Brighter Than Before

The sound of 1966 in pop/rock music history, that phase between the British Invasion and the Summer of Love when American bands like the Byrds fused native folk and Merseybeat into catchy tunes set to bright rhythms, chiming guitars, and sweet harmonies, has proven remarkably revivable over the succeeding decades, whether in the hands of the Raspberries, the Smithereens, or myriad others. Forty-five years on, it continues to inspire young musicians, and fresh evidence is provided by Somerdale's second album, Brighter than Before. The trio from southern New Jersey (their base is actually in nearby Hammonton), guitarist James Caputo, drummer JJ Fennimore, and bassist Chuck Penza, is completely at home re-creating the Nuggets era, whether that means Fennimore lets fly with some Keith Moon-style drumming in "Bent on Napalm," or the group makes like the Youngbloods of "Get Together" fame in the socially conscious "We Are All Together." These guys are capable of making fine distinctions, suggesting the coming flower power/psychedelic era of 1967 on the twangy "Mulberry Street" and the "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" feel of the ballad "Like a Rainbow" ("She's my watercolor queen"), but they are careful to stay within their favorite period. "I Didn't Know" may extend to seven minutes with its guitar soloing, but that playing never gets too far out; it never goes to San Francisco, you might say. By the time that Somerdale lovingly covers that 1966 classic "Walk Away Renee," their taste in music has long since become unmistakable, but even if it marks them as pop archivists, they demonstrate once again that 1966 was one of the great years for rock & roll.