Old Friends and Throw-Away Lines

Album: Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey, Mavericks, 1991

Best Track: "Anymore"

Lasting Memory: Back in the day, when I was serious about acquiring new music and when Mavericks was released, I did most of my actual listening to music in my car. This is probably true for most people because it is difficult -- not to say dangerous -- to read while driving, who ever has a passenger to speak with, and audiobooks are for nerds.

Mavericks is not a driving album. As a result, I criminally underplayed it 17 years ago and only grew to appreciate its considerable charms within the past few years, as I've become less apt to drive, more apt to be playing tunes while reading or working, and increasingly mellow.

"Charming," by the way, is the perfect description of Mavericks. The songs are warm and heartfelt, familiar on first listen yet endlessly engaging and revealing. Plus, all of them contain at least one eternal truth, nice joke, or combination of the two.

"Anymore" concludes with the observation that "Everything original's been said much better years ago by someone else, anyway . . . anyway".

The very next song, "I Want to Break Your Heart" features the verse

You don't ask a lot
Girl that's what I got
Before your dreams come true
I will belong to you

And the very next next song, "She Was the One," explains how "She was the last to know/ That I was socking in the long haul."

In short, Mavericks sounds exactly like what it is, two old friends who just happen to be supremely talented songwriters reuniting a few years after their dB's heyday and seeing what it would sound like if they tried to be Chad & Jeremy or Peter and Gordon.

The whole Holsapple and Stamey album, plus bonus tracks, is available for sampling and downloading here. I'll wait.

(Huh? Cool. The Nationals look like they're gonna take another one from the Marlins.)

(I really gotta get around to answering that e-mail.)

(Should what comes out of anybody's ear really look like this?)

Oh, you're back. Did you hear I was writing about? Maybe you could see it by clicking on "Angels". Sure, the video is kind of glitchy, but who are you to resist?

I can't, and I shouldn't. Especially since this album came up perfectly in the rotation of my life. Twice in the past month, I've had occasions to head up to the D.C. area to hang out with all the friends I made between 1997 and 2006. Slipping into the comforts of close friendship, sharing old jokes, and learning of new joys is the very essence of Mavericks.

Well-played Messrs. Holsapple and Stamey. Well played.

Up Next: Hoodoo Gurus, Stoneage Romeos, 1984