Distorted Signal

To say Larry Gallaghers’, “Can I Go Now?” is conventional is a bold understatement. Its brazen, awkward and beyond the holy sh*t, “I’m deep,” innuendo. There’s depth to his lyrical miscommunication that tosses the listener like a salad. And instead of holding the ghastly onion or adding a pinch of ground pepper, Larry offers audiences a new flavor; one of congested harmony, ill subject matter, and candid vocal structure.
Where has this fellow been?

Once a magazine journalist, turned Zen Buddhist monk, now a solo artist Larry’s definitely been busy…And is by no means new to the music biz. His first CD, “An Endless Chain of Accidents,” got his artistic expression underway. Unfortunately he’s not your typical music man. His corky sound seems to have been lost amongst the massive mainstream tidal waves that hog airtime on local radio stations. But it’s perfectly understandable given his bizarre and wayyyyy off the wall topics in Can I go Now i.e. Try not to think of bugs, Little Martian Girl or the always distracting Horny teen sluts.

Can I go Now’s song selection is strange and otherworldly in atmosphere. In, “Try not to think of bugs,” it opens with a combination of instruments, flute, oboe, tenor saxophone and even the bassoon. Listening to the symphony behind Larry’s voice is far more compelling than squirming in your seat at disturbing lines that constantly kick off, think of bugs. The “Tarantulas live only in the south, And they’re much too big To climb inside your mouth,” line is perhaps every arachnophobes nightmare. Tarantulas do that? They seriously climb in the victims mouths? This song fuels every bug loathing icky sound. Clammy hands and weak stomached alike will be haunted by the earwigs marching and the fly’s tongue magnified. I must admit Larry’s got quite a bit of dark humor in his lyrical flow which isn’t necessarily geared to entertain but possibly added for shock value.

Take the song “Horny teen sluts,” for instance who writes that? Larry does. And needless to say he does it with little regard to the listeners taste. He slaps in the piano opening in a classical tone, slow and blah. Then all of sudden, we’re thrown into a explosive B-3 instrumental take over and explicit lyrics procreated to sound playful yet alluring.

With Little Martian Girl and Tired of Me, we get a softer side to this eccentric artist. There just like any other love song. We hear the time consuming longing, the need for someone, and wanting something that’s no longer there. It’s the redundant love after heartbreak song. Larry uses this pitch to create the eerie plane that spooks audiences in Little Martian girl, but pierces our hearts in Tired of me. Each makes good solemn stories and unlike his other songs is suppler in background music. In Little Martian girl he uses the Theremin, Clavinet, Wulitzer, B-3 and the Prophet. The sound is not as bluesy as Tired of Me (which uses the reed organ) but it definitely has a few ounces of it given the spacey theme.

Other tracks, “I am better than your God, You look so good in clothes and I’m sorry for what my people did to your people,” are questionable. They very well could be intentional given his weird tone throughout the CD. But as far as subject matter goes these selections are very much skip button material. Give or take, “You look so good in clothes,” because it has a jazzy feel that might appeal to some, minus the lyrics.

Poetic in undertone, wordy and very much detailed, Larry Gallagher is a writer by trade. He’s a man of many instruments, and of many friends. Being modest his singing isn’t the best. He’s highly different from the Beyonces’ or the Jared Letos’ of the world. His work is unpredictable in nature and mixes yet rarely matches. Thus his works are seen as distortions of his bigger mental picture. Some might find this CD pointless, a jumble of random words, instruments and a gaggle of suggestive material, which only leads into the, “he shouldn’t have said that,” arena. While others may spot a fresh perspective.

Either way it’s worth a listen whether on the actual CD or a sneak peek on Rhapsody. Larry’s work has the ability to stick with you regardless of it being good or bad. It’s guaranteed that audiences will go away remembering a certain line, or a strange instrument amongst the commotion that is, his music madness.