Customer Reviews

Sonoran Hope & Madness

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Since the dissolution of his previous band, The Refreshments, Roger Clyne has taken a more adult approach to his music, while still retaining the sense of humor and fun that made The Refreshments such a success. One of the pioneers of the Tempe, Arizona "salsa rock" scene, a form of pop-rock-country heavily influenced by sounds from across the Mexican border, Clyne chose the Peacemakers as his new musical outlet, buddy-ing up with another former Refreshment, a former Gin Blossom, and two members of Dead Hot Workshop. Their first album, Honky Tonk Union, was a best-seller on the Internet sales chart, and became a favorite at independent music stores across the US.

Clyne's world, which admittedly sounds like a fun place to visit, is chock-full of Tequila drinking contests, cactus-covered deserts, tender cowboy stalkers, and tragic Mexican heroes. It's a theme continued on Sonoran Hope and Madness, the latest CD from Clyne and Company, and their second studio-produced album. With firecracker bookends and an eye towards the worldly ("Colorblind Blues"), Sonoran Hope shows a sense of maturity developed by living life, but more importantly, choosing it. Perennial live favorite track "The Ballad of Lupe Montosa" makes its studio debut here, and Clyne returns to a bit of his pop-rock sensibilities on "Better Beautiful Than Perfect."

Although none of the songs stand out as catchy radio singles, that's a good thing; fans of The Peacemakers will say that the only way to experience the band is live, and studio-produced CDs lose a lot of the energy that made Clyne famous in the Tempe scene. Radio singles doomed The Refreshments, and The Peacemakers have taken a sagacious high road in refusing record deals from major labels to keep true to their original spirit and sound. In a world marked by musical cynicism, boy-band mania, and Britney Spears movies, it's refreshing to know that artists like Clyne and his band still remember what the sounds are all about. While not Beethoven, The Peacemakers offer the same kind of originality and quality that is the mark of all artists who love their craft above all else.

First off, let me say that I am not a Roger Clyne "groupie." I had never heard of him or his band until 4 months ago, and I have not seen them play live (a deficiency I hope to correct on September 7).

Second, I put an unusual emphasis on lyrics in the music that I like. It has to sound good too, of course, and there are inane songs that I like, but the vast majority of what I consider top-notch music has to have good lyrics.

Bottom line: "Sonoran Hope and Madness" is perhaps the best lyrical album I have ever heard. Like all great lyrical efforts, it works at several levels.

It can be a collection of disparate songs that happen to be on the same disc, each song standing on its own.

It can just be a series of good songs with catchy refrains for those who don't want to think when they listen.

It can be an album, with the music and the lyrics tied together to form a theme, or multiple themes. The themes can be, and will be, different between listeners because music at its best is a highly personal thing.

It can be all of the above, and touch your soul.

For me, "Sonoran Hope and Madness" is all of these. It is funny ("I learned to hate from a strip mine, love from a strip bar/Honesty and charity, I stole `em from a tip jar"). It is sublime ("In my dreams I will sleep like a baby"). It is poetic ("I see blue skies bleeding/Colors screaming/Some invisible thing is the enemy now"). It is raucous ("Don'tcha wanna tip the apple car over, baby?/Don'tcha wanna shoot an arrow at the sky?/The fruit is throbbing on the vine/So many castles to storm and so little time"). It is sad (There's bones on the beach and there's ashes in the jar/Ghosts in the air laughin' at us fools at the bar/And somewhere inside this river don't run to the sea no more"). It is inspirational ("Life is grand/Love is real/And beauty is everywhere").

"Sonoran Hope and Madness" is all these things, and so much more. I've listened to this album many times and pondered at length whether Roger Clyne is a songwriter or a poet. The answer is he is both, and that is very rare in today's music.

I listenend to Roger Clyne while he was in the Refreshments and really appreciated his first album. He had a freshness and charismatic outlook that makes you younger for having heard it, and the way he seamlessly blends his Southwestern lifestyle with his music makes me at once envious of him and proud just to bear witness to it. I lamentably stopped paying attention to them after Fizzy Fuzzy Big and Buzzy and missed their second CD, Bottle and Fresh Horses. Then just recently I downloaded a bunch of songs from his catalog and to my great surprise I realized that not only had he not fallen off the face of the earth, but he has been steadily grinding out what may be the only true American music for the last decade with his new (sort of) band the Peacemakers. While I can't say with certainty that he has been getting better, I can say that he has been traveling in a (pretty) straight line and you can literally watch him grow from an immature young savant into a pensive and wise man. He has equipped himself with equally awesome band members. Danny Blanco, PH Naffah (from the Refreshments) and Steve Larson (from Dead Hot Workshop) all do a spectacular job but they are eclipsed by that divine young man Roger Clyne.

This is the second effort from Roger Clyne and Company (third if you count their live disc) and, for the most part, their first fully-produced set of songs. The much improved production definately makes the record sound better then their first disc (Honkey Tonk Union) but the biggest difference on SH&M is the more serious tone of it's 10 songs (13 if you count the two little ditties and a short hidden track). Clyne has taken on a deeper, sometimes more somber approach with tracks like "Ashes of San Miguel" and "Ballad of Lupe Montosa". Even the more rocking songs like "Colorblind Blues" and "Buffalo" have a more mature edge to them, while still remaining catchy and fun. My personal favorites are "Smaller and Better Things" and, especially, "Better Beautiful than Perfect", a song that is so good that when Clyne sings 'Beauty is everywhere' you believe him. Overall, this is a very solid disc that easily places the Clyne & the Peacemakers in the "Advanced Placement" class of alt-country acts like Old 97's, Ryan Adams, the Mavericks, and Steve Earle.

