THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 17, 1996 TAG: 9602170049
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CRAIG SHAPIRO, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
RECORD COMPANIES have learned not to put their release dates in stone. Artistic temperaments, corporate sniping, shifting promotion strategies and distribution foul-ups regularly conspire to create delays.
TVT Records was tardy with George Huntley's new album, ``brain junk,'' too, but for another reason: ``Mortal Kombat: The Movie.''
Specifically, the record was put on hold while TVT pushed the film's soundtrack, an amalgam of synthesized dance tracks by Utah Saints, KMFDM, Sister Machine Gun, Orbital, Psykosonik and onetime porn queen Traci Lords.
``It was such an immensely successful movie and soundtrack, all warp drive was geared to the soundtrack,'' Huntley, the cheery guitarist/songwriter for The Connells, said last week.
Besides, what helps TVT helps Huntley: His album rides the crest of an arcade game-turned-hit movie into the record store. The solo disc - his first, and the first by any member of the band - finally arrived Tuesday.
To say ``brain junk'' was a long time coming, is an understatement.
It had been in the rumor mill for nearly a year. It was in the works long before that. Huntley, a biostatistics major at the University of North Carolina, started cutting the demos in 1992, in part for his own psychological well-being.
``We were in the throes of a legal dispute with TVT and were pretty disgusted,'' he said from his home in Raleigh. ``We'd started fighting among ourselves. Because the times were so hard, I started playing with other musicians just because I was craving the experience.''
Then he began work on the solo album.
``I developed a real flavor for it and got different people on different sessions. It was like being married and cheating on my wife, but having a legal affair. The label went for it. The band liked it. It also left room for everyone to write on the new (Connells) album.''
Two years later, with relationships within the band, a longtime favorite in Hampton Roads, and with TVT mended, Huntley unreeled the finished product. At least, he thought so.
``You're going to die when you hear this comment,'' he said. ``They (TVT) thought it sounded too much like the '70s, too heavy and lush in a '70s way. My immediate comeback was, `Listen people, that's good.' The gist was they thought I was not staying true to my musical heritage by making a record that didn't sound like The Connells.
``I think they were hoping for a guy on a stool with an acoustic guitar. That's the way they envision me because Mike (Connell) and I have always written on acoustic guitar. The neighbors like you more, and we want our neighbors to like us.''
Connells fans won't be disappointed with ``brain junk,'' nor will those whose tastes run to well-crafted pop about love, loss and longing.
The disc is peppered with the airy arrangements and neo-psychedelic lyrics that made Huntley's ``Sal,'' ``Inside My Head'' and ``Lay Me Down'' such standouts on The Connells' ``Fun & Games.''
But with a lineup featuring Connells drummer Peele Wimberley, Superchunk's Jon Wurster, Jack Campbell of Jonny Quest and keyboardist Paul Harris, a veteran of Stephen Stills' band, it also has a distinct roots/folk feel. Slide and 12-string guitars, harmonicas and Hammond B3 anchor most tracks.
And that, said Huntley, who still swoons when he hears the Everly Brothers, is more in line with his upbringing. The youngest of five kids in a musically inclined family, he grew up with all kinds of influences.
``In my house, every brother and sister had a distinct taste - from Gordon Lightfoot and John Prine to the Shirelles and the Supremes,'' said Huntley, 34. ``It's kind of a cliche, but my musical heritage is kind of church music. We've always done a lot of singing together. There are piano players and organ players in the family.
``It's a nice, human sort of sound, and I always felt I could identify with it.''
Huntley also cites one other, major influence.
``Oh yeah, there's one thing you never hear solo guys say. The Connells are probably my biggest influence. I've been in the band going on 12 years now. I really cut my teeth playing with those guys.''
As for the band, the picture has never looked brighter. Everyone recommitted themselves before the release of 1993's ``Ring,'' Huntley said, and were further bolstered by the album's reception in Europe. One track, ``74/75,'' is doing well in the U.K. The video for ``Ever Want Me To,'' off ``brain junk,'' is in rotation on VH-1 in Germany.
``We're just getting ready to start playing again and hope to have a new record come out in April or May,'' Huntley said. ``Then, we'll do a full, pretty extensive tour of the U.S.
``The feeling is like, gosh, there's something so innately fun about the band. We all like being in it. And there are some games left to play. The overseas market is such a thrill.
``It's the law of averages: Keep hammering away and the nails have to start going in.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
George Huntley
by CNB