Reason Could Be Used Right Now, But It Never Really Helped Me Anyway: A Review of This House is Made of Corners EP by Brigitte Calls Me Baby

BY BERLINDA RECACHO

There is supposed to be a double for every person, somewhere in the world. In fact, these Doppelgängers are far more common than one might think. I'm not talking about the mirror image of identical twins, but enough of a resemblance to be uncanny. Recognition is more than skin deep. It's also inherent in expression and posture and behavior. My brother is convinced that during Stephen Patrick Morrissey's formative years, he must have watched Fellini's short film Toby Dammit (1968) based on an Edgar Allen Poe story and imprinted on himself the titular character. Toby, played by Terence Stamp, is a vampire-pale, perpetually inebriated, flamboyantly haunted movie star who sways before apparitions only he can see and prowl-skulks around like Morrissey before Morrissey. But what about people who sound alike? I don't mean impressions, but instead, an aural resemblance, the way that The Innocence Mission's "Bright as Yellow" sounds like a forgotten, up-tempo Mazzy Star song, and "I Don't Believe You" by The Magnetic Fields echoes the vocal stylings of The Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon. To bring it back full circle to Morrissey, many have taken their cues and inspiration from him, including Murray Lightburn of The Dears and Joe Pernice of Pernice Brothers, but few have sounded like him. There's a fine line between imitation and parody; remember that time in the mid-2000's when every band sounded like Coldplay?

Perhaps Morrissey's innate theatricality sets up the perfect balance for tribute without irony. As he surely looped back to Roy Orbison, Hank Williams, and other vocalists-crooners for inspiration, we can ask: why shouldn't there also be future versions of Moz? I felt like the answer to the question was a resounding "YES!" when I first listened to This House is Made of Corners, the first four-song EP by Brigitte Calls Me Baby. Track 1, "The Future Is Our Way Out" made me do an audio double-take; was this a long-lost track by The Smiths? More likely it was an outtake from Morrissey's rockabilly-infused Your Arsenal (1992), replete with rich vocals, and a vibrato that yielded the beginnings of a yodel. The lyrics are simple, with a few witticisms sprinkled in, like "Reason could be used right now/But it never really helped me anyway" and "There is a place where I want to be/but I don't know where it is." The heartfelt declarations of "Eddie My Love" could pass for a Viva Hate (1990) B-side in an alternate dimension. The similarities even overlap into the Venn diagram of the Morrissey-adjacent. The quick, deft pacing of "Impressively Average" calls to mind The Killers' Brandon Flowers, himself a self-professed lifelong Smiths/Morrissey fan, and whose fine cover of "Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself?" turned up as a Hot Fuss (2004) bonus track. The tenor of "Palm of Your Hand" reminded me of Roddy Frame and Aztec Camera, which Rough Trade infamously primed for stardom over their labelmates, The Smiths.

I was surprised to learn that Brigitte Calls Me Baby (BCMB for short) hails not from Manchester, or even England but from Chicago! Those Morrissey-esque vocals belong to songwriter Wes Leavins, who, from the press photos, embodies the look of a lead singer from the Eighties obsessed with the teen idols of the Fifties (think Green Gartside of Scritti Politti crossed with Roxy Music's Bryan Ferry). According to an interview with Block Club Chicago, Leavins dropped out of high school to play Elvis on stage in New York, before moving to the Windy City and starting the band with simpatico musicians. The BCMB lineup is rounded out by Trevor Lynch and Jack Fluegel on guitars, Devin Wessels on bass and Jeremy Benshish on drums. The band is tight, with spot-on execution that complements Leavins' voice as it navigates hairpin turns, and launches, soars, and plummets over the edge to glide back down to earth. The band are honing their live sound, touring in England on a bill with The Strokes and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs through the end of August and returning for shows in Minneapolis and their hometown of Chicago in September. With luck, a whole album is in the works. Channeling your heroes can only take you so far, but after all, nothing comes from nothing. By revisiting the past, Brigitte Calls Me Baby have crafted a sound in the present that sets a course for the future. Someday, someone will aspire to sound just like them.

[Photo: BCMB website]