The brain child of Boston’s guitarist, singer, and composer Clinton Degan, Body English is a super group made up some of the city’s most skillful players. This eight track CD, Stories Of Earth, features not only the six bands members but 23 supporting musicians and singers who contribute to various tracks. Despite this seeming like more of a recording project than an actual band, Body English have come up with songs that have mass appeal within their complex construction and sophisticated musicianship.
“Kiss Them” opens the disc with a lilting vocal melody and a jaunty guitar riffs. Degan’s high, sweet timbre reminds of the bright lead vocals from the 1970s classic rock era. Vocal sustains make his song feel epic, like he’s bringing the listener to a fun, lofty place. His lead guitar phrase turns it a bit toward prog rock, with the sound he gets feeling slippery smooth, as it wraps around his structured song craft.
“You Were Something Else” showcases Cullen Corley’s adept drum fills, making the song travel through its measures as Genesis inspired keyboards brighten the picture further with spirited, playful tinkling. There is something, a special quality, that feels familiar, traveling through this tune. Tim Lillis’s organ work infuses the tune with a prog-pop allure, and Degan’s motion-filled high voice keep it in that traveling mode.
“Prose & Poetry” balances quiet melodies and blissful vocal sustains with harder, more driving music. The switch, like so much else on this album, reminds of the classic rock and prog rock from the 1970s. Yet, the changes are seamless and they make sense. Lyrical buildups lead to guitar driven crescendos and spastic drumming. It’s uncanny how well Degan makes his bright, light vocal timbre fit every kind of song structure and tempo. At first, when one might think his is a voice too brittle for heavier melodic phrasing, Degan turns up the heat, seemingly without effort, and lands in the right place.
Guest vocalists Christie Beaulieu and Yasmin Solomon make a fine call and response chorus to Deegan’s unusual theme of “I Don’t Wanna Be A Housewife (For Someone Else’s Family).” Meanwhile, there is something alluring about Corley’s well paced drumming and the way it supports quirky melodies coming from violins and a viola. Throw in one of Degan’s electric guitar phrases, compressed, pinched, and high pitched, and we have a song that feels like an anthem as well as a rocker.
The tender longing and emotive pain of “Do It Slowly” is drawn out well by Degan’s sweet, smooth flowing vocal line. His voice hovers just slightly above a whistling lead guitar phrase in a way that reminds of early Genesis. Asking a lover not to move out in too much of a hurry, Degan captures a little of the sweeping love songs of the 70s too, a wide arcing chorus that might have pulled in the female listening demographic back in the decade when women didn’t focus as much on this kind of rock.
“Rock And Roll Will Save You” is a song that proves its own title. Degan sings in an enthusiastic manner about the benefits of listening to this genre. His easy going vocal flow and confidence infuse this breezy anthem with a strong spirit. Flinty guitar phrasing and rock and roll piano tinkling flavor this one with the quintessential classic rock attitude, something that expresses a strong feeling while providing the perfect soundtrack to a cruise down the highway.
Galloping drum beats and fills usher in “Sound Asleep,” another meditative lyrical adventure supported by cool rock and roll. Degan’s engaging vocal timbre and the way he uses it to slither around his melody line is strikingly unique. He often gives the impression that he is someone who should’ve been signed and famous 30 years ago and that this is latest hit record. There is a huge guitar sound at the end of this piece that feels as epic as scaling the heights of Mount Olympus.
Degan and his Body English band mates close out with the unusually titled “The Humor In The Heart Of The Old Grey Mountain,” a piano ballad that impresses with its gathering of subtle nuances. Inspired, each player offers something special, a drum march intro to the main section, a tender, artful vocal line, thoughtful keyboard work, and a whole lot more.
Listening to this Body English album, Stories Of Earth, will leave fans of classic rock, art rock, and prog rock feeling like they’re in the presence of a long, familiar friend. These songs are made up of many fine elements and they’re given a breath of fresh air by Degan and his band mates and numerous guest musicians. Check it out.
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