Idle Hands (Banned)
OverTIME
- A Review

by Barbara Saunders

[ed. note: Barbara Saunders is a long-time Idle Worshipper, formerly of the central Arkansas area, now living in Australia.]

When my daughter-in-law emailed me that she'd just come home from Idle Hands' (okay, Banned) debut performance of their CD, OverTIME, I was mightily jealous. I recalled those many nights at the Whitewater Tavern, Brenda and I smoking our pipes (and other things) and dancing with her and the other band wives/significant others while the guys played better the drunker we got. Ah, the good ol' days! But back then, as we danced and ate deep-fried pickles (sometimes at the same time), the boys were playing a lot of cover tunes. It wasn't that they didn't have any original stuff, but the general public doesn't want to go to a pub to party and hear songs they can't sing to - they want to hear Stairway to Heaven, Crazy Train and Rockin' in the Free World. So it was with mixed feelings fans and friends (who were sometimes even the same people) heard that the band was leaving the public stage to go into the studio to work on original tunes. Fans have been teased over the years with Under Cover (1995), HeadSets 97 (you figure it out) and MMI (2001 - duh!) which at least kept fans from going through withdrawal. Now, finally, we have OverTIME - a compendium of the sublime, the ridiculous and nearly everything in between. Have a listen with me.

Crimes on Mercury - Jim Jolly

This header to OverTIME must be an escapee from the band's old project, a sci-fi rock opera, the name of which escapes me*, set as it is on the jewel of the galaxy (I thought that was Venus?). The bad guy, the epitome of serial killers, is sought far and wee (with apologies to e e cummings and Buffalo Bill), his mal-adaptability finally ascribed to Griggin and Plagemann's Jupiter Effect (which has a lot to answer for, in spite of the wealth it brought its wacky authors in and around 1972), genetic errors or the suspect's own delusions of criminality. If nothing else, you have to admit - these guys read a lot. All insults aside, this is a toe-tapper, a modern conundrum, much like the etudes of Eminem or the Red Hot Chile Peppers who sing of murder, mayhem, drug abuse and so on - but you just wanna dance.

Eve Before the Fall - Jim Jolly

We had a preview of this jazz-rock ditty on the band's EP (if that's still a term that means anything), MMI. I loved it then and still do. And it's won an honourable mention for Jim in who entered the 2001 John Lennon Songwriting Contest. (Rick, didn't you and I win one of those once...or was it a C&W award?) It's not too distracting that I keep having mental images of Vince (who handles vocals with backing from 'new addition' Angelyn Jolly) punching out some junkie at the former Berlin Wall. I know it's make-believe! Of course, the homey references to Arkansas and Wichita remind me of my old stomping grounds. But we have a favourite Jolly theme here - lost innocence - wherein our singer decides he 'can't fight the world anymore' to keep the innocence. In fact, in his fantasy, he and Eve-before-the-fall relax in their Eden where they swim in Perrier and eat chocolate from silver trays. I love 'Mermaids loop the loop and flip out on the shore/It's not their fins that we adore'. Don't ask me why. I guess it just shows how unreal his fantasy is, because it's not dreamland; after all, Eve isn't there. It might be another kind of Eden, though. It might be Wichita, where she was still Eve Before the Fall, before her house filled with paramours.

Single Blue Female - Tom Bertram/Jim Jolly

Another goodie from the rock opera, Single Blue Female conjures up images of singles ads, Bridget Fonda (who starred in the movie Single White Female) and La Femme Nikita. Sorry, it's the way my mind works. Of course, it's not all that innocent. There's a bad guy by the name of Hacksaw (the one from Crimes on Mercury?) publishing singles ads so he can commit dastardly deeds with unsuspecting lonely hearts. Out sociopath Lothario gets his comeuppance on Christmas Day, however, when our heroine resumes her actual insect-like appearance and eats him for dinner - and not in the fun way. At this point, she prepares to publish another ad. A girl's got to eat.

Confusion - Jared Young/Rick Scott

Jared Young's lyrics often ponder human relationships, a theme dear to this reviewer's heart, so Confusion makes a welcome reappearance (having debuted on MMI, too). Angelyn Jolly, whose dulcet tones (I always wanted to use that in something I wrote) are a welcome addition to the band, tries to vocally work out the lyrics' dilemma that confusion becomes a haven from reality for the one to whom the song is directed. With subtle harmonies and some studio effects, the tune seems artistically covered in treacle - which only adds to the sense of confusion. This isn't my favourite Young/Scott composition (those being - today - Secure in Your Heart or Vulnerable). But those two have already made an appearance on Jared's eponymous CD, circa 2000-2001.

