Kicking Your Ass.”

Recorded in November by Brian Coombes at Rocking Horse Studio in Pittsfield, and mastered by Jay Frigoletto at MasterSuite Studio in Brookline, “Let Come What May” is scheduled for official release on Saturday, Jan. 12. The band members will celebrate that night with a CD release party at Lamprey River Tavern in Newmarket, where they will be joined by The Fourth Floor Bandits. For more information on Skamasutra, visit www.goskamasutra.com or www.myspace.com/skamasutra.

‘Under the Gypsy Sky’
by Jenn Adams

Considering her extensive musical resumé, few Seacoast residents seem to be aware of the proximity of singer-songwriter Jenn Adams, who currently lives in South Berwick. During her nearly 20-year career, she has shared stages with the likes of Taj Mahal, Richie Havens, Patty Larkin and Bruce Hornsby. A Montana native, Adams moved to Nashville, Tenn., in the early 2000s and, more recently, relocated to southern Maine. She brought with her a steadily growing mass of praise and acclaim from across the country.

“Under the Gypsy Sky,” Adams’ fourth independent release, features 13 original songs and one cover of a Gillian Welch tune. A team of 10 instrumentalists and backup vocalists help decorate Adams’ singing and guitar playing, creating a soft and soothing folk sound. The accompanying instruments include drums, bass, mandolin, accordion, saxophones, flutes, cello, piano and pedal steel guitar, each of which pop in and out of various tracks throughout the disc.

Lyrically, the album delves between spiritual and earthy content, with songs conveying the images and emotions attached to travel, home and love. In the opening title track, Adams expresses her simultaneous desire to be home and be elsewhere. “I’d pick a direction if I knew which way to go. And if I had wings like that I would fly back home. But I’m stuck here now, stuck in this gravitational pull,” she sings. Other song titles include “Homeward Bound,” “Last Time I Saw Kansas” and “Long Ride Home.” The full lyrics are included in the CD sleeve.

Adams’ voice is full of grace and authenticity, and her songwriting reflects influences ranging from Paul Simon to Sheryl Crowe. The Welch cover, “Pass You By,” has more of an upbeat country feel, but fits nicely with Adams’ originals. Most of the songs are slow and contemplative, with a relaxed pace that allows listeners to hone in on the words. Those looking to rock out or experiment should veer away from “Gypsy Sky,” as its 56 minutes of music can get a little dull after a while. 

Recorded, mixed and mastered in Nashville, “Under the Gypsy Sky” is slated for official release in spring 2008. The album was produced by Frosty Horton, who also contributed synth strings. The new disc is available at Bull Moose Music in Portsmouth, and Adams has upcoming gigs at The Blue Mermaid on Jan. 13 and The Press Room on Jan. 31. For more on Jenn Adams, go to www.jennadams.com.

‘1/2 the Man Filling 2X the Space’
by John Balger

John Balger is not Bob Dylan. Or even Donovan, for that matter. But Balger is a uniquely energetic new player in the Seacoast folk scene. With a voice that is mediocre at best, and a guitar with a metallic twang and slightly un-tuned charisma, Balger has painstakingly put together 13 original songs that burst with all the honesty, sincerity, desperation and confusion of a true Port City drifter.
Balger hand drew the illustrations on the sleeve of his self-released debut album, “1/2 the Man Filling 2X the Space,” featuring a coiled snake, a bomb-dropping jet, a cold man walking through the snow, a burning building and other sundry images. Listening to the disc, it quickly becomes apparent that most of these images illustrate the poem that kicks off the album, “See the Snake.” When the rhyming trinket is over, Balger dives into the CD’s first song, “Paint by Numbers,” which sounds like something dug up from Syd Barrett’s unreleased archives. The song sets a lasting tone, introducing an album filled with endearing acoustic guitar riffs that mix gloomy minor chords with peppy major ones.  

Balger’s lyrics sway between daily musings and political forebodings. He expresses a keen disgust for corporate consumerism and greed, and, with song titles like “Chernobyl” and “Nuclear Balloon,” seems to have a distinct phobia for all things nuclear. “If you pop my nuclear balloon / you’ll be dead very, very soon. / The radiation will seep into your head / and ’fore you know it, you’ll be dead,” he sings in the latter song, which he reportedly wrote at age 16.  

At the CD’s conclusion, Balger breaks from his previous arrangements and plugs in his guitar for an electric number called “Orange and Black Bird.” In it, he recounts some of the many happenings he has witnessed in his life, some commonplace and some extraordinary—including everything from “leopards killin’ baboons” to “nice chicks wearing jeans”—but regretfully repeats that he has never seen an orange and black bird. (Ever seen a robin? They’re quite common.) 

Balger has been in a number of Seacoast bands and claims to have personally written more than 200 songs, but “1/2 the Man” represents his first full-length solo effort. The disc is currently available at Bull Moose Music in Portsmouth.