Whether it was Roger and his Refreshment buddies or Roger and his AZ Peacemakers, the product was still strong. There is a purity to his music that is hard to describe. His songs deal largely with the Southwest and always have that great cowboy guitar in it. This album is a little bit of a departure from his Refreshments' stuff, which was a little more honkytonk/rocknroll and other than "Colorblind Blues", there are no weak tracks. Good stuff!

I went to see Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers as a sentimental visit back to my college days. I did some time in the Tempe bar scene seeing bands like the Refreshments, the Gin Blossoms and Dead Hot Workshop. This album came with the ticket price. And the first time I listened, I thought it was destined for a garage sale.

But a few tracks (Sleep Like a Baby and Bury My Heart in the Trailer Park), kept me coming back for another listen. This album grew on me to the point that I now think it is destined to wear out and be replaced.

And, incidentally, the show was pretty darned good, too.

While not 100% solid throughout, this album may be as complete as one can get. Roger Clyne has evolved over his albums, to this current album that seems to be much more personal than previous efforts from the Peacemakers or the Refreshments. The album starts out with the sound of fireworks, and continues to build through the first 4 tracks, culminating with Ashes of San Miguel, a tale of adventure involving the cremated remains of Roger's best friend. The 2 weak points in the album, Mile High & Rising as well as Smaller & Better Things, sandwich it's strongest part. Bury My Heart In a Trailer Park is an infectious rocker disguised as a honky tonk stroll. This is followed by a short interlude of an instrumental Home On the Range, before the acoustic strummings of Buffalo bring the album to its peak. The album closes strong with The Ballad of Lupe Montosa, a yarn about a poor distiller who met an untimely end, and the Bossanova laced Better Beautiful than Perfect, with its rather corny, but creative lyrics.

Though certainly not perfect, this album is easily better than 99% of everything else out there today. Fans will be thouroughly impressed, and newcomers will be surprised with an album that they will find a hard time getting out of their CD players.

"Life Is Grand, Love Is Real, and Beauty is Everywhere."

First off, let me say that I am not a Roger Clyne "groupie." I had never heard of him or his band until 4 months ago, and I have not seen them play live (a deficiency I hope to correct on September 7).

Second, I put an unusual emphasis on lyrics in the music that I like. It has to sound good too, of course, and there are inane songs that I like, but the vast majority of what I consider top-notch music has to have good lyrics.

Bottom line: "Sonoran Hope and Madness" is perhaps the best lyrical album I have ever heard. Like all great lyrical efforts, it works at several levels.

It can be a collection of disparate songs that happen to be on the same disc, each song standing on its own.

It can just be a series of good songs with catchy refrains for those who don't want to think when they listen.

It can be an album, with the music and the lyrics tied together to form a theme, or multiple themes. The themes can be, and will be, different between listeners because music at its best is a highly personal thing.

It can be all of the above, and touch your soul.

For me, "Sonoran Hope and Madness" is all of these. It is funny ("I learned to hate from a strip mine, love from a strip bar/Honesty and charity, I stole `em from a tip jar"). It is sublime ("In my dreams I will sleep like a baby"). It is poetic ("I see blue skies bleeding/Colors screaming/Some invisible thing is the enemy now"). It is raucous ("Don'tcha wanna tip the apple car over, baby?/Don'tcha wanna shoot an arrow at the sky?/The fruit is throbbing on the vine/So many castles to storm and so little time"). It is sad (There's bones on the beach and there's ashes in the jar/Ghosts in the air laughin' at us fools at the bar/And somewhere inside this river don't run to the sea no more"). It is inspirational ("Life is grand/Love is real/And beauty is everywhere").

"Sonoran Hope and Madness" is all these things, and so much more. I've listened to this album many times and pondered at length whether Roger Clyne is a songwriter or a poet. The answer is he is both, and that is very rare in today's music.

The first time I heard this album, I was not grabbed, so to speak. It lacked the outwardly fun and catchy, easy to listen to rock songs the previous three albums (including The Refreshments, of course) had. This album is no party, no Mexican fantasy, no overall good time. Rather, Sonoran Hope & Madness is a trip into the Southwest. Sonoran commands your attention more than any of Roger's other work, as if to say, "Hey, listen up for a minute. I have something to say." This album seems to exist to actually show us the serious side of life.

Musically, Sonoran has a little more of a country feel to it. It is more diverse than anything else in the Roger Clyne catalog, with rockers as loud, heavy, and emotional as "Colorblind Blues", all the way down to sweet, mellow ballads such as "The Ballad of Lupe Montosa." It represents Roger's most mature and interesting work, something that both musically and lyrically makes you think and feel. Lyrically, Sonoran has its light moments (such as "Bury My Heart at the Trailer Park"), but also some of Roger's most thoughtful words (the aforementioned "Colorblind Blues", "Buffalo").

This is a must-have album. If I could keep only one RCPM album, it would surely be this one.

This is a great new CD which is similar to the defunkt "The Refreshments", it has some great songs.. and I recommend anyone pick it up!