Digging the Sounds of Spencer The Gardener

Don’t call a landscaper a gardener--it’s like calling a hoe a shovel. Landscapers are construction workers, gardeners are guys with rakes and lawn mowers. Spencer Barnitz, frontman for Spencer The Gardener is a real landscaper between gigs, but feels Spencer The Gardener sounds better than Spencer The Landscaper. So much for truth in advertising.

Who knows if Spencer The Gardener knows a hollyhock from a Matilija poppy, but he does know what a good song should sound like.

Spencer The Gardener is a Santa Barbara sextet whose music, according to Barnitz, is “a Latin, Big Band spy movie, set on the beach in the Sixties.” Next week the band will release its second tape, “Happiness Comes to My House.”

“It’s an extension of the last one,” says Barnitz, “except it’s a darker and moodier beach.” The band has already sold 1,000 copies of their first effort, “Boy With the Two Big Heads.”

Barnitz began his musical career in 1979 when he and Santa Barbara High School buddy Brad Nack formed The Tan. The pretty boy, power-pop guitar band lasted for several years, got a record deal with EMI, then moved to England in 1986 and broke up. The current outfit has little in common with The Tan.

Spencer The Gardener is not a guitar band--trumpet player Nate Birkey and sax player John Schnackenberg give them their distinctive sound.

“A few years ago, I messed up my knee playing basketball, and I was sitting around watching television and I started writing songs again,” said Barnitz. “I was interested in horns mainly because of the way Nate played--with sort of a mariachi feeling.” The band incorporates about everything you can think of--the surf, salsa, blues--what else is there?

About the best thing with the band is Barnitz’ voice, sort of a combination of smoke and Shriekback’s Barry Andrews in a box. In addition to the band’s 25 or so songs, they do a few eclectic covers such as Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire,” and when’s the last time you heard someone do Dionne Warwick’s “Walk On By” at a gig?

And remember Peggy Lee’s “Fever” from a zillion years ago? Barnitz’ “Look Me In the Eyes” has comparable meltdown potential. Other than that, Spencer music is pretty subtle--a slice of Santa Barbara life, light on the guitars, pop rock with hooks. The dance floor will stay busy.

Spencer The Gardener generally plays five or six times per month in Santa Barbara and once or twice a month in Ventura with occasional road trips to Hollywood.

“I guess we’d just like to have a hit record, make some money and have some fun,” says Barnitz. “But I’d like to find a more creative way to have a hit record rather than the usual record deal from the usual record company. And our fans are the coolest people on the planet; we’ll see . . . . “

The band will be at Charlie’s Seaside Cafe in Ventura Saturday night.

POP PICKS

* Saturday--Spencer The Gardener (Charlie’s Seaside Cafe, 362 California St., Ventura. Call 805-648-6688) From Peggy Lee to Jimi Hendrix, these Santa Barbara locals offer witty pop rock with horns and Spencer himself, who has a voice somewhere between Shreikback’s Barry Andrews and smoke.

Tom Ball & Kenny Sultan (Bombay Bar & Grill, 143 California St., Ventura. Call 805-643-4404) They’ve been around forever, they’ve got a zillion albums and they do rockin’ acoustic blues better than anyone. This will be a rare Ventura appearance by these Santa Barbara locals. At Bombay Bar & Grill? Hey it’s the ‘90s.

* Monday--The Pontiax (Glen Tavern Inn, 134 N. Mill, Santa Paula, 805-525-6658) These three guys from Ventura have sold a bunch of albums in Europe. They do the down and dirty blues.

THE WEEK IN ROCK

THURSDAY

* This Ascension (Carnaval Club, 634 State St., Santa Barbara. Call 962-9991.)

* Theo Sanders Quintet (Charlie’s Seaside Cafe, 362 California St., Ventura. Call 648-6688.)

* Michael on Fire (Hungry Hunter, 487 N. Moorpark Road, Thousand Oaks. Call 497-3925. Also Friday and Saturday.)

FRIDAY

* Irie (Charlie’s Seaside Cafe, 362 California St., Ventura. Call 648-6688.)

SATURDAY

* Chick Corea (Ventura Theatre, 26 S. Chestnut St., Ventura. Call 648-1888.)

MONDAY

* Michael on Fire (Charlie’s Seaside Cafe, 362 California St., Ventura. Call 648-6688.)

* Dychondras (Club Soda, 317 E. Main St., Ventura. Call 652-0100.)

TUESDAY

* One Love Vibration (Charlie’s Seaside Cafe, 362 California St., Ventura. Call 648-6688.)

WEDNESDAY

* Nothing (Charlie’s Seaside Cafe, 362 California St., Ventura. Call 648-6688.)