These Wicked Things

– General Description: Just plain fun. Just great. So many excellent musicians joining sounds. So many excellent ideas and distinguishable genres explored: cowpunk (combining elements of country, western and punk), post-punk, Mexican folk (Huapango), mariachi, spaghetti western, and giallo (Italian thriller-horror). “These Wicked Things” is the fourth release from the Boston-based band Beat Circus and the final installment in singer/multi-instrumentalist/composer Brian Carpenter’s “Weird American Gothic” trilogy.

In 2014, Carpenter was commissioned to compose music and lyrics for Dominic Orlando’s play “The Barbary Coast” (based on a true crime book by Herbert Asbury about San Francisco in the late 1800’s). The play focuses on Joaquin Murieta; he went on a revenge spree after his wife Rosita was killed by gold miners. Two versions of “Rosita” and some incidental music from the play are included in this release.

Brian Carpenter has a deep clear voice and sounds like a weathered gentleman cowboy telling you why he and his horse are so calm in the approaching storm. (Just the way it is, mam’ — just the way it is. Gotta keep movin’ though. Nice talkin’ with ya.) And then the camera pans to a sky, wide and dark with clouds, as the simmering surroundings begin to a slow boil.

Every track is a delight.

– Musicians:
Brian Carpenter - vocals, harmonica, piano, bells, trumpet, jawharp, turntables
Andrew Stern - guitar, baritone guitar, acoustic guitar
Alec Spiegelman - bass clarinet, tenor saxophone, flute, backing vocals
Abigale Reisman - violin, backing vocals
Emily Bookwalter - viola, backing vocals
Jordan Voelker - viola, backing vocals, saw
Paul Dilley - double bass, electric bass
Gavin McCarthy - drums

Additional musicians:
Brad Balliett - bassoon on “Crow Killer”
Catherine Bent - cello on “Crow Killer”
Quinn Carson - trombone
Ron Caswell - tuba
Bill Cole - Chinese suona on “The Evening Redness in the West”
Dana Colley - bass saxophone on “Bad Motel” and “These Wicked Things”
Tomas Cruz - backing vocals, voice of Murieta on “Rosita (huapango)”
Gita Drummond - boy’s voice on “Childe Roland”
Adam Sachs - hand percussion
Jane Scarpantoni - cello
Stephen Ulrich - lap steel on “The Last Man (Is There Anybody Out There?)”
Jacob Valenzuela - mariachi trumpet on “Rosita (huapango)”

– FCC Compliant: YES
– Especially Recommended Tracks: 8, 11, 14
– Track Reviews:

1. *(2:59) Murieta’s Last Ride - fast drums with fun creepy stuff above
2. (3:44) These Wicked Things - medium-fast cowboy song; sung in early 1940’s Hollywood Western-style
3. (2:26) Bad Motel - Desperado-style story-song
4. **(3:05) Just A Lost, Lost Dream - animated; lyrics get a little lost but excellent music
5. ***(2:35) Crow Killer - instrumental; dark and clunky with eclectic asides
6. ***(3:27) Gone, Gone, Gone - moody but fast piece with over-narration in Jack Nicholson-Chinatown-style then singing; lots of expressive sax
7. (2:17) The Girl From The West Country - instrumental mood music; jawharp oldies western
8. *****(2:17) Rosita (Tango) - who doesn’t like a tango? especially one where they whistle; instrumental with some angry Spanish shouting shadowed in the background at the end
9. (3:26) The Key - relaxed pitch-bent explanatory song
10. **(2:31) All The Pretty Horses - sharp edge in the sound initially, then it opens up to a jazzy reverb experiment
11. ****(4:19) Rosita (Huapango) - guitar solo starts; lovely, graceful Huapango-style song about the loss of Rosita
12. **(1:38) Childe Roland To The Dark Tower Came - haunting instrumental
13. **(2:15) The Evening Redness In The West - picks up from the previous track; instrumental; sharp nightmare discord; STOPS at 2:10
14. ****(6:53) The Last Man (Is Anybody Out There) - story narration again and then song; very interesting ride
15. *(2:21) Long Way Home - another haunting instrumental