MUSIC :: MARCH 16, 2005

Raudebaugh release takes an adventurous step forward

By CALE SAUTER

In the world of your average singer/songwriter there exists a palpable potential for mediocrity. That is to say, when everything is stripped down to one individual and an instrument or two, the songs had better be strong because there are few gimmicks to rely on in this format. Jeff Raudebaugh does an admirable job of separating himself from the horde of guitar-slinging songsters cluttering the coffee shops and low-key bar nights on his latest full-length album (the first under his own name) “Nickels and Dimes.”

Jeff Raudebaugh CD release
With The Mosquitos and The Fuzz Thur., March 24, at The Temple Club, 500 E. Grand River Ave. in Lansing’s Old Town. Doors at 8 p.m. $7/21+, $10/18+. (517) 316-0400 or templeclub.com.Having met Raudebaugh previously as well as having witnessed his set from the Rock.Register.Vote show hosted at the Temple Club in September, I was aware that he was not exactly a conventional singer/songwriter, yet I was still unprepared for some of the more adventurous moments on this album.

Once the album gets through its brief intro, it starts predictably enough with a floaty song about doing cartwheels to maintain a positive outlook. The song is a fair representation of one side of Raudebaugh’s songwriting psyche: the side that seems to want to lie in long grass on a warm spring day and tell you what the clouds look like. This is the same side that took notes from the less edgy aspects of ‘60s classic guitar-pop.

Jeff Raudebaugh previously released a CD under the moniker Prosthetic Aesthetics.

On the other hand, there is “Mouse Song,” which drops a titular nod to “mice speaking” and seems to consist of not much more than Raudebaugh making mouse noises into some sort of vocoder while a particularly demented backing track (complete with what sounds like children’s toys) lopes along menacingly. It sounds like it could have been the brainchild of Frank Zappa on a less ambitious day.

Somewhere in between the playful musing on “Cartwheels” and the mouse noises lies Raudebaugh’s strength. Like most children of disparate influences, he hits the mark strongest when he is able to combine his adventurous side with his songwriter’s sensibility. This is most apparent on songs such as “Red Rover” and “Running Out of Batteries” where his adventurous musicality and smart song structure agree on all points.

“I am drawing from so many things,” Raudebaugh says. “I’m listening to Beck, the Beatles, Outkast, Johnny Cash, the Roots, some old school punk….” The list obviously goes on, but the point is clear that Raudebaugh is, indeed, a musical mutt of mixed pedigrees. Some of his listed influences fail to manifest themselves distinctly on “Nickels and Dimes,” but his listening scope has obviously been expanded since his previous full-length, self-titled and released under the moniker “Prosthetic Aesthetics.”

Thick layers of distortion are dropped in favor of more raw experiments and lo-fi production (which works well enough to warrant noting on most of the songs), while whispered, barely audible vocals are abandoned in favor of a more melodic and straightforward delivery.

“I have definitely streamlined the music,” he says. The band thing has never really worked out quite right for me. I just work best with the freedom that playing solo allows.”

“Nickels and Dimes” has the potential to be shrugged off of into the sea of anonymous singer/songwriter efforts, but it would be foolish to do so. While the album may be a tad uneven and lack the consistency to warrant raves, its high points are capable of catching the most jaded of ears off guard.

You can see for yourself on Thursday, March 24, when Raudebaugh is set to release his album with a set at the Temple Club, opening for the Fuzz (which features his brother Brandon on bass) and the Mosquitoes, a bossanova indie trio from New York that has been developing quite a buzz of its own.

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