Wednesday 28 July 2010



QBiM SPiNS: Daniel Romano Workin’ for the Music Man

Attack In Black frontman works for the music, not the man.

It’s that classic rock ‘n roll conundrum:  is it all about the money or is it just about the music?  Who among us has never dreamed of opulence and wealth beyond our wildest dreams?  Raise your hand if you never stood in front of a full-length mirror clutching a make-shift microphone and envisioning a sea of adoring fans before you.  In those fleeting day dreams, how many of us have ever stopped to imagine the secret of our success being an artistic masterpiece rather than a zeitgeist-defining slab of pop culture soon to be forgotten?

I feel for guys like Daniel Romano.  The music industry is fickle, and talent like his is seen as both a commodity and a casualty: the record companies can see the financial potential in the artist’s work (“commodity”) but recognize that an artistic temperament can lead to disagreements about integrity and vision (“casualty”).  Romano’s band Attack In Black have already had to appease the money men by re-recording their debut album (2007′s Marriage).  They were left to their own devices when they wrote and recorded The Curve of the Earth (2007) on their own in band member Spencer Burton’s sunroom, and then followed it with the studio-produced third LP Years (By One Thousand Fingertips) (2009), but a bad taste in your mouth isn’t that easy to get rid of.  In late 2008 Romano help found You’ve Changed Records, a small upstart label that released Daniel, Fred & Julie last year, a collaboration between Romano, Fred Squire and Julie Doiron.  Free of record company pressure, and untethered by any kind of deadlines or expectations, the record was a a refreshing change from what the trio usually did on their own.  For Romano, it seemed like just the thing to re-connect with his muse and remember why he became a musician in the first place.

And that reason, quite frankly, is to write and record records as beautiful and impassioned as Workin’ for the Music Man.  The industry may have broken his heart, but it cannot break his spirit, so even while Romano sings about music becoming a job instead of a joy, he’s keeping his sense of humour and fun.  As dark and depressing as the subject matter may seem, Workin’ for the Music Man is full of bright spots (see “My Greatest Mistake” or sing along with “Joseph Arthur” and tell me the storm clouds don’t disperse).  Attack In Black’s punk rock origins are still there in the LPs “middle-finger-to-the-man” spirit, but these songs are borne from the traditional folk songs Romano recorded with Daniel, Fred & Julie.  It’s the best country album by a punk rocker I’ve ever heard.

When I first reviewed Marriage back in 2007, I said that my favourite part of the record was the anticipation it created for what Attack In Black will do next.  Back then I said “what really excites me about Attack In Black is ‘what comes next’,” and true to form, with each subsequent release, I’ve been increasingly impressed.  As a solo artist, Romano has done the same.  Workin’ for the Music Man is the kind of record that reaffirms your faith in the record-making world.  It’s a reminder that there’s people out there who still work for the music, and not the man.

Workin’ for the Music Man is available now on You’ve Changed Records.

MP3: Daniel Romano “A Losing Song”
Myspace: Daniel Romano





by J. Di Gioia | Comments Off

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 28th, 2010 at 8:35 am and is filed under MP3, QBiM SPiNS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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