Noel McKay – Songs About Bad People
Well, well, well, this showcase is a reprieve from albums about politics, COVID, Civil Rights, economics, wars, AI, trying to find oneself in the modern world, the price of anything & everything. This is an exciting deep dive into characters like executioners, cheaters, stalkers, narcissists, murderers, grifters & people without a soul. Buckle yourself in.
Noel McKay’s (guitars/vocals) dark LP starts with “The Artist of Death,” & through this narrative, the music is cleverly wrought through a noirish & melodramatic cheesecloth. If Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler wrote lyrics, this might be it. Noel’s voice, a little less rough than Kris Kristofferson’s, is made up of the same hooch. The Texas-born McKay’s voice is soaked in tequila while Kris’ is more bourbon. Lighting up the proceedings is the country-ballad warmth of “The Pink Chandelier,” sung with smooth female accompaniment & saloon piano, which uncorks a pleasant well-told & peculiar story with touches of the Randy Newman & John Prine tradition.
There are only 8 Songs About Bad People (Drops Sept 25/McKay Records/27:36), self-produced with Ben Sanders (string arrangements) & Eric Blakely. It’s a compelling set. Songs like “Strange California Days” with lyrics delivered with good detail & Hollywood scruff à la back-alley author John Fante & barfly poet Charles Bukowski. While some of Noel’s lyrics are fairly elementary compared to those writers, a little more Tom Waits seasoning & less Serge Gainsbourg & he’d have the combustion.
“Terrifically Vain” has good musical stitching sewn into its slow middle-of-the-road semblance & cool piano notes. However, the Spanish tune does little to maintain the momentum. It’s a fine Spanish melody & gypsy fiddle but seems lost in the foundation. It’s sung well & has some grit but doesn’t fit the groove. It’s a tuxedo, black tie on a double-stitched, ironed white shirt with…brown shoes.
“The Midas Touch” adds more Tom Waits atmosphere. It’s a saloon tune that could be growled like Waits or Chip Taylor or even brandy-smooth Sinatra. The female vocal backing is a nice easy-listening touch with the colorful, smoky Catherine Marx piano notes. Excellent.
Still drawing water from the Tom Waits well, “Hit Man” is late-career-sounding Waits & it’s not imitation. It’s impressively conceived by Noel, with deep percussive walking bass notes & Mary Rogers burst of sax. You want some dark atmospheric music? “Hit Man” – wonderfully precise in its temper & spirit.
Lots of stale cigars, Lysol & sawdust in these back-alley vignettes. Not quite Brecht-Weill, but there’s enough shadows between these songs to keep a listener…curious.
Highlights – “The Artist of Death,” “The Pink Chandelier,” “Terrifically Vain” & “The Midas Touch.”
Musicians – Arianna Monteverdi (harmony voice), Ken Coomer of Wilco (drums), Clyde Cervantes (bass), Aaron Goodrich (percussion) & Sam Bacco (vibraphone).
B&W image courtesy of Noel’s website. CD @ Amazon & Bandcamp + https://www.noelmckay.com/product-page/songs-about-bad-people-cd