Album Reviews : Willoughby Scales Heights of Profound Pop

*** 1/2 , Willoughby “Be Better Soon” Fuzz Harris Records (cassette)

Circadian Rhythm was a Long Beach band that started out playing rather annoying dance-rock in the late ‘80s but had found a clue or two by the early ‘90s, whereupon it broke up. Now Mike Flanagan is back with Willoughby, a Long Beach/Orange County foursome he launched about a year ago with another ex-Circadian, drummer Steve Pertschi, plus newcomers Doug Keidel on bass and Toby Tryon on lead guitar.

The creative strides this time are Bunyanesque. Flanagan, who sang only a few songs in Circadian Rhythm, steps forward as a commanding lead vocalist with an impassioned, chesty-but-piercing delivery that calls to mind the likes of Elvis Costello, Dramarama’s John Easdale and Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum.

The songwriting is strong throughout this dozen-track cassette release (about half the material also is available on two seven-inch vinyl releases), and it rises to heights of pure-pop brilliance on “Hiding Place” and “Borrow My Shoulder.” In three or four minutes, each of these peak songs creates a small world of its own, furnished with vivid characters and heart-tugging feeling.

“Hiding Place” is the sort of catchy, bittersweet mid-tempo sing-along that cropped up regularly on Kinks albums during the 1960s. With its wistful portrait of a lonely, forlorn man who wishes for connection while reflexively shrinking from the world outside, it could be a companion piece to Ray Davies’ sublime “Waterloo Sunset.” It’s a good enough song to stand in such company.

The same goes for “Borrow My Shoulder,” one of the finest and most moving pop songs I’ve heard about the strained and loving connection between siblings. What’s portrayed in this study of two sisters is memorable, and what’s implied radiates far beyond the bounds of what can be rendered in a few pop stanzas.

The unnamed younger sister is needy, fragile and more than a little frustrated that she can’t match the poise and strength of the older Rebecca. While underscoring these tensions and disorders, the song is ultimately a glowing, waltz-time ode to familial love as literally a saving grace.

She said, ‘ ‘Becca, you know that I love you

But don’t tell me that everything’s fine

I know that your life may be perfect

So why isn’t mine?’

And Rebecca has no answer, she just said,

‘La-la-la, la-la-la-la, borrow my shoulder.’

While the other songs, generally denser, harder-driving numbers with layers of swarming guitars, don’t reach that level of characterization and melodic magic, they are well above par.

“Cattleman Island Hill” and “Big Man Now” take different approaches--the first jaunty, the second cutting--in lambasting snobs and egotistical rock stars. Much of the rest finds Flanagan grappling against feelings of despair, handling the subject with barbed, insightful lyrics that probe dispirited moods yet sometimes look toward recovery.

The stormy, forceful performances make it clear that Willoughby won’t give in to setbacks without a fight. “Be Better Soon” is a real flowering for a band of local rockers who persisted and slowly got better and better.

(Available from Fuzz Harris Records, 2629 Manhattan Ave., No. 226, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254; (310) 804-5523).

* Willoughby plays tonight at an AIDS benefit at Que Sera, 1923 E. 7th St., Long Beach. 10 p.m. (310) 599-6170. Also April 15 at Linda’s Doll Hut, 107 S. Adams St., Anaheim. (714) 533-1286.

*

Fats, Pearl Put Heads Together

** 1/2 Harmonica Fats & Bernie Pearl “Two Heads Are Better . . . “

Bee Bump Records

This acoustic-duo album affords a chance to hang out with a quirky, hangdog-comic persona, Harmonica Fats, and a couple of very solid blues musicians: Fats himself (born Harvey Blackston) and guitarist Bernie Pearl. The L.A./Long Beach duo, which plays regularly in Orange County, has been collaborating in acoustic- and electric-blues formats since 1986, and the experience shows in an easygoing musical communication.

The mood is low-key but lighthearted, as Fats spikes his mellow, grainy voice with sharpened, rising notes that identify him as a bemused Everyman who takes life’s small upsets with an attitude of wry complaint.

“I guess they’re gonna kick me around, now Nixon’s gone,” Fats cheerfully harrumphs at the end of “Just Like Richard Nixon,” in which he manages to find something sympathetic from a blues standpoint--Nixon’s famous resiliency--in one of America’s least funky historical figures.

Other songs on this all-original collection find Fats singing the workingman’s blues (based on his real-life former factory job), complaining about women who are insufficiently appreciative or reliable and, in “Blabbermouth Man,” poking fun at his own propensity to gossip. He takes a more serious turn on “I Know She Crazy ‘Bout Me Too,” a nervous reflection on the risks of extramarital affairs.

With just one voice and two instruments available, Fats and Pearl seek variety by mixing up styles. There’s some Delta blues, a Gary Davis-style rag and the surging, Muddy Waters-like swaggering affirmation of “The Top Show,” in which Fats shares his notes on some of his favorite blues notables.

The instrumental work is clean and dexterous throughout, Fats blowing a nimble harp and Pearl playing slide and straight acoustic guitars in a style that emphasizes sharp technique over overt flash.

The guitarist’s finest moments come on the instrumental “Blues March,” with its energetic bass line, and “Soul Food,” in which Pearl’s brisk, jazzy chording calls to mind the old Doobie Brothers “Listen to the Music” riff. The recording quality is crisp but dry; a tad more room ambience and resonance might have added an extra measure of energy.

“Two Heads” has been nominated for a 1995 W.C. Handy award--the blues equivalent of a Grammy--for best country/acoustic album. It’s a winning choice for fans who like traditional blues that they can ease into.

(Available from Bee Bump Records, 2256 Magnolia Ave., Long Beach, CA 90806. (310) 426-0761.)

* Harmonica Fats and Bernie Pearl play as a duo Sunday at 6:30 p.m. at Spaghettini, 30005 Old Ranch Parkway, Seal Beach. (310) 586-2199; Harmonica Fats and the Bernie Pearl Blues Band play electric shows Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency, 17900 Jamboree Road, Irvine, (714) 975-1234; April 8 at 6 p.m. at Cantina la Vida, 6105 Carbon Canyon Road, Brea, (714) 996-0720, and April 22 at 10 p.m. at the Thunderbird, 3505 Via Oporto, Newport Beach, (714) 675-6599. Ratings range from * (poor) to **** (excellent). Three stars denote a solid recommendation.