Sado-Domestics rose up from the Jamaica Plain area of Boston to offer some finely developed recordings as well as live shows in their native city. The band rocks things up much more on their new Getting The Ghost album, though their exotic blend of mandolin, pedal steel, and unusual instrumentation keep the listener just as fascinated, the band making us wonder just exactly what they will come up with for the next track. It isn’t just songs this combo creates. It’s mood pieces.
“Big Cat” opens with Lucy Martinez’s girlish trickle winding through a rustic landscape of banjo and African style percussion. There is an exotic guitar line piercing through, adding to the busy allure of this song. All instruments rush to the center, making for a fun mesh as Martinez belts out her wild chorus.
“Good Day” blends electric guitar and organ with exotic sounds from more unusual instruments. This one takes its odd elements and rocks right out. Martinez belts with attitude and Jimmy Ryan’s speedy mandolin adds a haunting gypsy jazz feel.
Martinez’s exotic vocal reaches far and wide, an empowered vehicle taking us through the sonic textures of “I Don’t Know You Very Well.” It begins with that voice accompanied by acoustic guitar until the song segues into a primitive percussion piece. Its mysterious foreign groove, surrounded by a forlorn piano line, an eerie Moog sweep, and whatever is making a dark droning backdrop develops something sinister and irresistible.
A firm electric guitar line falls coolly over a mix of banjo, snappy mandolin notes, and whatever else is keeping the unusual soundscape snappy, accented notes from each instrument keeping the listener glued to hearing every little nugget of notes perking inside. Martinez duets with musical partner Chris Gleason, their two vocals stretching the appeal of two voices into the realm of the unusual.
Inspired by the 1972 movie, “The Getaway (Major Motion Picture)” punctuates itself with a faux funk groove from bassist Jim Gray, a nudge that gives Gleason’s edgy lead guitar twitch a bump to keep jumping over. It’s to this nervous feeling that Martinez drawls honky tonk style, a slicing voice that cuts through the quirky vibe.
“New Logo” stomps forward with a kick action drum beat. Over that foot stomping action an electric guitar presses out an assertive grind, pedal steel releases a lumbering and haunting line, and the two singers combine into a dark litany of one bad character’s endless charade. It’s not entirely clear who the song is about but the two develop an undeniable sketch of a bad actor.
One cannot help but get swept up in the hillbilly swing of “Wolf.” Here, brittle notes from banjo and mandolin square dance around each other in merry aplomb. A pedal steel line joins the joyful motions for more busy adventure. Joining the barn dance is the girlish grit of Martinez’s plaintive vocal. It’s fun.
“Chancer” turns juicy acoustic and electric notes into an almost pop sound. A pedal steel chirp, mandolin grist, and the two vocalists singing in considerate measures form a bright ear candy. This sounds like a sweet infatuation song that comes together with such tastefully played instruments. A closer listen to the lyrics reveal a slightly darker side to this love affair. The balance between sweet instrumentation and scary song story is uncanny.
Martinez’s easy going philosophy of “Tip Of My Tongue” finds her mournful vocal hovering over moody mellotron and a wafting Eric Royer pedal steel melody. Injecting a sense of longing, Martinez applies a depth of feeling over a slice of something reminiscent of Led Zeppelin III.
Gritty mid-tempo flavored rocker “Killing Me Kindly” gets the ringing piano note piercing past rocking chair groove and twitching guitar phrase treatment. It’s like a burrito with many tasty nuggets wedged in. The singers move their vocals to this see saw motion with a special ease and it all feels like a good, persistent message song.
Close out track “Balthazar” moodily decries how the wealthy and powerful will leave us all used up with nothing left to work with. Multiple percussion notes add a spirited feeling as sweeter, higher instruments, and a simmering organ line add further dimension to the forlorn feeling of global loss. This song is not a downer as much as a cautionary tale told with perfectly assembled instrumentation.
Sado-Domestics continue their exotic musical expressions with unusual instrumentation juxtaposed with the familiar electric and acoustic guitars, organic organ, and percussion. The group, more aggressive in this Getting The Ghost album, make their points about modern man by putting more of a punch and few kicks in their sound. They recorded, again, at their Noise Floor Delirium studio in Boston, Massachusetts.