Car Wars - Jim Jolly

Vince Castiglia returns from the former Berlin Wall to vocals in this metaphor for relationships - or perhaps it's just the commutin' blues. Jim is certainly a busy little songwriter, having contributed to 12 of the CD's 14 songs, nine of which are solo efforts, as is this tune. I recall when I used to live in Arkansas and had to commute from Conway to Little Rock five days a week that after about a year of road rage I decided to get it under control, firmly convinced that if I didn't, one day I'd end up flipping off my boss. That's what this song makes me think about anyway. Oh, I get the analogy - and we're all Mel Gibson in post apocalyptic hell when we're tyring to negotiate our way down I-LUVU. Sometimes it's just easier to give your S. O. the bird and ram their bumper.

Girls Surf Better in Bathing Suits - Jim Jolly

When I heard this song the first time, I thought - okay guys, no more drugs for you. Although it's a Jolly composition, the surf-keyboard, twangy guitar and backing vocals (whoa-oh-whoa-oh) could probably turn Brian Wilson back to recreational drugs. But it's all done tongue-in-cheek, a backhanded tribute to more innocent times that just aren't possible anymore because science, PETA, political correctness and feminism have turned the Hollywood sound stage of Ocean Town into a ghost town. And our fictional protester would do something about it, but he's got his dick stuck in the dirt, or woody stuck in the sand. Yeah, that's what I meant.

Silver Moon - Jim Jolly

Rick's best dance hall piano effects introduce us to the voice that Neil Young wishes he had - Jim Jolly crooning about youthful expectations (we're too experienced to be this optimistic, aren't we?), disappointment and times innocent enough to still be able to waltz. Girls take their shoes off and dance with the men on the wooden floor of an old-fashioned dance hall of the song's title where our leading man hopes to meet Sadie (and isn't that an old-fashioned name - it's my mother's name), but she stands him up. As the band waltzes through the song's end, our disappointed hero (it seems to me) leans wistfully on the wooden two-by-four rail of the Silver Moon's entrance whilst the lucky boys and girls inside dance without him, his 'eyes full of silent stars', not yet jaded. This is another favourite from the band's performing days, and it hasn't lost any of its appeal.

Golden Stars, Golden Showers - Jim Jolly

I don't pretend to understand what this song, with its guitar-heavy effects, splashy drums and condemnation of the almighty dollar, is about. But it's full of people scrabbling for wealth gained without merit, casting blame on everyone but themselves - 'if you're late you can sue the train'. Have I got that right? It's just that "Golden showers on you all' seems to be a very poetic, Jim Jolly-esque way of saying 'piss on you all'. If that ain't condemnation, I don't know what it. But I could be wrong. And since it, if I recall correctly, is has also been salvaged from the rock opera, it may mean more in context. The band's website says it's a condemnation of the IRS, but I don't have to worry about those guys anymore (I don't think...do I, Jim?)

Relatively Minor Mary - Jared Yong/Rick Scott

Another favourite topic of Jared Young's is self-evaluation. Sometimes he's not so kind to himself (as in End of the Stage or Go from his self-named CD), but the old Young optimism rises here with Rick's chirpy keyboards advising 'Live your life, live it proud, and live it right out loud'. This is the kind of song that you have to put on when it's time to mop the floors. You end up tripping the light fantastic with the mop and singing along. The floor still ends up looking grubby, but you feel much better afterwards.

Trio - the whole damn band!

Subtitled It Comes in Threes on MMI, and one suspects another gem from the rock opera setting, inhabited by murderous female aliens, psychopaths named Hacksaw, exploited Siamese triplets...what have these guys been mixing in their whiskies? This is the story of the progeny of a one-night stand between a lonely girl and some guy who could sing like Conway Twitty - triplets, congenitally joined at the knees. The doctor who delivers them advises mum to keep them joined - for the money (a recollection of Golden Stars, Golden Showers?), so mum embarks on the talk show circuit until the novelty wears thin. This story puts me in mind of the Canadian Dionne quintuplets. Then there's dissension among the troops: 'One and Two resigned, Number Three took ill'. They were costing more than they were bringing in, so mum had them separated, and at least the triplets are happy because 'nobody votes on where to sit'.

