The Nevada Sagebrush

Jam bands that mix funk, rock, reggae and other genres are all about a good time.  The String Cheese Incident, Phish and The Grateful Dead top this genre with fun vibes and groovy concerts.  But South Lake Tahoe’s beloved Blue Turtle Seduction lack the originality of any of the above mentioned bands on their third album, “13 Floors.”

The first song, “What’s My Name?”takes an MXPX-like riff and rides the guitar into a corny harmonica solo before jumping back on the pop-punk guitars once again.  Over these instrumentals, the whole band sang simultaneously in a strange singsong manner, much like the end of an episode of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”  The two-minute track could not have ended soon enough.

“Antidote”came next, but did little to remedy the lingering annoyance from the previous song.  Instead, a sort of Beach-Boys-meets-Blues-Traveler ballad ensued.  Violins and harmonicas kept the song from bridging into surf rock, but bouncy guitars kept the song right on edge.  With an odd combination of genres, the song barely escapes blandness with a fairly entertaining guitar solo in the last minute.

“Stop Drop and Roll”is another strange combination of genres, with a blend of The Cure and Modest Mouse, plus a hint of Sublime to suffice.  But the cheesy theatrics of combining such dissimilar sounds is intensified with a cliché chorus, in which vocalist Jay Seals sings, “Stop Drop and Roll/I’m doing my best not to explode.”

“Perfect Gentleman”and “Rome”follow, both equally lackluster in originality and execution.

The former begins with a sample of what sounds like a Tamagotchi before stumbling into a modern day “Kokomo”(The Beach Boys).  A pseudo-rap near the end of the song plunges the nail into the coffin of this track.

“Rome,”level five of the “13 Floors,”picks up like a backyard hoedown.  Southern twang, a crazy harmonica and crashing drums make this song seem better than the last.  But all hopes are dashed the minute the vocals kick in.  An exaggerated gruff returns to cliché with lyrics like, “There isn’t really anything left to do/ but to wander back home. / So go ahead, take a leap of faith / cause all roads lead to Rome.”

“Foot by Foot,”"Castaway,”"White Flags”and a couple more songs fill the middle of this album with more funky country rock, splicing genres and committing crimes against humanity along the way.    With instrumentals almost as forgettable as the lyrics, the end of these “13 Floors”cannot be reached soon enough.

Nearing the end of the album, “El Camino”is fast-paced and mean, sounding like a Flogging Molly song but without the Irish.  Of course, a song about an El Camino would not be complete without car sound effects and some Spanish lyrics.

The last song on the album, “Roses and Big Belt Buckle”is mostly a 13-minute instrumental with only a few lyrics here and there.  This song by itself sums up the whole album.  While a jam band is supposed to be fun and experimental, the sound of Blue Turtle Seduction is at its best when separated and focused – and without any vocals.

Strange instrumental combinations and genre copycatting plague this album all the way to its inevitable doom.  In the end, “13 Floors”is just 13 too many.

Julian Rhodes can be reached at jrhodes@nevadasagebrush.com.

Related Posts:

• Drinking differences reflect cultures
• Expert: Special session could get ‘ugly’
• Death defied on craggy mountaintop adventure
• Small Nevada town harvests interesting past
• Erotic venues promote sex culture