Low Cut Connie
"Dirty Pictures (part 1)"
(Contender (ASTERISK)(ASTERISK)(ASTERISK))
Since the band's 2010 debut, pianist Adam Weiner has been the focal point for Low Cut Connie, the Philadelphia band of merry barroom marauders whose fourth album was recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis. How could he not be? This is an unabashed ham of a piano-pounding showman _ the Jewish Jerry Lee Lewis _ as liable to be seen standing on top of the beat-up piano he's named Shondra as he is playing it. But Weiner used to share songwriting duties with Dan Finnemore, a talented guitarist and drummer from Birmingham, England, who gave the group a two-fisted attack. Starting here, Weiner shoulders the load alone _ though guitarist James Everhart does chip in with one song, the more-than-respectable rocker "Am I Wrong." The good news is the piano man proves more than up to the task as he demands Dionysian transcendence ("Touch my body, touch my soul") on the opening "Revolution Rock n Roll," and the rhythm section rumbles as songs of misadventure like "Montreal" and "Angela" don't let feelings of inadequacy get in the way of a banging good time. Of course, the cover of Prince's "Controversy" couldn't possibly measure up to the original, but Weiner turns its call for emotional honesty into both a heartfelt tribute and personal statement.
_Dan DeLuca
