A new sound is coming out of New England.

No, it’s not the rebuilding of Foxboro Stadium; it’s Rantic, a four-piece band that prides itself on not “really sounding like anyone else out there.” And they are right.

Rantic’s self-titled first album was released in late 2001, and so far has received rave reviews. The band, based in Portsmouth, plays gigs around New England and is hoping to sign with a label.

The name Rantic comes from an Old English word meaning “one who rants,” and according to Rantic’s lead singer and spokesperson, Lynne Taylor, “[it] was considered a type of lunacy. Back in the Middle Ages, rantics were jailed and burned fairly regularly, along with heretics, witches and anyone else who had their own opinions and voiced them.”

Based on varying musical backgrounds, Lynne Taylor (vocals/keyboard), Scott Solsky (guitar/vocals), and Bob Morrissette (bass) originally began playing together under the name “Eleven.” However, after losing their drummer, they were forced to begin again, this time with Tony D’Anna keeping the beat. The result? An entirely new sound.

Reviews:

Rantic is (from left):
drummer Tony D’Anna;
lead vocalist/keyboardist Lynne Taylor;
guitarist/vocalist Scott Solsky
and bassist Bob Morrissette.

“Rantic” is a well-put-together album. These musicians are incredibly talented. While they may be geared towards an older crowd, rather than a drunken mix of college students, their musical arrangements won’t cease to impress any music lover. However, in today's pop culture, Rantic may have a difficult time finding a place on the radio just yet.

This aside, Rantic’s sound is truly remarkable and original. Songs such as “perfect” and “plenty,” with powerful lyrics and incredible instrument arrangement, leave a lasting impression on listeners. This is a very emotional album, and will touch the heart as well as the ear.
– Lauren Clemence

For more information on Rantic, or for booking information, go to www.bostonbands.com/rantic or Contact us here.

Download Perfect and Plenty in MP3 format.

Rantic, no cookie cutter pop from this band

By TIM DEAL Special to Showcase sgtdeal@yahoo.com

There are clearly three different perspectives from which to judge music: that of a listener, that of a songwriter, and that of a musician. The greatest challenge for any CD project is to successfully appeal to all three. Listeners want songs that hook them immediately, songwriters want songs that challenge their lyrical and compositional abilities, and musicians want songs that blast away at popular clichés.

Most bands quickly discover that you cannot achieve all three while salvaging your musical integrity. However, seacoast New England band, Rantic, has landed a coup in the music scene where so many other bands have failed. Its first (self-titled) CD is an honest testament to their songwriting talent while proving their musical ability through nine songs that will undoubtedly secure listener appeal.

It didn´t come easy, the band took almost a full year to produce its first CD, at the expense of time, effort and hard-earned gig-money. Yet they did it, and the band hopes this CD will launch them into radio airplay.

According to band front-person, Lynne Taylor, the band thought it would be able to accomplish the daunting recording task within a couple of months, but schedules and finances quickly got in the way.

"We all have full, busy lives," said Taylor, "So it was difficult just getting time to book the studio."

Rantic´s studio time, spent at BobCat´s Recording Studio in Seabrook, allowed the band to document its own brand of original (and intelligent) rock ‘n´ roll.

The result is a tightly composed compilation of Rantic songs that have gained respectable popularity at a variety of live venues up and down the coast.

As the band is quick to admit, these songs were written and per-formed with a focus on being true to the band´s lyrical and musical abilities, whereas popularity came after as a welcome side effect.

The listener will discover that Rantic is not a cookie cutter pop band, they will instead be regaled by the creative energies that manifest in this collection of melancholic anthems.

Rantic moves without being overbearing. The band members demonstrate their talent without sacrificing their songwriting sensibilities. Certainly the band will not appeal to everyone, but that was never its mission. Instead, Rantic sought to be true to the demons that haunted their musical vision- and that vision never had a name that we could immediately recognize.

The CD kicks off with the engaging number, "Plenty." "Plenty" contains all the right musical elements without selling out. The lyrics are delivered in staccato bursts, complimented by Bob Morrissette´s melodic bass-groove and Scott Solsky´s wah pedal. The song has special significance to Solsky and Taylor as it is inspired by a news story Taylor read about a teenage student who killed his family- and both Solsky and Taylor are teachers. "Plenty" proclaims, "hit the ground and ya can´t stop running," and the listener can almost hear the rhythmic footfalls.

The CD then launches into a series of songs dominated by Taylor´s keyboards. "Drowning" yanks the listener into a forlorn place replete with powerful imagery.

"By the time that we hit 20/We were washed up on the shore/Misshaped, ghostlike apparitions/Of who we were before/We had died".

In "Drowning," Taylor´s voice paints a vivid and haunting picture. At times she drifts into an almost laconic disposition, but then she punctuates the calm with an angry howl that pleasantly assails the listener´s senses.

