Artist: Miracle Fortress

Album: Five Roses

Released: May 21, 2007

Label: Secret City Records

Verdict: The “Beach Boys” side of indie rock

It’s a sad fact that too much of today’s indie rock takes a perverse pride in its many amateurish and counterproductive proclivities, among them poor vocals, substandard instrumentation and a frustrating lack of attention to detail, the latter most likely stemming from the genre’s mid-’70s punk roots. Slogging through the garbage to find the gold can be an onerous task, but Graham Van Pelt’s Miracle Fortress is the kind of band that rewards our strained perseverance, restoring one’s faith in the messy, boisterous sonic carousel that is independent rock music.

Numerous critics have already remarked on MF’s unmistakable Yo La Tengo aesthetic, and it’s certainly easy to discern that seminal band’s prominent influence among Five Roses’ breathy, high-pitched vocals and metronomic pacing. But it is Van Pelt’s other noteworthy guideposts that shine most brilliantly here, primarily his fascination with classic Pet Sounds-era Beach Boys. Nowhere is this allegiance more evident than on the celestial “Maybe Lately,” whose shifting, kaleidoscopic chorus boasts the same understated taste for the symphonic that made Brian Wilson’s mid-’60s compositions so justly famous. Penning subtle, exquisite tunes like this (not to mention successfully lassoing them on tape) takes more than talent; it requires that meticulous attention to detail mentioned above — an artistic professionalism and Tears For Fears-style devotion to one’s craft sadly lacking in about 95 percent of modern indie rock slop. Even Van Pelt’s dreamy tangential diversions (the aptly titled “Beach Baby” or the instrumental title cut) serve a valid musical purpose, layering the record with the gentle twists and turns of a mountain path. Meander along with him, if you can; Five Roses’ suspended consciousness is a worthwhile, head-in-the-clouds treat.

 

Artist: Ace Frehley

Album: Ace Frehley

Released: October 1978

Label: Casablanca

Verdict: The lone Kiss record with class

So what if Kurt Cobain and a million other modern rockers cite Kiss as a huge musical influence? For those of us old enough to have purchased these puerile and largely unsophisticated records the day they came out (gulp!), it’s truly instructive to see which portions of the band’s long-derided catalog have indeed stood the test of time. And aside from two vital, must-own live releases (Alive and Alive II), it’s this solo effort by lead guitarist Ace Frehley that somehow still zealously clings to its coveted spot on my classic-rock playlist.

The year 1978 saw all four members of Kiss release self-titled solo albums (including life-size jigsaw posters, all of which I still have somewhere). The band was at the apex of their popularity, but you’d never know it from the sagging quality of these largely forgotten releases: Of the other three solo records, one was mediocre, one was bad and one was just plain ugly. But the 12-year-olds who threw Ace Frehley on their turntables way back when got the musical surprise of their rookie lives — a rollicking, innovative, downright phenomenal set of songs, capped off by one of the most gorgeous fairytale instrumentals (“Fractured Mirror”) ever put to vinyl. Sometimes while listening, it’s fun to envision Ace’s bandmates’ contemporaneous reactions to such riff-laden rockers as “Ozone” or the jangling “What’s On Your Mind?” Crippling jealousy, I’d imagine, with a generous helping of acute embarrassment thrown in for good measure. Ace even landed his only Top 40 hit off here, a hard-partying cover of Russ Ballard’s anthemic “New York Groove” that still induces most Manhattanites to whip out their air guitars even to this day. But it’s the out-of-place “Fractured Mirror” that can still bring tears — easily the most complex and memorable song any member of Kiss ever recorded.

Marc Stephens is a Web consultant by day, writer by night. Comments?

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