On reading a review of one of Gingersol’s best albums, “The Train Wreck Is Behind You”, the critic makes a very sound judgement in light of this article’s theme: “The first time you hear something by the band Gingersol, you instantly think, “Why isn’t this band more popular?” These guys have the goods, in ways that many American rock bands can’t even fathom: the songs are laid-back, sunny rock music, tinged with nice helpings of country, and they’re loaded with enough charming, hummable pop hooks that could win over even the most straight-faced cynic”.
The band are a joyous amalgam of indie Americana mixing the sounds of Grandaddy, Clem Snide and Wilco into their very own musical universe. Formed in 1996, they debuted with a Replacements-style guitar-based rocker called ‘Extended Play’ with highlight ‘The Nicest People’.
They waited five years for their debut long player “Nothing Stops Moving” and you can tell the band had matured in their songwriting. They’re lead by Steve Tagliere, who’s their main songwriter and singer, but there’s ample creative help in the form of fellow guitarist and songwriter and arranger Seth Rothschild. The remaining band members are drummer John Florance and bassist Chuck Bramlet. This lineup featured on their first three releases, but their final album in 2004 “Eastern” had an expanded set of musicians playing.
“Nothing Stops Moving” includes a wonderfully catchy gem ‘Rabbit’s Foot’, a slow and moody tune with Tagliere’s vocals perfectly complementing the gradually building great tune.
A year later, the band released “The Train Wreck Is Behind You”, demonstrably demonstrating a real development in their songwriting and playing. A perfect example is opener ‘Who Cares’, a superb tune with a strong drum beat opening proceedings, before piano and guitar meld into one with superb singing from Tagliere. ‘Sleep Alright’ starts with lovely acoustic strumming before piano and drums join in and again there’s a wonderful hooky tune building before jangly guitars join the party.
‘King Size Doubt’ is another corker with its compelling bassline at the forefront and Tagliere’s vocals are perfect for the plaintive tune. There’s a distinctive Paul Westerberg feel to many of the songs, with the acoustic ‘Over The Handlebars’ a fine example. This was a melodic and memorable album and expectations were high for their fourth release, which arrived in 2004.
For this album the line-up was expanded considerably with some of the members of UK band Minibar, Malcolm Cross and Simon Petty; the Wallflowers’ Rami Jaffee and Drew Glackin (Tandy, The Silos etc). The production for this album was more complicated as Tagliere was then based in New York and Rothschild was in California. The songwriting however was stronger than ever.
‘A Great Day For War’ has a strong drum beat opening the song before a catchy tune develops and once again the vocals are perfect with some lovely harmonies. There’s some stirring lap steel playing and glorious Middle Easters riffs on ‘Yesterday’. There’s also the epic 8 minute classic ‘Empty Canteen’, mixing lovely piano and keyboards with a driving drumbeat, some punchy base and a cracking tune.
The band went their separate ways after “Eastern” – Rothschild into studio production and Tagliere continued to record. He’s released some historic lost Gingersol recordings, most from the rocking sound of their debut EP. Lately he’s formed a new band Junebird, whose sound is not dissimilar to Gingersol’s and they’ve released two albums to date. Tagliere also performs as a duo with his wife and his most recent solo album is “When Does The Future Start”.
Gingersol didn’t outstay their welcome but if you like guitar-oriented melodic Americana it’s well worth checking out their back catalogue – there’s some real gems to be found.
