Tuatara - “Cinemathique”
Tracks:
- The Melting Sun
- Love is a Calculated Risk
- Pimpin’ for the Muse
- Tumbleweeds
- A Thin Gray Pickpocket
- Action Thriller
- Falling Pianos
- The Hangover
- In the Passing Lane
- Walking in a Dead Man’s Shoes
- Farewell to the Hero
I stumbled onto this band because of the drummer, Barrett Martin. Martin was the drummer for the Screaming Trees during their heyday in the early 90’s (Seattle grunge scene), and then more importantly to me, was part of the “super group” Mad Season. (The band’s only album was a previous FAVORITE of mine.) Tuatara as it is, is a bit of a super group as well. It is a side project of REM guitarist Peter Buck. Heavily influenced by jazz and world music, it didn’t take long for their music to grow on me.
(From left): Barrett Martin, Skerik, Mike Stone, Craig Flory, Scott McCaughey, Elizabeth Pupo-Walker, Steve Berlin, Peter Buck, (front) Justin Harwood.
I can only guess at this, but I think the album title is a play on this being songs that would make for good soundtrack material. Even though it is all instrumental, it goes beyond just filler music. The biggest piece of evidence for my case is the song “Action Thriller”. If there was ever a great opening credits song for a 1960’s action/thriller movie, this is it. Horn blasts, simple but groovy bass line, surfer-style guitar sound, tension build-up at the end, it’s all there.
One of the biggest attractions to me is the percussion instruments on this album. I can now see (hear) that Martin might have been slightly experimenting a bit with them on the Mad Season album which shows up in much bigger quantities here. With more musicians to fill out the sound, they take on role of melody and counter-melody, not just rhythm.
Buck’s guitar work is quite grand. Many times it takes a back seat to everything else in the music. At times he is minimal with what he is playing, very much like Andy Summers. And his choice of tones are perfect for the songs they are employed in.
There is some darkness in the songs. There is some humor (other then “Action Thriller”). There is much blending of genres, though at times slight and subtle. It all makes for a great collection of songs that brings a newer light to the realm of fusing together the best qualities of many different types of music.
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