Press & Reviews
Buffalo News
Buffalo, NY
October 26, 1998
Over the Weekend
Mohawk Place
Block
There's something special about New York City-area musicians. Like Jakob Dylan or Bruce Springsteen before him, they often pair a big city toughness with the humbleness one gets from living with the daily realization that you are but one among a million.
Block, who, after being raised in North Carolina, returned to his Big Apple birthplace, is one such character. Saturday in Mohawk Place, his songs reeked of New York City streets, his lyrics catered to the glamour of the gutter, his voice ranted like a sleek subway on a rusting rail.
Speaking of subways, Block has a history of performing in New York City's underground concert hall. Ever wonder exactly how much those seemingly desperate spirits make? "Anywhere from zero to $20 or $30," Block said.
Even though he proudly admits he still performs there every now and then, the tunneled part of Block's career can easily be put behind him. Recently signed to Java/Capitol Records, he is touring to support his latest release, "Timing Is Everything."
Does this mean songs like "Cigarettes, Prozac and Scotch" will become polished marketing tools? Not really. With Block, a man who prefers to dress in mismatched outfits, you can take the man out of the subway, but you can't take the subway out of the man.
But there were changes. Typically an acoustic performer, Block performed with a rhythm section: Mark Hutchins on drums and John Abbey on bass. The additions, he said, were a long time coming.
"I wish I had a band for the first album," he said. "The music becomes more fully realized with a band. Sure, there are going to be times where people will think, 'Gee, I wish he's do that alone,' but maybe sometimes I will do songs alone."
Playing his acoustic like an electric, Block used pedals and samples to enhance his cynical lyrics, street-sweet vocals and talk-singing style. Fortunately, the amplification of his sound and the aggression of his players - at one point, Abby beat his bass strings with a drum stick - did not smoke out his anti-folk attitude.
Among the new tunes was the quirky "I Used to Manage PM Dawn," - which runs on the same I-want-to-be-a-star highway as Dr. Hook's "The Cover of The Rolling Stone - and the ideal but far too short "I-95," in which Block returned to his acoustic roots.
- Michele Ramstetter