Eric Bachmann - Short Careers: Original Score for the Film Ball of Wax
(Merge)
Unless I have missed one somewhere, Eric Bachmann (former singer/guitarist from Archers of Loaf) has now released six different "solo" releases, two under the name Barry Black, three under the moniker Crooked Fingers, and now one under his own name.
Where Crooked Fingers is more of an outlet for Bachmann's "singer-songwriter" tendencies, Barry Black was more of a bizarre but interesting combination of Archers of Loaf songwriting, gypsy and Jewish traditional music, and Danny Elfman-like compositions.
With Bachmann's newest solo release, Short Careers, the original score for Ball of Wax, he has stepped away from the Neil Diamond-esque singer-songwriter style and created a very "Barry Black" sounding record, combining violin, cello, upright bass, piano, et cetera, along with guitar and drums for his compositions. In fact, Short Careers sounds so much like Barry Black that I am not really sure why he didn't choose to release it under that name.
As you might expect from a film score, Short Careers' 12 tracks are completely instrumental, and varied in length, sometimes cutting very short, sometimes lasting a little too long, presumably to fit into the width of the scenes in which they are used. And, as I mentioned earlier, much like Barry Black, the songs are a odd blend of Archers of Loaf, Italian and Jewish traditional, and Elfman, with even a hint of Rachel's thrown in on the title track, "Short Careers" and the song "Ty Cobb."
In most film scores, the more obvious or attention grabbing hooks or elements of a song are usually kept to a minimum or not included at all so as not to distract from the film or scene where they are included. Short Careers is no different. It doesn't seem like it is meant to stand alone in the same way a regular album is. That isn't to say it isn't good, or at least an interesting listen. I have nothing but kind things to say about Eric Bachmann and his loads of talent, and I am thrilled that he is stretching even further and scoring films with his music. However, in the end, like 90% of all film scores, it isn't interesting enough to stand alone, and why would I listen to Barry Black Lite, when I could just listen to Barry Black?
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