(RCA Records) 2005
DMB Finds a Good Groove on a Thoroughly Modern Effort
by Jim McCoy

Highlights: Dreamgirl; Old Dirt Hill (Bring That Beat Back); Smooth Rider; Everybody Wake Up (Our Finest Hour Arrives); Stolen Away on 55th & 3rd.

A thick a cappella choir of Dave Matthews' own voice, bolstered by a heavy dose of reverb and delay, seems a most unlikely way for America's reigning top touring rock act to kick-off their sixth and latest studio effort. Then again, the band was obviously determined to create something different from the jump; a new producer was enlisted (Mark Batson) and a rebuilt studio employed in an effort to capture the sound of a band now more known for its live prowess than its studio-issued releases.

Fortunately for the Dave Matthews Band and its fans, Stand Up is successful on several levels. Batson not only manages to expertly record the various instruments and breathe life into the band's studio sound, but also contributes organ, piano and string arrangements in tasteful and appropriate doses. The combination of Matthews' up-front and dry lead vocals, layered backing vocals from Matthews and other band members (see Dreamgirl and Old Dirt Hill), the more generous use of percussion and the presence of a wide range of guitar sounds - from dobros to distorted electrics - leaves no question that the fourteen-track effort sounds fresh and thoroughly modern. But most importantly, the band actually moves throughout. Batson and the disc's mixers highlight the rhythm section to its fullest, refusing to bury Stefan Lessard's creative bass lines and utilizing drum and percussion sounds that stray outside the regular rock realm. Indeed, some of the tracks on Stand Up would sound no less at home on a modern R&B recording. That is not to say that the disc sounds soft, sterile or contrived; to the contrary, its captured grooves effortlessly ooze sex and the creativity is far from lacking.

A track like Stolen Away on 55th & 3rd might sound 'smooth,' but Matthews' unique voice, competent guitar and Lessard's bass line never allow it to degrade into something only worthy to be heard while on hold with your credit card company or student loan servicer. Similarly, You Might Die Trying contains all the hallmarks of 1001 formulaic tracks of urban contemporary music - a large helping of electronically treated drum sounds, deep bass and a break with echoing vocals and lyrical clichés (If you give/ you begin to live)- but the Batson and the band (Boyd Tinsley's violin work in particular) make it an enjoyable, grooving departure rather than simply a bland disc filler. The percussive opening to Old Dirt Hill (with drummer Carter Beauford providing vocals) and its breezy acoustic guitar riff has the potential to be afforded Muzac status in lesser hands; instead, a deep, lyrical bass line, Matthews' up-front delivery, smartly placed backing vocals and chord changes far outside standard rock fare make it a very catchy and listenable ode to the adventures and misadventures of youth.

Batson and the band manage to put a number of slinky grooves to disc - the kind of grooves that have all-but-escaped modern rock, which somehow lost its 'roll' somewhere along the way in favor of radically drop-tuned, ultra-distorted guitars over which screaming vocals launched from the center of a distant musical netherworld punish the listener. Stand Up, the lone electric riff-rocker in the way of the tracks on the oft-maligned Everday, is anchored by a booming bass placed over a variety of drum sounds and a splash of well-played saxophone. Lousiana Bayou successfully melds a host of bluesy guitar sounds, moving bass and a clavinet underneath Matthews' faux-bluesman vocal delivery in a song that somehow blends elements of Stevie Wonder, the Grateful Dead's China Cat Sunflower and Led Zeppelin's Trampled Underfoot without sounding exactly like any of them.

Matthews also manages to credibly play the role of the backdoor man in the short but notable Smooth Rider, the familiar themes of the angry father and the sheriff with his guns placed over a sexy, creeping minor blues riff (complete Batson on organ) that does not ring hollow in Matthews' hands.

Not all of Stand Up is refreshingly creative or brilliant; Hunger for the Great Light may possess a title of grandiose proportions, but the reality is that it is little more than power chords strummed in a lame tribute to oral sex that will succeed only in perpetuating the stereotype that the band's fan base consists only of giggling teenage girls and the beer-swilling undergraduates found on the front lawn of the nearest chapter of TKE. At least the band wisely saved the worst for last; the rest of the disc displays the sound of a wildly successful group that, thankfully, still cares about creating quality music despite the fact that they could now comfortably sit back and sell millions of discs on reputation alone.

Labels: Dave Matthews Band