Stone Gossard (Day job: Pearl Jam, fact fans) his side-project Brad's underground classic of a debut, 'Shame', on his own newly launched Loosegroove label on July 17th.

 

Brad - completed by bassist Jeremy Toback, drummer Regan Hagar and sublime vocalist Shawn Smith - are a strictly part-time affair, but the cool blend of sonic Funk and ambient weirdness prescient on 'Shame' is far too good to be left to rot; it is, quite simply, one of the great records to emerge from Seattle.

From the wonderfully downbeat opener 'Buttercup' to the bleak closing moments of Down', 'Shame' is a shattering jazzy psycho-drama, the perfect late night album.

The band got together after Gossard decided to let off steam following Pearl Jam's stint on '93's Lollapalooza tour. 'Ten' was at it's commercial height, the pressure was on. Smith, Toback and Hagar had been playing together a long time. Gossard joined them for studio sessions lasting seventeen straight days - five for writing, eight for recording, four for mixing - and 'Shame' (originally touted as the name of the band) was complete.

"It happened very quickly," recalls Smith. "It wasn't a record until midway through, but I guess you always kind of know when you can pull it off. We had some vision putting it out in a small way, but it just sort of happened."

"Shame was originally released, to great critical acclaim and hardcore sales, through Pearl Jam's label, Epic. Now, Stone Gossard has reclaimed it as his own, after Epic gave him his own label, Loosegroove, as a nod towards both his contributions with PJ and his drive and determination for breaking other bands. Loosegroove have trimmed 'Shame' by pulling off the drunken ramblings of the final 'hidden' CD track. A remix of '20th Century' appears on 'Loosegroove Volume One', a full length sampler CD at the pocket pleasing price of £1.99.

As for pulling Brad out of Pearl Jam's shadow, Smith is philosophical: "We all knew it was gonna be perceived that way, just because there's no way to avoid that without completely stripping it of names."

Of course, Smith, Toback and Hagar are now three-quarters of Satchel (see feature page 42), but a Brad reunion may occur one day, despite rumours of disgruntlement the project allegedly caused within the Pearl Jam ranks.

"If the moment pops up, I'm sure we'll do Brad again," asserts Smith. "I think we will."

Shame (Sharon O'Connell, Melody Maker, c1994)

Enthusiastic flannel-flyer though I am, I reckon you should be able to look fondly on the extended grunge family without loving every single one of its relatives. Case in point, Pearl Jam. "Jeremy" notwithstanding, I never understood the fuss. Now, with the release of "Shame", I've been introduced to someone I really like.

It's no great secret that, for a while there, relationships within the Pearl Jam camp weren't great, and, although it would be a mistake to see this album in terms of a permanent rift, it does mark out the different interests of guitarist Stone Gossard pretty clearly. He teamed up with vocalist Shawn Smith, from Seattle's Pigeonhed, plus a couple of other mates, and they all wrote and recorded 11 tracks in 17 days.

Anyone hoping for another "Ten" will be let down, because, where Pearl Jam sound doggedly earthbound, Brad breathe free and easy, whether they're drifting and dreaming or shaking their funky butts. They've trimmed their songs of frills, and there's a real ease to most of them. I'm reminded more than once of Carole King and James Taylor, and that's just the piano.

Of the funky jivers here, the single, "20th Century", is the standout. It throbs with an urgent, Stax-like chugga, leaning on Isaac Hayes for its nimble-footed drive. Then there's "Raise Love", another groove machine with a heavy metal frame and darkly surging guitar cross currents.

Shawn Smith has the most divinely distressed voice since...hell, whenever, he's up there in the Top Five and I don't even know who the other five are. He puts it to perfect use in "Screen", with Gossard's guitar billowing loosely before it falls into a filthy crash. This guy rasps "shahnah-nah" and makes it sound like the most fundamental emotional truth you ever heard.

The other treasure is "Down", with the sounds of a cathedral organ swimming up from the bottom of some deep, green pond and chandelier crystals clacking gently in the breeze. It's beautiful and spooky.

A word of warning by the way of encouragement, if I may. Wait until your soul is quiet and then feel some "Shame".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shame (Author unknown, 'Intensity', Nov. 1993)

At one time they were called Shame, but now Shame is called Brad, Shame is the name of Brad's debut album, and there is no one in this band named Brad, continuing on the traditions passed by Steely Dan.

 
 

Most people will view Brad as a Pearl Jam side project from guitarist Stone Gossard, but personally, brad is a million times better than Pearl Jam and considering how great the music on this LP is, Pearl Jam could very well be a mere side project for Gossard.

But Brad isn't just Gossard and some backing band, the other members are Shawn Smith (vocals/piano/organ), Jeremy Toback (bass), and Regan Hagar (drums). The music on Shame has a very thick soul influence, preferably 1970's soul, with that you have to be bit funky as they do in "20th Century", but this isn't a funk album by any means. The muic has a lot of depth and emotion, much of which happens in the music and much of which happens in Smith's vocal style. He sounds relaxed but very cool, which is sure to bring thoughts of Robert Palmer. His Palmer-esque qualities can be heard in "Good News" and "My Fingers", and you can't deny that this guy can really sing.

 

The whole album has a mellow, Robert Palmer type vibe to it, all of the songs sound cool but in a good way. When Smith plays the organ or piano it adds that extra touch to the music which maked it more special, the basis of all good soul music. They go off-track slightly in "Rockstar", only to click back into seriousness (with the same drum track) with "We". What I also like about Shame is how it sounds like a group effort, not just Smith doing his thing, Hagar pounding all over, Gossard getting all technical, or Toback trying to be Flea or Stanley Clarke. Brad has things that Pearl Jam lacks, and that's integrity and a whole lotta soul. I'm not sure if Brad will record another one, but I'll be pleased as punch (YIKES!) if this becomes their one and only release. But hey, another album would be great.

