Based in Water Valley, Mississippi, Bark is the married duo of Tim Lee on Bass VI and vocals and Susan Bauer Lee on drums and vocals. LPs? They’ve released a few, with their latest getting some instrumental and production assistance from, amongst others, a couple Drive-By Truckers. Tough but tuneful and roots-raw but non-retrograde, the 10-song effort has been given an appropriate title. Loud is out now on blue vinyl and compact disc through Dial Back Sound and Cool Dog Sound.
Tim Lee’s musical activity is considerable, as he came to ’80s underground notoriety in The Windbreakers, Beat Temptation and solo, along with a few other projects. More recently, he was the anchoring force in Tim Lee 3; for a deeper dive into Lee’s discography, check out the review of Tim Lee 3’s Devil’s Rope via this very website.
Susan Bauer Lee was Tim Lee 3’s bassist, but for Bark, she’s commandeering the drum kit, a switch that’s been working out just marvy. She also adds vocals to the scheme, strengthening the roots-punk (think X) and Paisley Underground (see early Dream Syndicate) foundations of Bark’s sound, though it’s not like the duo is retracing any particular band’s stylistic footsteps.
In addition to Bass VI (a six-string bass guitar designed for bottom-end melodic versatility), Tim plays baritone guitar on Loud, choices ensuring the songs are as hefty as they are catchy, but his tone is also appealingly ragged throughout the set. This solidifies (but doesn’t strain for) a punk connection, while jibing nicely with Susan’s drumming, as she’s hitting and kicking hard and generally eschewing the caveperson thump that’s often associated with guitar-bass duos.
Opener “Love Minus Action” establishes the modus operandi, dishing grouchy amp gristle in combination with a crisp propulsive rhythm and vocal harmony (Schaeffer Llana contributes backing to seven of Loud’s tracks). And right off, the blend of voices in “Love Minus Action,” if a tad reminiscent of X, is just as comparable to Eleventh Dream Day, but with more of a pop-rock underpinning that’s been part of Tim’s thing since way back.
That pop-rock angle shines bright in “Radar LUV,” accompanied by decidedly ’80s organ accents by Jay Gonzalez and an even deeper vocal harmoniousness. Susan takes the vocal lead and Tim adds some electric sitar to the chunky rocker “Float,” and then comes the sole track on Loud not credited to Tim and Susan, as “James Robertson Must Turn Right” (written by David Olney and John Hadley) sports a bit of a beefed up folk-rock feel with rousing singalong choruses.
“Work in Progress” gets back to the crunchy pop-rock side of the equation, packing quite a wallop as it glides and closes side one, while the flip begins with the slowed-down groove “Rock Club” delivering sweet Southern ’80s-style college bar rock with tandem vocals and a swampy-bluesy tinge. “Gutters of Fame” picks up the pace and adds Jimbo Mathus on organ for one of the LP’s standouts, though frankly there’s not a weak track in Loud’s bunch.
“Black and White” spreads out a little with Gonzalez back on the keys, the track again infusing rock classicism with punk edge. “So Much Time” is thick with waves of Paisley u-ground-esque guitar, but the vocal harmonies and tradeoffs again set it apart. It concludes with a raucous swirl that could coax a smile from a shoegazer. And closer “Present Tense,” after some initial thumping, settles into some magnificent layered distortion.
Bark’s songs on Loud bring to mind a cassette plucked from a used bin three decades or so back that would promptly get popped into a car tape deck where it would stay for roughly two months, steadily growing and growing until the driver knows it by heart and it becomes one of their favorites.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-
