2. How Can You Love
3. It's So Sad
4. Falling Down A Hole
5. Someone New
6. Renaissance Man
7. Ping Pong Over the Abyss
8. Time Is Slipping Away
9. Denomination Blues (That's All)
10. A Different Kind of Light (Live)
11. How Can You Love (4 Track Demo)
12. It's So Sad (Live)
13. Falling Down A Hole (Live)
14. Ping Pong Over the Abyss (4 Track Demo)
15. Denomination Blues (Live)
Back in the '80s, when pop music was drowning in an electronic sea of synthesizers and sopping wet echo chambers, the Seventy Sevens were something of a point of black but needed light. Their music, led by charismatic singer and guitarist Mike Roe (not to be confused with the host of Dirty Jobs, another hero of mine), was a reminder of where rock music came from, and seemed to embody in some small way the spirit that made the music of the 60s and 70s great. They had loud, aggressive guitars that could swing from resonant jangle to roaring power chords to wicked blues riffs. They played with power and melody, showing their classic rock roots with pride and a little bit of attitude. And they were hip enough to bring modern alternative and new wave sounds into the equation, giving just enough of a quirky '80s vibe to keep them current with the kids.
Their debut album, Ping Pong Over the Abyss, encapsulates this mix of sounds and influences and manages to take the listener into a place where the worldly noise of rock, punk, and new wave is fused to Christian philosophical statements and evangelistic messages decrying the ways of that noisy world. The first track, "A Different Kind of Light," explores different religions and how they don't satisfy the singer's search until he sees the Light of Jesus. Like much of the album, it's a well-constructed rock song with pop melodies and great rhythm guitar-playing. In fact, Roe does very little soloing on this record; his energy is focused on great riffs and songcraft rather than the Big Rock Show. He goes for clean sounds on "Light" and "Renaissance Man," among others. At the other end, he cranks out harder stuff on "Falling Down a Hole" and the title track, the latter being a rather chaotic stop-and-start affair that shows how tight the rhythm section of Jan Eric Volz and Mark Proctor was even at this early stage. It's the hardest rocker on the album, with gruff guitar sounds and manic singing by Roe.
Roe's vocals already have proven to be versatile as he goes from melodic pop singing to skittish New Wave theatrics and grungy rawk power. What he may lack in technique and range he makes up for with putting lots of character and emotion into each track. Even on songs where he takes a somewhat preachy tone, he does his thing in such a way that communicates passion and drive rather than anger and condemnation. What really shines through is his and keyboardist Mark Tootle's sense of melody. Underneath the noise and chaos are strong pop hooks that are singable, with enough crazy twists to make them memorable.
The charm of the Seventy Sevens, and Roe in particular, is their ability to balance these pop impulses--rooted in the rock and pop music of the 60s--with the energy and power of 70s hard rock, then fuse this with contemporary trends that sound genuine and sincere, whether it be New Wave in the 80s, grunge in the 90s, or any of the above. This balance is not an easy thing to master: they rarely managed it in any one composition, and not always in their albums. Because Roe writes in tandem with partners like Tootle, these pieces can get out of proportion, and any move in one of these directions can obscure that magic mixture. The most blatant example of this on Ping Pong is "It's So Sad," a New Wave-centric track that is built around a clever but repetitive synth line. Roe takes on a loopy "David Byrne" delivery that sounds a little silly after a while, but the real fun comes in the middle break, when Mike starts spelling "G-U-I-L-T-t-t-t-t..." I can't take it seriously, and maybe that's the point; especially when he starts barking and warns, "Seems like you're falling down a deep...dark...hooooooole..." It seems to work better on stage, as the crowd responds to it in the live version that is included in the bonus tracks. I guess I had to be there, but as I was only 10 years old and 2000 miles away at the time, I'll have to rely on Spotify to take me there.
It's really the only misstep on this first foray into the Abyss for the Sevens. They would get better at their craft, and stake out a more unique territory on later releases, but it's on this debut that they take us back to the Warehouse in Sacramento where all of the madness began.
Oh! I almost forgot! The biggest surprise for me was "Denomination Blues." Knowing Mike's tendency to rock the blues, I expected a big, acid-washed workout when I saw the Washington Phillips classic on the track list. Instead, he plays it as a slow, country ballad, which makes sense, as it is something of a melancholy tune with a hopeful light at the end of the tunnel. That Michael Roe, he's still surprising me 30 plus after the fact!
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