Wednesday November 14, 2007
Rooney rocks Europe, but can't get started in US
By LEN RIGHI
Ned Brower is feeling both elated and a bit perplexed.
Last week, the drummer-vocalist and his mates in pop-rock quintet Rooney spent a couple of days in Los Angeles shooting videos for Are You Afraid? and I Should Have Been After You, tracks on Calling the World, Rooney's irresistible new CD.
Seems that since July, the disc's sleek, insistent first single, When Did Your Heart Go Missing, has whetted appetites overseas for Rooney's crafty, at times subversive, power pop. Heart hit No. 1 in Germany and went Top 10 in the England, the Netherlands and other parts of Europe.
In the U.S., however, Rooney is still plugging away at getting Heart heard. The band, which includes vocalist-guitarist Robert Schwartzman, keyboardist Louie Stephens, guitarist-vocalist Taylor Locke and bassist Matthew Winter, is touring with The Polyphonic Spree and The Redwalls, hoping to revive the buzz generated by the songs I'm Shakin', Blueside and If It Were Up to Me from 2003's self-titled debut and a 2004 appearance on The OC.
"We always wanted to be big in Europe, and now it's coming true big time," says Brower, who is travelling by car to Jacksonville, Florida, from Austin, Texas. "But now it seems Europe has surpassed the American market for us.
"We're still trying to make the first single work here, but it's hard for us to find a home," he adds. "We're too light for rock radio, and pop radio is hip-hop and dance music. We're not some eccentric indie thing. Sometimes it feels like we're living in the wrong period."
Brower, who at age 30 is the greybeard of the group, may be onto something. "Calling the World" is sprinkled with nods to Queen, ELO, 10cc, the Beach Boys and the Beatles, among others.
Still, the music surrounding Schwartzman's seemingly winsome tales of romantic obsession and self-loathing sneaks is classic, not retro.
The video for Are You Afraid? was prompted by reaction to the song in Germany. One of Calling the World's darker, edgier tracks, Afraid? suggests what a Toto tune might sound like if played by ELO.
"Ironically, we cut that at (the late Toto drummer) Jeff Porcaro's house," says Brower. "He had a studio in his home, and that's where we recorded most of Calling the World. We all like Toto, and he was a phenomenal drummer."
The video for I Should Have Been After You, the most prominent Queen-influenced track, was made because of the response to the song in England and Europe.
"It's scary to do Queen (-style music) because it is so complex," says Brower. "But Robert had it in the back of his mind to do something really dramatic. And even though he brought it to us as a home demo with a chintzy drum machine, I said right away, `That song is a killer.'"
Brower notes that After You was inspired in part by Rooney's contribution to the 2005 Killer Queen tribute CD, Death on Two Legs.
"Everyone just loved it," says Brower of Rooney's rendition of the song Queen used to open its 1975 album A Night at the Opera.
"It was Freddie Mercury writing about the slimy record company people around him (specifically Queen's ex-manager). We were kind of getting beat up at that time, so to do it was cathartic."
Indeed, the turmoil that preceded Calling the World might have splintered many other bands. Rooney recorded - and shelved - two albums before the band turned a corner and recorded World.
"The first was pretty raw. We recorded it using no modern gadgetry," says Brower. "It was fun and exciting, but it didn't have quite the pop we wanted. Then we made a record that was the opposite. It was a layered, ballsy, rock-guitar album. Maybe someday we'll release those two as a package, two 10-song albums that are opposite sides of the same coin."
Although some of that material is available on the Internet, Rooney's live show is restricted to material from its two CDs and the odd cover.
"Because of the time between albums, it's like we're a new band with a new record," says Brower. "Every show is a fight for our life. So we have to kick a** and play what people want to hear."
- Copyright (C) 2007 MCT Information Services
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