Mike
Levy - Fireflies
photo: Erik Auerbach
Five
years ago Mike Levy began recording a solo album for the
Bus Stop label, and after
some fits, starts, and down time, Parasol climbed on board
at the beginning of 2000 to see the album through to the
finish. Six months ago we had a line-up of comparisons in
mind that must've included The Beatles, June & the Exit
Wounds, maybe Linus of Hollywood, and we really can't remember
the rest. None of us can. Fireflies has become an album that
we're going to compare future records to. During the recording
of Fireflies Levy was joined on various tracks by his former
Sneetches accomplices Matt Carges, Alec Palao, and Daniel
Swan, and while the songs are mainly piano driven--not overtly
flashy like Ben Folds or Elton John--there's plenty of ornate
instrumentation. Our favorite is the second song "New
Day," which sounds like something off the second Korgis
album. Korgis? That's the point. The songs sound familiar,
but in that special your-favorite-song-on-an-obscure-album
sort of way.
As
a member of San Francisco pop-act The Sneetches (1985-1995)
Levy recorded six records and three
EPs released in the US, UK, Europe and Japan. Their first
record Lights Out With The Sneetches was released in the
UK on Kaleidoscope records and their second, Sometimes That's
All We Have, was released on the "pre-Oasis" Creation
Records making the Sneetches the first American band to be
signed to that esteemed label. The Sneetches twice toured
the U.S., were asked to play the "Les Inrockupibles
French Music Festival" in Paris (with John Cale and
the Monochrome Set), and toured Japan, where their fans are
legion! Their music has been described as "pressed off-centered
pop" but they were never sure exactly what that meant...
When quizzed about his influences,
Levy writes:
"It's funny, I started out
with the idea of doing "Nilsson Schmilsson" (I
guess it would have to be called "Levy Schmeevy")
which is why "Away From My Head" and "I Need
To Tell You" sound the way they do, but that soon changed. "Take
This Child Away" I wanted to sound like an old Al Green
record, minus the vocals of course… Overall, I wanted
the record to have a soulful vibe."
"With Fireflies,
Sneetches alum Mike Levy has hit on a recipe any mother would
love.
Serenely inoffensive and wholesome as a cucumber sandwich,
Levy’s highly palatable confessional pop shakes out
the awful artistic cramps rampant self-loathing can induce.
Levy’s first solo outing maintains a spongy balance
between pained contemplation and unbridled joy - those full
blown moments when only strings and a horn section will do.
Delicate piano-only instrumental interludes nicely temper
such unabashed Nilsson Schmilsson-meets-McCartney moments
as “New Day,” “Away From My Head” and “Take
This Child Away.” To update things for the post-Vietnam
generation, Levy’s equally adept command of melody and
melancholy have him settling into “so good it hurts” territory,
while his insights into the vaguely absurd, and his championing
of the ivories, should bring to mind Ben Folds. Yet, there’s
a certain vintage charn to Fireflies, an assuming
magnificence that smacks of the best sort of living room
nostalgia. Like we said, a credit to moms everywhere." -CMJ -
December 2000
"Five years is a long time
in pop music. A half decade ago, ‘N Sync was but a figment
of a Florida business man’s imagination, Limp Bizkit
had yet to slither out from under its rock, and a sunny San
Francisco band called the Sneetches was throwing in the towel
after releasing a handful of albums that failed to inveirle
many American ears. Chief Sneetch Mike Levy promptly enlisted
his former bandmates to begin work on a solo debut…and
five years later, the gang’s finally finished the album.
All 33 minutes of it.
Thankfully, the labor poured into the tiny record’s gestation does not
clog the finished work, which similarly eschews the sort of instrumental glut
one might expect of such a pampered production. Nevertheless, it remains tricky
to listen to these ten songs without conjuring images of Mr.Levy’s head
assuming a Schroeder-style position on his piano’s silent keys. As the
chords pound their way to the album’s very first chorus and his voice
quivers “I just want someone to talk to, baby!” it’s temptingto
ignore all conventions of pop lyrics-that the balladeer is addressing a potential
interest of love or lust-and assume he’s begging his hard-sought listener
to stay tuned.
For aficionados of classic pop, this would be a wise decision. Levy’s
musical sights don’t necessarily point to the future (that first number
alone recalls such purists as Elton John, Wings and the Go-Betweens), but these
songs display a great sense of grace and talent. In the whitest sense of the
word, they’re also very funky. “Some Days” suggests the Lovin’ Spoonful’s
groovy side, while “Away from My Head” tears a page from Harry Nilsson’s
songbook. Finally, funkily, there’s the grand “Take This Child Away,” in
which flugelhorn, strings and a happenin’ keyboard mime a pile of Stax
records, while Levy spits his best John Lennon rap. Mike Levy may not be the
coolest cat in town, but he definitely avoids sounding like the type of dweeb
who’s slave over a few pop songs for half a decade. It seems like he forgot
the principal lesson of hogh school: Never let people know how hard you studied." Jay
Ruttenberg Time Out New York - December 28, 2000-January 4, 2001
"The Sneetches were one of
the msot beloved bands of the ‘90s indie pop scene,
and those of you who have been lamenting their departure
might want to take note that 1) the band has gotten back
together, and 2) their singer and chief songwriter, Mike
Levy, has released his debut solo CD, Fireflies. This is
an excellent CD, very much in the Sneetches vein, albeit
a bit more laid back, and Levy still displays his unique
gifts for melody as well as an uncanny knack for perfectly
placed chord changes and excellent interplay between instruments.
Hi style has always been strongly reminiscent of Harry Nilsson,
and unlike many of the other present day, DIY troubadours
of similar inclination, but very much like his predecessor,
Levy injects a little lightheartedness into most everything
he does, as evidenced by tracks like “New Day,” “Too
Many People There,” and “(There’s Always)
Something Wrong.” However, when he needs to be, Levy
can be as brooding as the best of them, as he is on the Wainwright-esque
ballad, “I missed for a very long time, and who we’re
very thankful is back." David Bash toastmag.com |
