Spitting on a Fish is definitive proof that, as David Lawrence Atkins sings here, “You never keep a rainbow in a ditch.”
The first three songs are brilliant throwback to eclectic singer-songwriter weird-artist stuff that conjures the magic of Tom Waits, Captain Beefheart, and (perhaps) David Ackles. The title song features an acoustic ukulele strummed with a bulbous horn section, while the percussion is ragtag lovely — and Atkins’ voice is deep, tough, and urgent. It’s all sort of like a really nice song by the Faces, circa, Ooh-La-La, or possibly the Kinks in their “Sunny Afternoon” moment. Big complement, there!
Then, “Sepheryn” is a lovely folk song. Full stop. But (oh my!) the tune somehow morphed into Madonna’s “Ray of Light” song. Let’s just say that life is weird like that, sometimes. And “Too Many Bullets” really gets into a horn-infused (before-mentioned) Captain Beefheart commercial groove, with an irresistible melody and a horn section that recalls the sepia-tinted tone of the Band’s Garth Hudson!
Just so you know, it’s time for a Mr. Peabody Wayback Machine moment: David Lawrence Atkins is, by way of his nom de plume Dave Curtiss – a classic-rock footnote icon. Apparently, he could have been Deep Purple’s original singer, and he was in Bodast with future Yes man Steve Howe. He released an obscure album, with Clive Muldoon, appropriately called Curtiss Muldoon. And then, silence for a whole lot of years, during which time Deep Purple and Steve Howe became really famous. And then, presto-chango, this new album of songs suddenly appeared. As my friend Kilda Defnut seldom says, “Holy Cow!”
Things soften with other songs. “Afraid of Love” is set to a slow jazzy pace, with a deep sympathetic trumpet. It’s a naked confessional tune. Then, “And She Danced” gets a breezy (sort of) bossa nova workout. And “Blue Like You” mines a very traditional format (as sussed from the title!) with even more delicious trumpet playing, with perhaps a trombone in there, too! Now, to make a second reference to the Band, “Lazy Days” echoes the gentle deep soul passion of the great Richard Manuel. Big compliment, there!
Not only that, but Spitting on a Fish conjures a similar sound to the also very great Joe Henry, who once asked in a lyric the important question, “Whose chickens are those in my yard?” Yeah, in its own way, Atkins’ LP worries about stuff like that.
True confession: “Oh Tonight” is what we music snobs call a guilty pleasure. The tune is tattooed with an indelible smile. My goodness, this song is in search of a movie in need of a catchy theme song. The song’s singer rides a parallel joy to the bicycle optimism of B.J. Thomas, who had “raindrops falling on my head,” yet he also thankfully keeps right on “singing in the rain.” It’s just a joyous romp through an intoxicating melody.
Then — boom! “Lighten Up Your Load” makes certain that our David Lawrence Adkins certainly doesn’t “want to hang up my rock ‘n’ shoes.” The tune pulses with a swampy Creedence pulse that circulates through the body of the Hollies’ “long cool woman in a black dress,” and the grungy guitar howls like a really danceable wolf.
Odd: Then, “Goodnight” returns to somber acoustic confession of love. Again, this is simply naked music. Odd (again!): That should have been the quiet resolution to the album. But it’s not.
“Little Soldier Boy” stretches the focus from a very personal album into a surreal first-person tale told by “Daniel” in some war-torn world where he sees his family killed, and, well, Daniel confesses to the news people that he “killed a man when he was only 12 years old.” And then, in a weird scenario, our “little soldier boy” gets killed and then flies into much friendlier skies. It’s an interesting and very strange song.
As my friend Kilda Defnut, who really likes the song, always says: “Nobody wants to get a Dear John letter from God.” This song concurs with that thought.
The final song, “Shine on Me,” eclipses any dark moment with a certain campfire sing-a-long that has a happy flashlight beam which brightens the darkness with the sheer force of the song. Indeed, “everybody dance; everybody sing; everybody come and do their thing.” Such optimism!
The inner blurb describes spitting on a fish as “an exercise in futility or pointless action.” Well, that’s a nice thing to say. But remember, “you never keep a rainbow in a ditch.” And this album keeps that folky “rainbow” alive — even after way too many ditch-digging years.
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