Search - Tim Lee :: Under the House

Under the House
Tim Lee
Under the House
Genres: Country, Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock
 
  •  Track Listings (10) - Disc #1

Tim Lee is back! Following a break from the music business, Tim Lee is back with a new record and a new band. "Under the House" is first new solo record in a decade and he has been playing dates - both with his own band a...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Tim Lee
Title: Under the House
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Paisley Pop
Original Release Date: 1/1/2003
Re-Release Date: 2/25/2003
Genres: Country, Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock
Style: Indie & Lo-Fi
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 678277050426

Synopsis

Album Description
Tim Lee is back! Following a break from the music business, Tim Lee is back with a new record and a new band. "Under the House" is first new solo record in a decade and he has been playing dates - both with his own band and the Windbreakers - across the country. First, there's silence and then a quietly strummed acoustic guitar. Then, from somewhere, like a long-distance phone call from a long-lost friend, a gravelly voice starts to sing. He's weary, but he's hopeful. It's 1 a.m. wherever he is. It's last call. But he's not even close to ready to leave. "...Crawlin' from the wreckage ... startin' anew ... after falling off the face of the earth, you got to keep it true ... You got to keep it true." Somewhere in the back of your mind, you remember the voice. It's him. Tim Lee is back. From 1982 to 1991, Lee, a native of Mississippi who now makes his home in Knoxville, Tennessee, was one-half of The Windbreakers, one of the great could-have-beens of the first wave of the American underground. They could-have-been great. They could-have-been REM. They could-have-been ... The road to pop stardom is littered with couldas. The could-have-named themselves after the jacket. Please let them have named themselves after the jacket. For nearly a decade, Lee, along with songwriting foil/friend/drinking pal Bobby Sutliff crafted distinctly American music that combined punk's ragged edge with all of Merseybeat's melodicism. That ragged edge came from Lee, the sturdy heart at the center of The Windbreakers. Where Sutliff preferred classic songs along the McGuinn/Hollies line, Lee always traveled a rougher road, combining equal parts Dylan with Tom Petty's Southern accents. Naturally, they didn't sell. Naturally, the critics and fans loved them. The band reflected "more of an American than English influence with strange melodic turns and a ragged Southern vocal style, " Ira Robbins concluded for their entry in The Trouser Press record guide.

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CD Reviews

Junkmedia.org Review - Organic rootsy pop rock
junkmedia | Los Angeles, CA | 04/15/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)

"In some circles, the coming of a new Tim Lee/Bobby Sutliff/Windbreakers release is call for a mighty celebration. With the release of Lee's Under the House, I've pulled out the party hats and cake -- the noisemakers have been banished to the back yard so that all revelers can listen and enjoy.This is a great little CD. Not as polished as his work with the Windbreakers, Under the House has more of a rural feel than the WBs southern roots ever made apparent. Born in Mississippi and based now in Tennessee, Lee connects intimately with the music of the rural south --the electrified blues and the twang of country -- filtered through the aggressive honesty of punk. Indeed, it appears that his near-decade hiatus from recording has encouraged him to reconnect with his regional roots. The result is an honest and organic roots pop album that has none of the sheen of current contemporary country artists -- and certainly little of the self-consciousness of standard pop rock.There is an appealing rawness to the music. It has a first-take sense of spontaneity, and the phrasing of the lyrics rings with deep emotional honesty and intelligence. With a decade in the non-musical wilderness (which included a stint as an elementary teacher as well as time spent writing about dirt-track racing), Lee has abundant issues to sing about. The songs are about truth and the road, about growing old and the pain of loss. This is pop music from the perspective of an adult -- serious issues, but with an engaging musical environment.Beyond the sobriety of the lyrics, Lee clearly loves his guitar, and he lets the instrument speak eloquently. An engaging blend of electric and acoustic guitars flavor the mix, with a deep, low bass line anchoring the songs at the bottom. The country feel to the CD is emphasized with the occasional and tasteful use of slide guitar lines, but the primary musical experience is grounded firmly in Lee's hybrid blues-country-powerpop. Those powerpoppish elements are enhanced by challenging and engaging guitar riffs, a mixture of George Harrison's simplicity and Keith Richards organic rootsiness. The new-south elements of 1980s Let's Active/REM/Windbreakers are all present, begging the question once again, of "why wasn't he a megastar in 1985?"Regardless of star status of the artist, it is clear that there is much good stuff here. If you like your pop rock with an organic rootsy side, or find the North Mississippi All-Stars to be good, but the drumming too dense, you'll find much to enjoy here.Ken King
Junkmedia.org Review"