A Triple Bill Takes Rock
Back Toward Its Roots

    by John Pareles
 
 

Rock roots have grown twisted over the last decade. Before the 1980s, musicians who tried to hold onto roots were the conservative mainstream, battling newcomers who didn't respect old methods. But with the arrival of computerized music, mainstream rock developed amnesia, leaving it to cranks and fringe elements to reclaim handmade sounds and traditional formats. "Roots rock" is already a passé term, but the triple bill on Thursday night at the Ritz revolved around untamed guitar sounds, unmechanized rhythms, and echoes of the blues and country music.

Steve Wynn's previous band, the somber Dream Syndicate, never quite outgrew the influences of the Doors' death-haunted California blues and the Velvet Underground's basic songs and droning, shrieking guitar jams. Now Mr. Wynn is writing songs that are more tuneful and often funnier or more compassionate than typical Dream Syndicate fare, and his new group, the Steve Wynn Quintet, finally breaks loose from 1960s revivalism by glancing further back and adding a gleeful, raucous spirit to the music.

The Los Angeles-based quintet doesn't waste Mr. Wynn's guitar playing, which ignited Dream Syndicate's live shows. Its set at the Ritz allowed a few songs to stretch out as Mr. Wynn and the guitarist Robert Mache unleashed moans, jitters, slides, wails and sirens. But most of the set was a showcase for songs, including folksy versions of the Dream Syndicate's "Now I Ride Alone" and "Tell Me When It's Over" and half a dozen selections from Mr. Wynn's first solo album, "Kerosene Man" (Rhino).

The new songs invoke old blues riffs, rhythm-and-blues, barrelhouse piano (from Robert Lloyd on keyboards) or a hint of country behind Mr. Wynn's assured, nasal voice; he growled and cackled through the old "Graveyard Train," spewed tongue-twisting verbiage in "Younger" and became almost brotherly in "Carolyn." Mr. Wynn's lyrics are worth hearing, and the crisp arrangements stayed out of their way. At the same time, the band kicked through the songs as if they were simple roadhouse romps, old-fashioned in the best way.

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