Lee Presson’s Delightfully Warped Nostalgia

from the Amazon.com Web page for this recording

The end of last month saw the release of the latest self-produced album by Lee Presson and the Nails (LPN), entitled Last Request. Amazon.com seems to think that this is only available for download. However, CD Baby provides hyperlinks for both CD and download; so the above hyperlink points to their Web page. Nevertheless, the Amazon.com Web page is worth visiting for the customer review provided by “a former Nail,” along with other enthusiastic reviews that give an excellent account of the album’s content. (I particularly like the mashup of “blast from the past” with “zombie apocalypse.”)

Readers may recall that LPN visited Union Square Live almost exactly two months ago. This was my first contact with the group; and in writing my account, I found it hard to contain my enthusiasm. For me, this was a trip down memory lane that amalgamated memories of horror movie television shows hosted by John Zacherle with a swing band style that owed as much to Spike Jones as to Duke Ellington. Some of the numbers simply involved tweaking the surface level, such as recognizing that Carl Sigman’s lyrics for Jerry Gray’s “Pennsylvania 6-5000” (written for Glenn Miller’s band) would scan just as well with “Transylvania 6-5000.” On the other hand there are tracks that just involved taking music that is already significantly warped (as in the title music for Psycho) and warping it just a bit further by tweaking the instrumentation and the delivery.

My own fondness, however, is for the Jones connection. When I saw LPN in Union Square, the most memorable experience involved going back to “Jones scripture” for “Hotcha Cornia,” probably the most irreverent account of the Russian song “Dark Eyes” (Óči čjórnye) ever recorded. Beyond the tracks that recalled the concert I had attended, I took the most amusement from “With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm” and really wish I had some information about the vocalist for that track. [added 11/18, 9:10 a.m.: Thanks to feedback from Presson, I can now report that the vocalist is Melody Burke, who used to live in the Bay Area but moved to New Zealand about five years ago.]

To be fair, however, the visual part of an LPN performance is as significant as the auditory. The same could be said for Spike Jones. Nevertheless, there is more than enough on this album to make for an experience that will probably escalate quickly from rib-tickling to belly laughs. The album is a 25th anniversary release. However, it is clear that LPN is still going strong, and I look forward to word of when the band will give another San Francisco performance.