Dreamland Faces

In this age of promotion and bizarre concepts like branding oneself, Dreamland Faces are not PR people. Take for instance their orange CD, which doesn't have their name on the cover and doesn't have a title. There is just a simple drawing of two fighting bunnies. I don't know what year it came out because that's not listed anywhere, either.

The names of the songs and the members of the band are on the back, though. When the band lived in Milwaukee they were a duo, but a few years ago they moved to Minneapolis and now they're an ensemble of six: Josef Evans on pianoforte, Kristen Froebel on soprano saxophone, Karen Majewicz on accordion and vocals, Andy McCormick on musical saw, accordion, and vocals, Steve Sandberg on tuba and trombone, Randall Throckmorton on banjo ukulele and vocals.

Karen also plays in Carpscale Orchester. She composed the first song on this orange CD, Ballbuster. It starts with her on accordion and a quick rejoinder from the soprano sax. The atmosphere is old fashioned amusement park with fun house and cotton candy, romantic and cavorting.

Randall Throckmorton wrote Only My Pillow Hears Me Cry, a sad, mopey song that was probably written in the dead of the nine-month winter in Minneapolis. The pillow is the only source of consolation, and yet it's a shameful secret that is shared with us at the chorus.

Circle A Waltz is named after a mostly defunct bar in Milwaukee. It's a wobbly little party with some Eastern European lines, just like the city of beers.

Black Cat is a Baghdad folksong. The banjo ukulele is nice and plucky at the start. The saw comes along, then Karen sings in her truly inimitable style. I often think that her singing is 1930s, but now that I reflect on it there is no one from that era with that warble, either.

Aquatics is an energetic romp.

Everything I Have Is Yours is slow and lumbering, with Throckmorton's falsetto and some soothing, sleepy solos.

TRAPPED is back at the amusement park, but this time it's not too much fun. I imagine the end of The Lady From Shanghai where Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth have a showdown in the house of mirrors. It doesn't end well, but it brings to a close a story that is swirling downward.

Whipdance seems purposely cheery after TRAPPED, like someone who dances around and grins to stop a baby from crying. Everything's all right, everything's all right. Low voices lull, wordless.

I must admit I stopped the CD and watched the Ink Spots perform It's Only a Shanty in Old Shanty Town and one thing that is striking is how much they smile when they sing. Which changes the tone of your voice, by the way. As for the Dreamland Faces, and their slightly changed title, In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town, I have a small bone to pick: instead of saying "the roof is so slanty" which is grammatically incorrect but rhymes with shanty, Andy says it's "slanted". The next time I see them live I'd love to hear him switch that word. Otherwise I love this version. They really make it their own.

Mt. Hope is a gently swaying end to this CD, which you can order from Dreamland Faces Web site. Also this is an excellent live band, so go see them if you can.