The Melody Chamber are from Richmond, Virginia, but they sound like they hail from early 80’s Manchester and/or Athens, Georgia. Little is known about the background of the band other than the songwriting duo of Wallace Dietz and Dan-O Deckelman, partners at Sound Of Music Studios, bonded over a shared appreciation of obscure UK group, The Monochrome Set. The gravitational pull of Dan-O’s guitar riffing makes first impact, but Wallace’s icy vocals, the insistent snap and pop of Blee Child’s drum beats, and Randy Mendicino’s bubbling bass melodies pull listeners in deeper. The lyrics, shrouded in mystery, much like the band, start to saturate the consciousness in a way that allows the listener to build their own world within the album. It’s now too late to turn back, but the tug of the atmospheric synths you hadn’t noticed before weren’t letting you get out of here, anyway. Put on your headphones at your own risk and immerse yourself in The Melody Chamber’s new romantic post-punk and southern gothic jangle-pop world where each song will feel like a lost classic that you wore out on your VHS dub of an old MTV 120 Minutes, watching it over and over. A perfect hybrid of R.E.M., The Smiths, The Psychedelic Furs, and The Church, every song could be a single or the perfect track for that next mixtape. Though The Melody Chamber are reminiscent of some of the great guitar pop bands of the past, they have forged a distinctive, original, and modern sound that promises to appeal to music fans across all age groups.
The Melody Chamber is out now on HHBTM Records (USA) on vinyl and Too Good To Be True (Europe) on vinyl and CD.

What They Say: ““I fell in love with this song when I heard Dan-O’s guitar lines cascading through the extended introduction. It’s the same rush I experience when I listen to bands like Felt. Best of all, the haunting melody line matches the wistfulness of the vocals. The world doesn’t need another song that mentions trains but I fool myself into thinking I can get away with it because I frequently hopped freight trains up and down the East coast in my twenties.” (Wallace Dietz)

Their Mixtape:

(Mixtape by Wallace Dietz)

The Feelies – Fa Ce-La

I picked up a guitar in college because of Neil Young and formed a band because of The Feelies. On one fateful spring day in 1980, I heard The Feelies’ Crazy Rhythms album and had an epiphany— I could take those folky chords, strum them really fast, and make this nervous, exciting racket on my acoustic guitar. Yeah! Although the actual line in Fa-Ce-La is “Break the scream with a silent void“, I hear “Let’s hear it for the silent boys”, and go with The Silent Boys as the name for my fledgling band.

 

New Order – Age Of Consent

I was in the front row for one of New Order’s first shows on this side of the pond when my head exploded. The band kicked into Age Of Consent and the glorious backbone riff was being played by bass player Peter Hook, not the guitarist. Whoa! You mean the bass doesn’t have to lock into the drums with deep notes— it can define another layer of melody in a higher register? In the future, my drummers will loudly protest that this maneuver leaves them stranded on an island. “On a thousand islands in the sea…” 

The Jam – Boy About Town

I lasted just long enough as a college radio DJ to flip through the station’s collection and discover The Jam’s Sound Affects, alternatively titled How I learned to hate The Who. Not The Jam’s 1st LP but the first one I heard. Paul Weller injected a punk rock attitude into sharp mod pop rock songs with passionate singing, clever songwriting and gripping guitar breaks. You get all that plus harmonies, an agile bass, and nifty, super-tight drums. Hard to believe that this band was a 3-piece. I would go on to love all things mod- especially Vespa/Lambretta scooters. Please note that my disdain for arena rock Who has its limits as they did provide the blueprint for The Jam with classic songs like So Sad About Us,  but The Jam finished what The Who started!

Dirty Looks – 12 O’Clock High

“Rock n’ Roll is still the best drug!” I didn’t go to the Halloween show at the Mosque in 1981 to see Iggy Pop’s jock strap- I went to see Dirty Looks, the opening act, a New Wave power-pop trio from New York. Another 3-piece. You think you would get less, but you get more. Every song snaps and pops with such high voltage electricity that I swear I smell bumper cars when I drop the needle on this vinyl. Melodically super charged guitar lines and an in-your-face bass that forcefully pull you in and don’t let go. Treble is turned up to “11” the way Andy Gill of Gang of 4 and I like it. Every song is A-side 7” caliber! My college roommate and I kicked off every party with Van Morrison’s Wild Night and Dirty Looks’ 12 O’Clock High. Listen to the fantastic melody laced guitar work to hear why.

Gang Of Four – To Hell With Poverty

Lyrics like “the worst thing in 1954 was the bikini” and “I feel like a beetle on its back.” A love song called Damaged Goods. A jagged rhythmic funk-punk guitar set to “stun” that slices and dices like a Ronco Veg-O-Matic and so much more! Who wouldn’t like that? Well, me for one. I bought this album, didn’t “get it”, sold it back to Plan 9 Records, bought it again, thinking I must’ve missed something, shrugged my shoulders, then sold it back again. I just couldn’t make any sense out of all that incessant guitar chopping. I’m ashamed to admit how long it took me to hear the order and melody in Andy Gill’s staccato guitar moves. I eventually saw the light and can now claim to truly understand the unique and magnificent pop prowess of Gang Of Four. Third time really is the charm. I selected a song not on Entertainment, To Hell With Poverty because of its irresistible dance groove and feedback drenched guitar. It’s meant to be played at ear blistering decibels so plug your computer into some LOUDspeakers for full effect.

