‘Ten Miles Out’ by Guy Capecelatro III and Craig Werth
www.burstandbloomrecords.com
This creative collaboration between two Seacoast staples has been a long time coming. Singer-songwriters and guitarists Guy Capecelatro III and Craig Werth met on Star Island in 2005 during the first ever “Writers in the Round” retreat. The songs they crafted there and continued refining back home comprise the 15 tracks on “Ten Miles Out.”

Werth is well known for his dexterity on stringed instruments like guitar, ukulele and bouzouki, and his talents lend immensely to the lushness of the melodies. Capecelatro is a poetic storyteller known for his lyrical imagination. Both have gentle, emotive voices that will endear them to any fan of slow, sweetly sad songs.

Each musician authored half a dozen songs for the album, and the two co-wrote “Sliding Sideways” and “Stretched.” The only exception is “Canvas of War,” with music by Werth and lyrics from a poem by local poet Lesley Kimball.

Although their music meshes nicely, Werth and Capecelatro each have their own distinct styles, as demonstrated early on. The opener, “EZ-Cash,” is by Werth and features a string-heavy, old-timey folk sound, complete with lyrics about the challenges of making ends meet. The second song, “Simple as Anything,” is by Capecelatro and is rooted around wistful, somewhat melancholy lyrics.

“Simple as anything, the way the leaves decay and fall / Oxidize into the Earth, the seasons all withdraw,” he sings.

A number of guest vocalists appear on the disc, including Canadian folk singer David Francey, Werth’s wife Liz and son Ben, and locals Gregg Porter and Juliet Nelson. Porter also plays drums on some tunes, and Scotty Houston plays bass on two tracks.

All the other sounds come from Capecelatro and Werth, themselves. It’s a positive union of likeminded musicians, bringing out the best in each.

‘No Rotation: The Birth of Hermit Rock’ by Honky Gabacho and The Jugband Cannibala
www.honkygabacho.com
Introducing “hermit rock,” a barebones concoction of raw blues and avant-garde that conjures images of Howlin’ Wolf salaciously licking his harmonica. It’s on display on “No Rotation,” the latest from multi-instrumentalist Honky Gabacho.

The musical alter ego of southern Maine’s Andy Klosenski, Gabacho culled nine songs from his three previous albums, two of which were recorded for the RPM Challenge, plus a new instrumental piece called “Pelvic Reconstruction.”

Following a grandiose instrumental opening, the album dives into “Barakas,” a slightly misspelled ode to The A-Team’s B.A. Baracus. Gabacho growls the vocals like a beastly hybrid of Mike Patton and Captain Beefheart over bluesy slide guitar, adding several experimental changes and digressions into spoken word.    

A similar vibe is maintained throughout most of the album, echoing doses of The White Stripes, Mr. Bungle, Primus and one-man rockabilly band Bloodshot Bill. Gabacho plays all the instruments, rounding out a mean blues guitar with bass and occasional light percussion on tambourine, cowbell and maracas.

Gabacho’s darkly cynical and often humorous lyrics are exemplified in “Crawling on my Belly.” “Half the races of the world / Tossed into one pot; / You lift up the cover / And what have you got? / One twisted, confused, / Unimaginative lot, / With cataract souls, and / Heads full of snot,” he sneers.

There is some thematic variation; “I’m Your Nasty Shadow” at first sounds like a stripped down Black Sabbath outtake, while “Boca Sovacos” is a mock salsa number that devolves into psychedelic guitar, like Hendrix’s “Third Stone from the Sun.”

The closing track, “Pelvic Reconstruction,” is an inventive instrumental piece that could have made it onto an early Zappa album. It’s a fitting conclusion to a disc full of imaginative, entertaining and vaguely ominous compositions.

‘It Takes a Toll’ by Justin S. Walton
www.justinwalton.com
Anyone familiar with local rock band Dreadnaught already knows lead guitarist Justin S. Walton is capable of dazzling acrobatics on the six-string. His new solo album, “It Takes a Toll,” proves he’s also remarkably adept on bass, drums, piano, organ and saxophone. Oh, and he can sing, too.

Walton wrote, performed and recorded all 19 original songs and played every instrument on the album. Although he’s made several records with other bands, this is his definitive collection of solo material. Every note sounds exactly as he intended.

And Walton doesn’t waste many notes. He manipulates each instrument to produce continually engaging sounds, overlapping layers to create vivid sonic collages. Strains of various influences enter and exit the main body of jazzy progressive rock—Zappa, Phish, Zeppelin, Yes, Steely Dan—resulting in an original sound that’s hard to pin down. The music never sits still, always veering onto new aural pathways. 

The opening track, “Travelin’ Bone,” kicks things off with a catchy country-rock riff that sucks you in right away. Walton’s vocals are merely adequate, but his dynamic playing more than compensates. It’s difficult to even digest the lyrics with so much instrumental jubilation coming from all angles. 

Walton is a hell of a guitar player, and it’s almost worth listening to the album solely for his mad wizardry on the strings (check out the dueling axes on “Short End”). But if you focus exclusively on guitar, you’ll miss his surprisingly skillful bass noodling, not to mention his quality saxophone solos on “Flopper” and “Argument.”

A native of Portland, Maine, Walton graduated from the Berklee College of Music in 1996 with a BA in composition, and his musical erudition comes to bear on this impressive disc, a solo debut that demands repeated listens.

‘Before the Day’ by Old Abode
www.old-abode.com
With their debut album, Hampton-based trio Old Abode brings a refreshing gust of indie rock to the Seacoast. Their style borrows from some of the best of the genre, including My Morning Jacket, Band of Horses and Wilco. But “Before the Day” also helps establish the group’s own identifiable voice.

The album opens with the title track, an upbeat number anchored around a resonant guitar lick and introducing lead singer/guitarist Shea Ellis’s distinctive vocals. It’s a good leadoff choice, jolting the disc into action with a refreshing dose of modern pop-rock. 

“The Fall” provides a strong chaser, with sedate, soothing verses that vaguely recall the Mazzy Star-ish alternative rock of the ’90s.

“It was raining then, our back was to the rail / A good book was in your hand but your face was pale / You swear you can turn the world in your brittle hair / And when you do I’ll be sure to tip my hat to you,” he sings.

The song fades directly into “Finding Time,” which maintains a dreamy ambience but with enough instrumental punch to keep you from getting drowsy. Drummer Graham Duval and bassist Glen Coburn deftly stress and syncopate the beat to complement Ellis’s consistently solid guitar playing and singing.

The album’s remaining seven songs aren’t too shabby, either. “Northern Sky” has a bluegrass vibe with a nice mandolin solo, while “Leaves” features some well-deployed piano work by Steven Snitzer. “The End,” which unfolds in two parts, provides a nice buildup to the conspicuously jammy closer, “314” (loads of fun).

The official release date for “Before the Day” is Nov. 17, and the band will play a release show at Bull Feeney’s in Portland, Maine, on Saturday, Nov. 19. It’s a highly satisfying debut from a promising local band.

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