Bone-Box
Death Of A Prize Fighter
By Jillian Abbene
(SugarBuzz Wash DC/Richmond VA)
SugarBuzz Magazine
As if time and space stand still, Jay Taylor’s unusual textured vocals with the company of Bone-Box’s strings and eclectic instrument assortment, add depth collectively through future, present and past. As if tramping through a gravelly deserted path, Bone-Box’s melodies pulls the listener to an unknown Texan horizon. Spanish laying of modern pluckings shout soft melodies playing against jagged voice and an offbeat drum snare. It all evens out.
Subconsciously, these instruments cleverly dig quietly, planting southern melancholic roots expanding what would otherwise be hollow without lyrics, to express such fragile vulnerability. There is nothing missing from this CD. Of words about grappled failed destinies and inner demons, each song creates a mood all of its own existence--standing alone in solitude. In ’Song For The Wood That Wouldn’t,’ an implication of a simulated Russian waltz through beckonings of cello as if to explain to the listener to sympathize in life’s frustrations. Lyrics like, “Willed by one and all, we’re giving it our all together--/All these spirits locked up in bark and knots forever/So we heave and haul ’til we’re bent and sore, devils/Singing…’this tree will never fall. This tree will never fall, never,” exudes mysterious energy of melody and words intertwining with full purpose, and producing a lump in my throat.
Like an unassuming majestic lion, Jay Taylor’s raspy voice on the second song gives a slight shift to the left. ‘The Devil Is In The Detail,’ has a razor-dark yet humanistic message--that all things that veer out of control must have a reason, and in turn, breeds more questions to answers. Fluttering trumpet and reclusive guitar-violin ensemble penetrates with no regret as uniquely topped pseudo-Nine Inch Nails’ rattlesnake demon-style vocals. Castanets are added in, ‘St. Jay’s Infirmary,’ changing in mid-song to a long trumpet solo ending like The Spanish Acquisition. Amazingly, the following song, ‘Return to St. Jay’s Infirmary,’ comes around again for revenge in finality, as if, like all good country-westerns, trails off into the sunset.
Such instruments like harmonica, unrelated instrumental coughing-burps and sterilized squeaking oddities, twangs some true country elements including steel and Spanish guitars, banjo, upright bass, and harmonica. Collectively with horns, each instrument rises to its full potential. From droning fluxuations in ‘All My Problems Are Cause By Other People,’ snare-drum releases as trumpet sputters to end its course. The boogie-woogie of ‘Toasting The God of Graceless Living,’ with guest singer, “LoneLady,” captures the sounds of the Appalachian Mountains and salutes a tea-party with sardonic amusement all in one brilliance.
Don’t let Bone-Box’s quiet fire fool you. These musicians are clearly accomplished with intentions to be understood in their own craft. I predict that ‘Death Of A Prize Fighter’ will deliver. With one cup of moonshine-whiskey and a solitary jig, a one-two punch for this CD and their sound will treat all those who favor the unbeaten path and root for the underdog in the making.
Note: Bone-Box will be playing at the SXSW (South By South West) Music Festival. The festival is a place where record label scouts see bands and make deals. But it is also, for many more performers, a hub for operating outside the recording business.... It could be finding a European distributor for a self-released album or rather the offer of a Midwestern college tour.