The Cold cooks up another single
by Vincent Fumar (1/4/85) Times-Picayune
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In sampling the seemingly inexhaustible world of single records by local musicians, it becomes obvious that not everyone creates such discs with the same intentions. Gone are the days when a regionally popular band could sustain itself for years without ever having to do anything like issue an album. So, although the single often has been the resort of those who have few other outlets, it ain't necessarily so anymore.
Take the Cold. In 1982 the band disbanded after bringing the local rock scene to a fever pitch. Then 1984 brought the release of a self-produced live album, "16 Songs off a Dead Band's Chest," and a reunion performance. That performance resulted in the members burying various hatchets and regrouping. But the Cold didn't actually have to go back to square one. It has, after all, several singles and an album under its belt, an impressive history of well-attended club sets and, best of all, an established name.
Cold singles always illustrated the band's affection for the kind of mid-1960s rock that so many other groups saluted but failed to honor in their performances. With the Cold, affecting '60s styles wasn't a matter of artifice as much as sincere tribute. All of its singles drew inspiration from perhaps the last era in pop music when melody still counted for much. However, the band's musical growth wasn't always complemented by the best recording conditions. From 1980's "You" to 1982's "Missing Hit Man", it was possible to hear how the Cold coped with different studios and engineers. Though it was always able to get songs across, consistent production levels were hard to find.
Now that the band is back on the track, it has released a new single, "Take All the Time" / "I Go to Pieces" (Top Pop). Recorded at Studio Solo in Slidell and produced by Cold bassist Vance DeGeneres and engineer David Farrell, it matches a Kevin Radecker original ("Take All the Time") with a Del Shannon-penned 1965 hit for Peter and Gordon ("I Go to Pieces").
It's the band's most accomplished studio effort to date. "Take All the Time," the A-side, is a basic medium-tempo tale of romantic complications, sung fetchingly by Barbara Menendez. What distinguishes it a bit is a technical sheen that wasn't always present on other Cold records. Radecker and Bert Smith provide the usual guitar riffs, but with a more complicated lead-guitar part. Drummer Chris Luckette benefits from the clearest drum sound to ever grace a Cold record. The girlish, Lesley Gore-type vocal, then, is underlined by the firmest instrumental sound the band has ever mustered in a studio. There's also a certain rhythmic involvement which isn't apparent on a first listening. Vocals aside, the song is somewhat reminiscent of those 1960s rock revivalists, the Flamin' Groovies.
"I Go to Pieces" is a reorganized version of the Peter and Gordon hit, with the chords broken up a bit and emphasized in a riff-happy manner. Menendez's vocal features more of her tension-and-release delivery, and Luckette's drums again boom memorably.
With this release, the Cold (playing Saturday at Jimmy's) is not looking for a hit single to use as a way of attracting a record contract. It's just trying to maintain a certain level of fan hysteria and remind everyone that it's still in business.
by Vincent Fumar (1/4/85) Times-Picayune
______________________________________________________
In sampling the seemingly inexhaustible world of single records by local musicians, it becomes obvious that not everyone creates such discs with the same intentions. Gone are the days when a regionally popular band could sustain itself for years without ever having to do anything like issue an album. So, although the single often has been the resort of those who have few other outlets, it ain't necessarily so anymore.
Take the Cold. In 1982 the band disbanded after bringing the local rock scene to a fever pitch. Then 1984 brought the release of a self-produced live album, "16 Songs off a Dead Band's Chest," and a reunion performance. That performance resulted in the members burying various hatchets and regrouping. But the Cold didn't actually have to go back to square one. It has, after all, several singles and an album under its belt, an impressive history of well-attended club sets and, best of all, an established name.
Cold singles always illustrated the band's affection for the kind of mid-1960s rock that so many other groups saluted but failed to honor in their performances. With the Cold, affecting '60s styles wasn't a matter of artifice as much as sincere tribute. All of its singles drew inspiration from perhaps the last era in pop music when melody still counted for much. However, the band's musical growth wasn't always complemented by the best recording conditions. From 1980's "You" to 1982's "Missing Hit Man", it was possible to hear how the Cold coped with different studios and engineers. Though it was always able to get songs across, consistent production levels were hard to find.
Now that the band is back on the track, it has released a new single, "Take All the Time" / "I Go to Pieces" (Top Pop). Recorded at Studio Solo in Slidell and produced by Cold bassist Vance DeGeneres and engineer David Farrell, it matches a Kevin Radecker original ("Take All the Time") with a Del Shannon-penned 1965 hit for Peter and Gordon ("I Go to Pieces").
It's the band's most accomplished studio effort to date. "Take All the Time," the A-side, is a basic medium-tempo tale of romantic complications, sung fetchingly by Barbara Menendez. What distinguishes it a bit is a technical sheen that wasn't always present on other Cold records. Radecker and Bert Smith provide the usual guitar riffs, but with a more complicated lead-guitar part. Drummer Chris Luckette benefits from the clearest drum sound to ever grace a Cold record. The girlish, Lesley Gore-type vocal, then, is underlined by the firmest instrumental sound the band has ever mustered in a studio. There's also a certain rhythmic involvement which isn't apparent on a first listening. Vocals aside, the song is somewhat reminiscent of those 1960s rock revivalists, the Flamin' Groovies.
"I Go to Pieces" is a reorganized version of the Peter and Gordon hit, with the chords broken up a bit and emphasized in a riff-happy manner. Menendez's vocal features more of her tension-and-release delivery, and Luckette's drums again boom memorably.
With this release, the Cold (playing Saturday at Jimmy's) is not looking for a hit single to use as a way of attracting a record contract. It's just trying to maintain a certain level of fan hysteria and remind everyone that it's still in business.
