Despite what some people may have told you – namely, this very writer in this very newspaper, who momentarily forgot the subtle difference between June and July – Birmingham’s own Peytones are returning to Iron City for an encore performance of Beck Hansen’s Song Reader album on Sunday, July 14. After the success of the first show, fans of Beck, local music and old-time songwriting alike owe it to themselves to attend.
When Beck released the Song Reader in December of 2012, it immediately became one the weirdest and most innovative decisions in a career full of weird, innovative decisions. The chameleonic songwriter wrote 20 tunes playing with Tin Pan Alley conventions and released them as a book of sheet music for anyone to adapt. Since he only wrote out lyrics and a piano part, the Song Reader is as mutable for arrangers as Beck himself.
That’s where the Peytones come in. As key members of the Black Jacket Symphony, the Peytones were familiar with the unique challenge and appeal of covering entire albums. On an “album” with only two parts written out, the band was able to give their imaginations free rein, and the results were consistently winning – and sometimes outstanding – in their show back in March.
The general tenor of the Song Reader is a throwback to the days of old-time neighborhood music, back when you really only needed a piano and some friends who knew enough lyrics to sing along to make each song work. Even with that basic guideline in place, though, the real unifying force on the record is still Beck Hansen’s inimitably weird personality. Despite the jaunty, rollicking sound of each song, they visit territory as dark as his gorgeous breakup record Sea Change, exploiting a Depression-era pastiche as a backdrop for actual depression. As one line goes, “You can’t turn Tin Pan Alley into a boulevard and go whistling past a graveyard.”
That flexibility also works to the Peytones’ distinct advantage. Although there are plenty of old-timey numbers in the Song Reader – which the Peytones performed capably, if sometimes not entirely naturally – the band really thrived on rock ‘n roll pieces like “Eyes That Say ‘I Love You,’” a song of heartbreak, dark passion and emotional vengeance. It’s a testament to the Peytones’ songwriting ability that the audience could forget that such a hard-rocking, guitar-driven number was largely written by the band.
At the same time, the backing band – a Who’s Who of local talent, including Chad Fisher on trombone and Gary Wheat on woodwinds – often shined on the jazzier numbers, including some phenomenal solos from both Fisher and Wheat where the rest of the band took a backseat. The old-fashioned style of the album never rang truer than when the horn players had their moment in the sun.
Even so, it wasn’t a perfect performance. The downside to covering a genuinely unique artist like Beck is that even as his melodies help you – and they’re some of his strongest since Odelay – the singular style of his lyrics really underscores that you’re hearing a cover. To be fair to Eric McGinty, the guest vocalist, it’s a tall order making Beck’s songs about having “the area code of a truant” or dollar bills sprouting wings sound natural. There were times when the retro illusion threatened to fold, when the pastiche was stretched just a little too thin over 20 songs.
Those complaints aside, it’s safe to say that the Peytones accomplished their goals in their March performance. They wanted a chance to demonstrate their songwriting chops within the framework of a cover, and they absolutely succeeded. More subtly, they wanted to hearken back to a simpler time of music shared among a community, and when the band left the stage to play their finale amid the crowd, there wasn’t any doubt that they’d captured the magic of that idea.
The Peytones will return to play Beck’s Song Reader on Sunday, July 14 at Iron City at 8 p.m. Tickets are $12 presale, $15 at the door. Iron City is located at 513 22nd St. S. For more information, call (205) 202-5483.