 

The Good Guys – System Of Groove

Cashmere Jungle Lords – Como Se Dice Amor?

Here are songs by two local bands that have provided a lifelong soundtrack to so many good times. Everything I look for in music is here- ear-tugging, hip-moving songs with guitar hooks in every nook and cranny, and big sing-along choruses with thoughtful lyrics. Though serious musicians and songwriters, the Good Guys and Cashmere Jungle Lords don’t take themselves too seriously. Fun and engaging music!
The Good Guys: incredibly bouncy and energetic ska rock pop. This is the only band that I have ever seen that’s moved me to dance from the beginning to the end. Thank goodness, two original members (Mark Brown and Harry Gore) carry on as the Big Guys, and they still perform most of the Good Guys’ big ska hits at shows around town.
CJL: a confluence of influences- 50’s rock, rockabilly, surf, Mediterranean, Latin, show tunes, New Wave, and I think there might even be a kitchen sink in there somewhere. Somehow, Dominic Carpin and the band synthesize all these different styles to create their own distinctive brand of “swampabilly” music. Every now and then Dominic hops off his tractor to get the band back together to play a gig.

 

Bhundu Boys – Hupenyu Hwangu

Mahlathini & The Mahotella Queens – Thokozile

Bypass Paul Simon’s woefully generic take on African music (no rubbernecking!), and go straight to the heart and soul of Zulu Jive music with Mahlthini & the Mahotella Queens and the Bhundu Boys. How do I describe this wonderful music? Itchy guitar work and the bass is trying to scratch the itch. There, that’s the best I can do. The Bhundu Boys add an extra guitar to make for an even more jittery affair. Sadly, Mahlathini, the Lion Of Soweto (we all need a nickname like that!), died in 1991. He was famous for his unique groaning vocal style, which he called his “goat voice.” He performed with the Mahotella Queens at the Virginia Museum as a part of their Jumping In July series in 1990. After the Bad Brains, one of the most memorable live shows I’ve ever seen. Legendary! Some of the most joyful music on this blue marble, surprisingly coming from a place of unimaginable poverty and hardship.

 

The Smiths – This Charming Man

I’m a religious guy- after all, for years I religiously played basketball and read three British weekly music tabloids (Sounds, NME, and Melody Maker) to suss out all the latest happenings in the UK pop music world. I will never forget the mega-huge buzz that greeted The Smiths with the release of their debut single, Hand In Glove. And it was warranted. Johnny Marr’s guitar work was manna from heaven, and since the Smiths disbanded, even he has not been able to recapture those magical moments of guitar splendor. I not only love The Smiths, I love the hundreds of bands from small towns in England who, inspired by This Charming Man, recorded a jaunty and jangly P!O!P! single, then disappeared back into the woodwork. I gobble this stuff up like a bag of Skittles. Every so often I get the urge to write a Smiths type ditty. I’ll jump into a sea of chords and imagine I’m Morrissey throwing my shirt into the fawning crowd while crooning some morose gibberish. Keep in mind that I have no knowledge about the chord structures of Smiths’ songs or any other bands for that matter, so what comes out of this exercise is usually far removed from the bands I’m trying to emulate, but what difference does it make?

 

The Swingers – Counting The Beat

Spent the summer of ’81 painting the mountain tops white in this one-horse town (not anymore!) called Steamboat Springs, Colorado and heard insanely catchy New Wave songs by The Swingers and others, playing on the local windmill powered radio station. Made a special trip to Denver to track down The Swingers record. Phil Judd formed the group after a stint in Split Enz, so you have an inkling of what to expect- hyper-kinetic, original, inventive, and playful, perhaps ahead of its time. Jam-packed with fabulous guitar fills, and even the rhythm guitar parts are stirring. No filler. Some songs are so complex in structure that it’s head-spinning at times, yet somehow totally accessible. Brilliant New Wave Power Pop! Hopped freight trains back home to Virginia at the end of the summer, so I, reluctantly, had to leave the vinyl behind.

The Album:

” Upon repeat listens the album starts to feel like it has two themes of both space and time running through the album. Space is in almost every song on the album from the moon, the sun, the planets, and the stars showing how large the universe is and how small our own reflection of time and how little time we really have in the grand scheme of things. Space is so expansive and there is an underlying despair in the album because the sad truth is that time and life is linear. Wallace, who writes the lyrics, swears he doesn’t journal or pre-write the lyrics, but he just plays the melody and lets words flow as he goes along. Subjects are usually nameless and shrouded in mystery allowing the listener to build a bit of their own world within the album, and the stories come from parts of Wallace’s own life, but only loosely. A phrase or a single word can set him in the direction of what flows forth which is a very stream of conscious style writing.“

The Melody Chamber is out now via HHBTM Records in US and Too Good To Be True in EU. Look HERE for more information on The Melody Chamber.