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By Dennis Cook
Joni Mitchell didn’t attend Woodstock, but her imagining of the gathering coalesced the experience for everyone who was there and for more than a few of us too young to have splashed in the mud while Jimi revamped our national anthem. Given to her buddies Crosby, Stills, and Nash, “Woodstock” is hope incarnate – an anthem for anyone who struggles to get their soul free, who dreams of being stardust and golden, and especially for those who want to get back to the Garden, that mythical, strife-free time of innocence and immeasurable sweetness. Not many have tapped into the same peacenik mojo, but Tea Leaf’s primary songwriter/lead singer/keyboardist Trevor Garrod appears to have built a well over an underground stream of the stuff on their fourth studio release, the soaring, spirited Taught to be Proud.
The first thing that hits you is how immediate, how fantastically present the recordings are. Each instrument, each reaching vocal is well placed. It’s like the band is in the room singing only to you. Co-producer Christopher Sabec deserves some of the credit for their newfound directness. More than any earlier studio effort, this one captures their dewy-eyed charm and four-to-the-floor rock righteousness. He’s taken all the best parts of TLG’s live presence and given it a burnished glow. It doesn’t hurt that the whole band is playing better than ever before or that Garrod increasingly sings with shiver-inducing power. Sabec, in no small way, may be the fifth Leaf, added to the vine that includes Garrod, Josh Clark (guitars, vocals), Scott Rager (drums), and Ben Chambers (bass, vocals), that truly lets TLG grow big and strong.
Cooking like vintage Faces or (dare I say) Bad Company, they update the visceral rock of another era. The ghosts of their late night jams hover nearby, but each track here is tight and well conceived. The arrangements let individual aspects shine, but it’s their togetherness that’s so bloody satisfying. It would be enough to play so well, but this is also the best set of songs they’ve ever recorded. They have the muscular pop of Rod Stewart’s first half dozen albums or mid ‘70s Bob Dylan. Unlike a lot of serious songwriters, Garrod continues to be a lot of fun, filling his thoughtful journeys with mandolin splashes and campfire-appealing harmonies.
“I’ve Been Seeking” could slip onto the Dead’s American Beauty and no one would blink. “5000 Acres” is a crazy satisfying Almost Famous style mini-epic with guitars one could rightfully call 'incendiary.' “Ride Together” bottles high spirits and sends us on down the highway with them. “Flippin’ The Bird” nicely conjures the same California vibe as early Jackson Browne, which is a gigantic compliment in my book. “Pretty Jane” takes a lyric from 1832 and marries it to a melody James Taylor might have penned during his time on Apple Records. “Morning Sun” is a radio hit waiting to happen with huge potential to be the next outsider to break into the mainstream on the tails of the Kings of Leon and Modest Mouse.
Beyond the numerous comparisons above, there are two that fit best to my ears. The first is early ‘70s Elton John - those Golden Brick Road days with Bernie Taupin where his piano hummed like a blue jean church. Tea Leaf Green has the same solidity, the same fearless bigness, the same life-affirming insight. The second is Assembly of Dust, a modern day brother that combines depth with irresistible melodies. Taught to be Proud is a lot like AOD’s The Honest Hour, both platters one can return to again and again, drawing solace and sunshine that don’t diminish over time.
That this begins in “The Garden (Part III)” is telling. They believe in a better future even as they face the dark crap around us today. Their blue state politics have gotten way more nuanced this time out, which makes them all the more effective. They encourage us to grow our hair long and live on a farm or mountaintop. It sounds awfully appealing when compared with the alternative. Even as we listen on iPods and city-bound stereos, they offer up an agrarian rallying cry. They beckon us to open roads and good times on the dance floor. Their sentiments are precisely what we need to turn bombers into butterflies. As Joni said, life is for learning, but the lessons we welcome into our lives matter. Tea Leaf has a few great ones to offer us. Listen and learn.
JamBase | Bay Area
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