David Thomas and Two Pale Boys

Surf’s Up! (Thirsty Ear)
by Jon Sarre

Who doesn’t love sea chanties? Dave Thomas does, that’s for sure! He likes the melodeon, anyhow, and isn’t that the thing sailors play when they sing sea chanties? I dunno, it sure sounds like onea those things – y’know, like a cross between an accordion and a slinky. Actually, I think a melodeon’s more like an organ that nutso opreahouse-lurkin’ fiend plays in Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals based on Jackie Collins novels or somesuch nonsense (ya wouldn’t wanna stay long in someone’s house if ya saw onea those things sittin’ in the corner, “Nice place ya got here, Frank. Say, is that a melodeon over there?”). Uh, like most music critic types, I know jack about music’n’the sorta instruments that music types play, but I remember readin’ once that a guitar has some kinda phallic symbolism attached to it, hmm. But a melodeon…? Where’s Webster’s… here it is (flip, flip)… “A small reed organ in which a suction bellows draws air inward through the reeds.” Doesn’t say anything about phallic symbolism, or vulvic, for that matter and oral symbolism’s only to be inferred by this definition. Incidentally, those sailor things are called “concertinas” and back to sea chanties, this new record by mellow family guy Dave Thomas as joined by two guys who are probably very pale by the simple virtue of onea them usedta be in that band James (Scotland is about as pale as it gets) and the other one bein’ named Moliné, so when Dave takes ’em back to Cleveland, he probably hasta keep a close eye on ’em both so they don’t get lost in the snow. This new record could just well be sea chanty-like (as distinguishable from sea chantyesque, mostly by just how literate ya wanna come off here), it seems nautical anyhow, must be the melodeon…
(274 Madison Ave #804, New York, NY 10016)