Tag: Dana Colley

Review: Vapors of Morphine – Fear and Fantasy

Starting with ambient sounds of bird songs, traffic, and other things you can’t quite identify, Vapors of Morphine‘s latest, Fear and Fantasy, is at times lush, other times haunting, and other times exotic.

“Blue Dream” certainly is dream-like, combining those ambient sounds with Dana Colley‘s signature smoky saxpohones, Jerome Deupree‘s subtle drumming, and Jeremy Lyons‘ sly vocals. Colley shares vocals with Lyons on “Golden Hour,” originally a Twinemen track (another band Colley was in after the death of Morphine lead singer Mark Sandman), and VOM’s version here is somehow trippier than the original. Listening to “Irene” is like slipping into a warm bath while surrounded by sage smoke. The sound that Colley produces with his saxophone on “No Sleep” is somewhere between angry bees and horny hummingbirds. It’s layered with so much reverb and distortion that it’s hard to describe…which means it’s great. Lyons’ love and influence of Appalachian blues comes through in his guitar work and vocals on “Special Rider,” exuding both sorrow and menace.

Tom Arey takes over on drums on the second side of the album, since Deupree left the band in 2019. Arey’s work can first be heard on “Lasidan,” an instrumental flavored with Middle Eastern flair (a sound VOM explored before on A New Low). “Drop Out Mambo” continues the band having fun with sounds and styles from around the world. A new version of Treat Her Right‘s “Doreen” is a fun treat for us long-time fans of Morphine and THR. It somehow seems sweatier and sultrier than the original.

“Ostrich” is a fun track with a honky tonk swagger that has Lyons wishing he could become different animals in order to avoid having to deal with the blues. “Baba Drame” is a blend of Middle Eastern and what sounds like Celtic styles with Lyons shredding on what sounds like a mandolin with riffs that sound like a callback to “Red Apple Juice” from A New Low. VOM get psychedelic on the instrumental “Phantasos & Phobetor,” because, why shouldn’t they? The name of the track refers to the Greek gods of surreal dreams and nightmares, respectively, and also to the name of the album. The closer is “Frankie & Johnny,” a fun floor-stomper that goes back to the band’s love of blues and bluegrass, with Ayers doing a fine job snapping out beats (with brushes, I think) and some of Lyon’s best guitar work on the album.

I love how Vapors of Morphine continue to salute their past and embrace new sounds in the present. Fear and Fantasy is more fine work from them.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: The Ever Expanding Elastic Waste Band – self-titled (2010)

Friends Jerome Deupree (percussion and drums), Dana Colley (saxophone, harmonica, and vocals), and Jeffrey Lyons (bass, banjo, guitar, vocals) got together in 2009 to start working on some shows and to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the death of Deupree and Colley’s friend (and in Dupree and Colley’s case, former bandmate in Morphine), Mark Sandman. They decided to play some Morphine tracks and other songs they’d written, and demand for more gigs soon grew to the point where they decided to record a record as The Ever Expanding Elastic Waste Band. This would be a couple years before they changed the name to Vapors of Morphine and released A New Low, but the first hints at what was to come were here on this album from 2010 that combines studio tracks with live cuts.

“Hurricane” begins the album with a dark blues cut that sounds like it’s from a gothic film that takes place in a seedy Mississippi town in the middle of August. Colley’s saxophone is pushed through multiple effects pedals along the track, creating a mind-warping effect. “Different” continues this psychedelic swirl amid Deupree’s jazz drums and Lyons vocals about how all of us, despite our differences, are walking the same path in this reality.

“Pulled Over the Car” is a wicked groove tune from Morphine’s catalogue about a time Mark Sandman fell asleep at the wheel. The slinky sounds of “Let’s Take a Trip Together” are great example of low rock – trippy vocals, reverb saxophone, sexy drums, warped bass. “Thursday” is another fine example with its heavy baritone sax and darkly comic lyrics (again, from the late Mark Sandman) about an extra-marital affair that goes wrong after going so right for so long. “All Wrong” has all the punch of the original Morphine track, with all three men putting down serious chops on their respective instruments.

I love that they included the instrumental “Kitchen Closes at Midnight” on the album. It’s a neat psychedelic jam played with toys as well as the band’s respective instruments. The blues / bluegrass track, “Know,” written by Lyons, is the type of song that makes you stop in your tracks when you hear it. The dark saxophone tones, the vaguely country guitar, and the yearning-for-love vocals make you want to track the band down as soon as possible. The album ends with another live cut and another instrumental – “Palestrina.”

It’s a cool record. One that will impress you and anyone else who hears it.

Keep your mind open.

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