Notebook Series Review: Andy Friedman & the Other Failures at Shank Hall, Milwaukee, WI, May 6, 2008

The Music Spectrum Notebook Series digs into my handwritten notes and reviews on older releases still getting my attention.

When Andy Friedman and the Other Failures took the stage at Shank Hall (opening for Blue Mountain on May 6), always a little askew to his vintage Shure microphone, he brandished a confident, swaggering attitude like spitting in your eye which makes him ideal as a bluesman, prophet, protest singer, rock ‘n’ roller. Hold that beer by its longneck, take a pull, and then raise the bottle shouting “yeah” as Friedman sings, “If you know one chord, just hold on for dear life” (“Self-Portrait in White-Knuckle Death Grip”).

It’s a neo-swing, rockabilly, country shuffle with Tom Waits’ growl and Lee Rocker’s flair. He’s George Thoroughgood in a Western saloon. He’s Greg Brown without the deep voice. Friedman offers up ballads, but they’re really just chomping at the bit to go at the pace that’s best for him: a Memphis/Sun Records blues rock like “Road Trippin’ Daddy” or the “Clampdown”-like, stomp-down choruses on “Confusion.”

“Confusion” recalls the scenes of the 50’s portrayed in Walk the Line, where everything is being laid on the line and they got as much rhythm, swagger, shaking, grooving out of their acoustic lead guitars as possible. Friedman has that 50’s Elvis Presley stage presence in the way he is the center of the show. The band offers up cameo solos, but it’s never more than that. It’s always about Friedman, his guitar, and his center stage vocal microphone. “Confusion” was also dedicated to all those who are “lonely, depressed, and confused” and those who are “happy, engaged, married, and confused.” That dedication led into the song right after a great talking blues.

“I Don’t Want to Die Like Andy Kaufman” is a working class stomp down country blues that’s really just a protest song in a two-step disguise with Friedman saying, “Who knew he was more than a network comedy whore.” “Self-Portrait” empathizes with Van Gogh, Richard Manuel, D.H. Lawrence, and many others, ultimately like “Andy Kaufman” being a song that plies the depressive’s heart who is there in the barroom—center stage or center dance floor. For that depressive, Andy Friedman says, “I’ve got this voice/I’ve got this style/I’ve got muscles you’d never believe/I’ve got enough weight/I’ve got a Don Johnson shadow/I remember when I planted that seed/One of these days you’re going to look into the mirror/Recognize the fact that you may have become who you wanted to be.”

By the way, the group often hands out bumper stickers that say: “Another Failure.” I proudly display the sticker on my laptop, because I think it’s just a great way to remember that we’re all failures, we’re all sinners. Jesus even became another failure with us on the cross, dying just like any other sinner.

Andy Friedman
City Salvage Records