Shame (Corey Pennell, 'Mail Tribune' July 7 1993)

There's a certain desperate mourning but likable edge to the sound of a band that MTV will never play. Probably fewer than 12 people will buy this album. Only by hearing their music can you picture the four members of Brad lying hungover in their dimly lit studio moaning things like:

 

"Why are we writing this song? No one will buy it."

"My hearing's got six months to live."

"I had to cook and eat my girlfriend's cat Fluffy for dinner."

"Our producer's a dork."

Only three members of Brad are in this lowly, desperate situation. The fourth is none other than Stone Gossard, guitarist/songwriter of the now rich and famous Pearl Jam - the Seattle band second only to Nirvana in popularity. During Pearl Jam's two-week vacation between albums, singer Eddie Vedder went surfing, bassist Jeff Ament went to see his wife and children, but Stone was still making incredible noise. Brad sounds kinda like what Gossard described in Guitar World magazine as "an experimental jam session."

With the singers' drony desperate vocals and Stone's Seattle style lead guitar riffs, Brad is grungy yet refined.

This is a great tape to play while staring at the ceiling when you're grounded.

Shame (Phil Royer, 'Paperback Jukebox', June 1993)

This is Stone Gossard with a lot less Pearl Jam in him. Groovy, laid-back, and not so nasty, Shame was written and recorded in less than three weeks by the Sperm guitarist and his other friends, and offers a more tragically thespian view of the cowboy biker ballad. Brad vocalist Shawn Smith delivers in a sweaty falsetto reminiscent of Terence D' Arby next to Stone's hypnotic and subtle guitar riffing. The bass percolates along, funky and secure, keeping the near lethargic tempos from dozing off. None of the songs jump out and demand your attention but most eventually will earn it. The beautiful "Buttercup," which opens the album, is so slow and sure of itself it behaves as if each beat is signalling the song's end. There's only one rocker, one mid-tempo single, and the rest is mellow. The album begins its exit with "Rockstar," a bass-heavy number that could walk proudly alongside one of Brian Eno's dinosaur swamp soundtracks, then transforms itself into the I'm glad I'm home beauty of "We," a simple three chord piano vamp that could have faded out politely instead of returning to an obnoxious vocoder experiment that forces the listener to leap out of her seat and hit the stop button.

 

 

Shame (Gillian McCain , 'Nerve' Issue No. 2 April/May 1993)

 

Only a band from Seattle could get away with putting their astrological signs before the music credits. Call it funk-grunge, throw in some avant-jazz, a couple of spoken-word samplings, a few gritty guitar solos and then look for it on heavy rotation on your local hard rock FM station. Not to say that there aren't a couple of good songs - 'Buttercup' is lounge-funk at it's best and 'Nadine' is an incredibly sexy single: there's just something about a lot of these songs makes me think "LOU RAWLS LIVE AT THE KNITTING FACTORY."

 

If Shame's music really is forged from years of experience in post-punk thrash bands and polished jazz-funk units then why do I feel like I should be listening to this on an eight-track? Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad album, it's just that I've heard it before and its going to bug the shit out of me until I figure out where.

 

Shame (DS, 'Foundations' - May 14th 1993)

 

Brad is comprised of four professional and personal friends from the Northwest region of the U.S. that got together to make music for the simple sake of making music. These musicians are Stone Gossard on guitar, Regan Hagar on drums, vocalist Shawn Smith and bassist Jeremy Toback. They wrote and recorded the full length record in 17 days and have experimented with a sound that in the end gives Shame a collective work of dark emotion. The songs move the spirit from within like a mystifying oracle.

Contemplative and moody, this disc is necessary for those quiet evenings when you want to shut out the world and hang with some friends that understand.

Brad are those friends, and this piece of art must become part of everyone's collection. It's genius.

 
 
 

Shame - Shame (from 'Creem' - March 1993) Before the group changed the name to Brad by Greg Fasolino.

 

If Temple of the Dog is the Blind Faith of the Seattle scene, I guess Shame is Derek & the Dominoes. Or something like that. As the legend goes, Pearl Jam guitar-deity Stone Gossard was rehearsing one day with three of his most righteous buds (none, however, were in any other famous Seattle bands). And it sounded good. And Gossard decreed that they would enter the studio with utmost haste, all the better to capture those "special" vibrations. And so it was done.

In fact, those few weeks in October '92 bore sweet fruit, reminiscent of everything from Aerosmith and Traffic to the Doobie Bros. "Buttercup"'s ethereal drizzle starts the proceedings with restraint; "Down" is a ringer for Zep's "No Quarter," resplendent with flanged guitar motif and haunting, wintery feel."Screen" has a lovely falsetto chorus, some perfectly timed "sha na na"s, and a slow, moving guitar solo. Piano on several cuts carries an Elton John flavor, lending a sad, resonant texture, underpinning the sensitive vocals (less busy than Gossard's bandmate Mr. Vedder - more Gordon Gano meets old Steve Winwood). "Rockstar" could be Chrome or The Residents, with a quirky, whooshing base and mechanically distorted vocals (I wonder whether the indecipherable lyrics have anything to do with PJ's unplanned bout with fame?).

The big shocker is "20th Century", a pulsing piece of funk that's as far from the Chili Peps as could be (bass popping gently as the tune clicks into gear like Kraftwerk in flannels).

In any case, freed from a fulltime band's marketing restraints (though it's a shame they saddled this project with such a bland name, Shame boasts the sheen of spontaneity - an elusive, one-take resonance that sounds refreshing and natural. That's as good a reason to buy a CD these days as any.