Feathergun: Music to Wash To

It’s a big bad dirty world. Luckily, the Los-Angeles based Feathergun has done something about it, and also designated a time for people to enjoy hearing their debut CD. Music to Wash To is the perfect accompaniment to a long hot shower, but the good news is that it’s a fun listen any time, washing or not.

Feathergun is the creative stepchild of Chicago’s Sam Lewis. He moved to Los Angeles and recruited long time friend and bassist Jesse McCabe (who co-wrote many of the song’s lyrics), as well as drummer Garrett Smith.

This trio plays true rock and roll with energy and gumption, while not always taking the world so seriously. The sound often is retro, and recalls the sounds of Lenny Kravitz, as well as a number of others. Feathergun categorizes its own music as “cubicle rock”, that is, the music inspired by or written about endless hours spent in a small partitioned space. All three members know this corporate world well.

McCabe is a computer programmer in El Segundo, where the servers require his cubicle environments to be as cold as the arctic. Smith has a cubicle in the headquarters of Office Depot, and Lewis has worked in tech support, project management and most recently, as a manager at an ISP. When it comes to cubicles and the frustrations that can arise from them, these three know their stuff. Lyrics from the infectious anthem “Freeway” capture that empty feeling: “9 a.m. you open the door / Down a drink you bought at the store / Settle in your cubicle hell, I don’t wanna stay / So I will live for the day, wasted away / stare into space”.

“Disillusion” opens the CD in classic rock mode, guitars churning out a hard riff that could have been from decades ago, telling the story of some performer whose magic is now dated (and featuring a great guest guitar solo from Allen Moreno). Things get a little more funkified with “Major Mood”, where the word phrases are secondary to the overall musical atmosphere. This is one just to groove to, with impressive work from Smith and McCabe.

“Lover” is another pleasantly infectious little love song. “Living Without” is a more serious love ballad (from Sam Lewis to his girlfriend Jaime), discussing love from afar finally making its approach. There also is a hidden track included, “Never Meant to Be”, about going one’s separate ways.

What Feathergun excels in is fun. “Saw Your Thong” is a musical examination of the thrill of the minimal undergarment espied. “No Memory” is a catchy little ditty (with nice harmonies) to the wasted generation, offering music as alternative panacea to dealing with it all. “Butterball Baby” is a song that one only wishes Elvis was still around to sing, with its blatant food imagery (Feathergun have even dressed up as turkeys while performing it).

“Glaucoma” describes the truly sorry state of one who has been left by another (you don’t know whether to laugh or cry): “Left me a note in cream cheese / Saying you found something else / Drowning my pain in Kimchee / Clearing my thoughts with a smell”. Easily the most poignant song here is “Feathergun”, which manages to marry funk and hard guitars and tough feelings after a loss (dedicated to the memory of Sam Lewis’ father).

In the end, Feathergun seek to entertain through classic melodic rock. Music to Wash To does entertain, and then some. Lewis and company give you songs that stand up to repeated listens with the kind of real tight guitar/rock sounds not often heard these days (and perfect for summer). I’m eager to hear how their sounds will develop over time, and to see if cubicle rock can succeed to the point where they can leave all traces of the corporate world behind. As a former cubicle denizen myself, I really hope so.