 By
East Side Slim
 Guy
Forsyth – Love Songs: For & Against
{Small and Nimble Records, 2005}
Guy Forsyth grew up in KC but has been a denizen of
Austin, TX for the past couple of decades. He’s
a true renaissance man musically, and is very difficult
to pigeon-hole. He was a co-founder of the Asylum
Street Spankers, has released adrenaline-fueled rock
‘n’ roll records, and is probably best
classified as a singer-songwriter with very deep rootsy/bluesy
musical roots. Guy’s music is eclectic –
in the best sense of the word. He’s also a multi-instrumentalist,
being a fantastic slide guitar and harmonica player,
and also playing guitar, baritone guitar, ukulele,
and saw (yes, musical saw.) There are messages in
the lyrics of most of Guy’s songs, or if not
outright messages, then deeper meanings of life as
he sees it playing out around him.
The Songs:
1) Long Long Time – there’s
a definite autobiographical element to this song,
which becomes a modern-day morality tale of our (the
so-called Western industrialized culture) excesses
and greed. That said, the song manages to leave behind
a sense of the possibilities of change – for
the betterment of us all and for the world around
us. Shoot, the song rocks, too.
2) Beautiful Mistake – the
song has a nice melody, and features Guy more in the
singer-songwriter mode. Don’t take that to mean
he’s being whiney, as that’s not the case
at all. This tune is a love song, one with the meaning
differing depending on who is listening. It also features
some very nice harmonica work by Guy.
3) Brand New Day – This is
a poppier song, and is very pleasant. It’s an
uplifting tune, likely purposefully placed in front
of a couple of the following tunes that tend toward
darker themes.
4) Mamma’s Favorite –
this is one of the darker songs on this album, especially
lyrically. It’s set to a Latin-like groove,
so as you’re contemplating the lyrics your head
is bobbing along and your feet are tapping. That’s
not an easy trick to pull off, but Guy succeeds well
here.
5) On My Own – Guy slows it
way down with this track. It’s sparse instrumentally,
featuring a world-weary vocal track.
6) Heart-Shaped Hole – This
is one of Guy’s story songs. It starts slowly,
sparsely, and builds in intensity as the song plays
out – but not through sheer volume of wall-of-sound
techniques. You can feel the industrial themes of
the song in the percussion and guitar effects used
on the track. This is a very strong track.
7) Rise Up – this is a rockin’
protest song, and one of the oldest tunes on the album
(written in 1999.) Call to arms anyone?!
8) Take Advantage – listen
closely to this track, as it might not be about what
you think at first listen. It’s a love song
of sorts, one written to “America”, as
a country, describing Guy’s sorrow at the directions
he sees our (America/Americans) values heading.
9) Patient’s Blues –
this tune continues directly off of “Take Advantage”
without a break. It’s a more personal take,
from one man’s point-of-view, on the state of
the country (and/or the state of his own life as well.)
As mentioned earlier, there’s no whiney singer-songwriter
pap going on here. The song has depth and guts, which
both serve to enhance the lyrics.
10) 105 – This is my favorite
song on the album. Listen to the lyric closely on
this song. Eminent Domain used for the greed of corporate
America…that hits pretty close to home for a
lot of us, and should anger us all. Guy’s angry
about it for sure, and has produced a great song describing
its abuses and aftermath, especially if we as citizens
don’t stand up and take our country back from
the corrupt businessmen and corrupt politicians currently
calling the shots. Did I mention that this song rocks?
It does.
11) So Hard – this is a nice
little rockin’ track. It starts slowly and builds
up as it goes along, with more musical elements being
added as the tune plays out. Guitar fans should like
this track, especially fans of tasty slide guitar
playing.
12) When It All Come Down –
this is probably the darkest tune on the record. It
records how Guy would like to go out when the Super
Powers of the world finally lose their cool and Armageddon
– more specifically The Rapture - is unleashed.
Yep, that’s pretty dark, yet the song (musically)
is quite pretty.
13) Shake It In A Circular Motion
– this short track, in the mode of the Asylum
Street Spankers hot jazz stylings, may sound like
a throwaway track at first glance but it’s really
not. After all the deeper, darker content of some
of the earlier tracks (especially “When It All
Comes Down”) I think Guy wanted to leave the
listener on a more optimistic, happier note. This
one makes you feel good, so get on up and shake it,
baby! Shake it in a circle!!
The Verdict:
This is by no means a straight “blues”
record, but if you listen to it with an open mind
you may very well be well rewarded for the time you
spend listening to it. Guy Forsyth is one of America’s
musical troubadours, who just happens to have a strong
desire to make this country a better place for all
us. That’s always a noble cause in my book.
Even with all the heavy lyrical content, Guy has put
together a very musical album that sounds great. In
fact, it sounds better with every listen. I’m
giving this a 4.0 on the Blue-O-Meter scale. I’d
rate it higher if it was “bluesier”, but
it’s a wonderful piece of work that Mr. Forsyth
should be very proud of.
Lee 'East
Side Slim' Howland
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