Natural Order - Jim Jolly

First making its debut in MMI, this is one of my favourite songs in the whole wide world. Vince, who takes lead vocals here, evokes a kind of The Band/Levon Helm feel assisted by G. Harrison/R. Danko/R. Robertson kind of guitar work and steady Helm-like drumming. Things are turned upside down ('beasts fill the air/birds roam the ground') and whether he's a soldier or a weary traveller or soldier in the corporate wars (moon into view/me on my way), our protagonist will accept any order as natural if it includes the one to whom the lyrics are addressed, because 'you make every little thing, every little thing ok'. The call of the wild - the natural order - is the singer with the one to whom he's singing - and it's natural because it is seldom the wrong number. Our singer is feeling not a little insecure because he's been 'calling you all day'. But the last little jaunty major scale riff over 'you make every little thing ok' makes us believe it really is.

Brainlock - Jim Jolly

If you know Jim, you can appreciate what a fine artist he is while at the same time recognising that he might just be a little scatterbrained. This leads one to speculate on how autobiographical Brainlock might be. This song is a favourite from the old club days - and we finally get treated on this CD to a Paul 'he sings like an angel' Edmonson vocal. There's a driving riff, chugging this song along as the singer reveals he has a story to tell, and Paul announces his appearance with some simple but forceful drum work. But brainlocks thwart your career 'when something's breaking, something's shaking'; they ruin old relationships when the intervening years make you forget who it was you originally took up with, and they damn new relationships before they get started when you leave that all-important phone number in your 'favorite Sunday jeans' that are on their way to the laundry. Keyboard scales and that chugging riff lead us to believe, however, that our singer isn't too upset about it all - after all, he doesn't know there's a problem, as 'brainlocks take you under'. The closing riffs conjure images of our poor, clueless brainlocked victim wandering through life as that door slams behind him - or was that in his head?

I Don't Like This Party - the whole damn band - again!

In the past, the band has unwittingly shown its fans that it loves nothing better than to jam and make up silly lyrics - or recall sillier ones, such as Tie Me Kangaroo Down or themes to old TV shows. I suspect this may be the genesis of I Don't Like This Party - where Vince's (or his character's) mother shows up on the principal's arm (OH NO!) And his sister makes a scantily clad appearance. Sounding more like a bad dream than any party I've been to with this band, the party is so bad, we're told, that the upstairs maid offers her body if the protagonist will just 'get me out of here'. There's something swimming in the Coke, the cake reeks of medication, army boots and radiation, and they're telling possibly the worst knock-knock joke since the dawn of creation. The band's having a good time, though, as it jams through the fade out where Vince considers partying at Rick's house because Rick is so 'get down funky' that if he moved in next door to you, your yard would die. This tune puts me in mind of George Harrison's I Don't Want to Spoil the Party (although that was more pensive) and Randy Newman's Momma Told Me Not to Come. But no one in Newman's warped imagination was a belly-dancing clown or a dominatrix in a cat suit bustier.

Falling Train - Jim Jolly

The CD closes with another Jolly tune - and while it opens with some optimistic guitar work, it is a tale of those who go down to the mines, riding that falling train. I'm sure Vince has been listening to Levon Helm, or maybe it's just the mining theme. The lyrics aren't clever or unusual; the song employs all the traditional images of the poor man sired by a once-see rich man, gospel songs and the sad refrain, 'Get me off this falling train'. The harmonies, too, put Idle Hands in good company with The Band's King Harvest or Robbie Robertson's Somewhere Down the Crazy River, maybe The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band or perhaps even the Carter Family - or Woodie Guthrie's Songs of Labor and Struggle.

And that's the end - fourteen songs which seems like a lot these days. But then, I don't buy albums like I used to. Hell, I didn't buy this one; it was a gift from my son and daughter-in-law who were taught at an early age to be Idle worshippers.

Finally, one should not dismiss or neglect to mention the artwork of Terry Wright, fractal images from his work that can also be seen [on the web] at Rooms with a View.

* [References to "a sci-fi" rock opera are to an unrecorded, Idle Hands penned oratorio Monster Story, material from which has been publicly performed. The references are, in fact, in error, but it has been a long time since Barb heard those songs...about ten years!  Most of the songs on this CD were written specifically for the CD.]