Taylor´s introspection turns to ire in "Asphyxiate," guitarist Solsky´s angry lament to an ex-girlfriend. "I don´t know why I ever let you into me…" wails Taylor, "…I should have quit long before I began to Asphyxiate…" "Asphyxiate" has a classic rock sound a la Heart derived from the integration of Taylor´s piano with Solsky´s distorted heavy guitar and Tony D´Anna´s powerful drum-fills.

"Gypsy" showcases Solsky´s improvisational guitar talent, as the song´s straightforward chord progression leads the listener into his dramatic riff, and then back out again. Morrissette´s bass-line makes "Gypsy" a bit darker-sounding than the rest.

"Perfect" is a clear demonstration of Rantic´s ability. The song begins with the seemingly innocent sounds of Taylor´s piano and then explodes in a flurry of searing guitar riffs and machine gun drum fills. "Perfect" is one of those songs that the listener quickly adopts as a soundtrack for part of his life.

Rantic´s debut CD is well crafted, tightly arranged and performed, and contains nine songs that diverge just enough to be interesting yet honestly represent the band´s focused direction. The lyrics are deeply personal and provide insight into Taylor and Solsky´s hunger for social change and awareness.

Perhaps the most striking thing about Rantic´s music is the respect that it affords the listener. It does not rely on gimmicky hooks nor popular mainstream song structures to entice its audience. Instead, it is honest and forthright music combined with thought-provoking lyrics- simply played well.

Rantic performs at its CD release party Saturday at 9 p.m. at Biddy Mulligan´s in Dover. The band Craving will open the show. The debut CD will be for sale during the show. Arrive early in order to find seats. Rantic´s CD will also be available at Bull Moose Records in Portsmouth, Al Bum´s in Newburyport, Mass., and Michael Charles Music in Rochester.

Ranting and rolling

Local band Rantic reflects the times with dark, emotional sound
By GAGE COGSWELL CORRESPONDENT

Rantic. It’s a real word. Well, it used to be one in Jolly Olde back in the day in the 1500s. It meant someone who rants, who goes on and on, loudly, talking about things nobody wants to listen to. It was considered a form of lunacy — another funny word, if you think about it, that means insanity. Rantics were either tossed in jail or burned at the stake along with their fellow travelers: Heretics. Witches. Anybody who dared to be different (or who were inconvenient) and was foolish enough to express it.

It wasn’t supposed to be the name for this band. The musical core of Rantic came together several years ago under the name Eleven. The musicians got bogged down by ... um, you know ... creative differences. The split was as amiable as these things can be. Drummer Steve Dow left the band. Lynne Taylor, Scott Solsky and Bob Morrissette auditioned drummers and brought Tony D’Anna into the fold.

So you might figure that, with the drummer problem solved, Eleven would just carry on, push ahead with its initial vision, but it didn’t quite work out that way.

"The music completely changed," says Taylor, Rantic’s keyboardist, vocalist and primary lyricist. "It’s amazing what changing a single member will do. It gave us a new dynamic, a new feel, a new sound."

"The thinking was that, although the lineup of the Amesbury-centric outfit remained essentially the same, the band felt and sounded so different that it felt like it had been built from scratch, so the musicians believed they should rename it.

The name Rantic popped out of the television screen during a program on the history of England. They thought, "Hmmmm, that works."

And it does work, the name. After all, you gotta be a bit rantic, a bit of a loon, to cast your lot with a band that doesn’t quite sound like anybody else, that doesn’t fit into any of the standard — that is to say, immediately radio-friendly — categories, to write songs that are introspective and smart, dark yet hopeful, with literate, heartfelt lyrics that color and explain rather than preach or pander, to eschew style for vibe. Rantic.

That’s what Rantic has been doing at local clubs over the past couple of years. Now the band has released its first compact disc, which documents the band’s vision. The band will bring out the nine-song collection at two release parties next week, one at the Lafayette Club in Amesbury and one at a Dover, N.H., nightclub.

Called simply "Rantic," the disc is, at first blush, dark and moody. (With song titles like "Drowning" and "Asphyxiate," it’s difficult to miss the point.) But there’s also a lilt of hopefulness if you listen for it. (The movement from the "If I had a billion dollars I would go and save the world/but I can’t even change myself/ so f— it" to the " Politicians lie because we let them/Parts of us die and we forget them/ but if we dig down to the truth/ beneath the line between me and you/ There may be hope " of the song " Human Condition " being the most obvious example.)

And if not hope, the lyrics offer the example of self-awareness, strength or, perhaps, a possible escape route. Of course, everyone interprets lyrics in his or her own way.

Despite the 30-something angst, the sometimes-bleak lyrics, the songs on "Rantic" are melodic and the arrangements complex and powerfully, emotionally delivered. Musically the disc covers a lot of ground, from "Plenty," the reggae-flavored song about the endless, disillusioning rush to have it all, to "Perfect," perhaps the most impressive song on the disc, building emotionally and sonically into a rock powerhouse (and which, itself, segues seamlessly into "Justify," another surprising tune that builds to a powerful emotional crescendo), to the sad, scream-in-the-night " Birthday Song.

"The music covers some ground in time: Two of the songs (the previously mentioned "Perfect" and "Testament" ) date back to 1987, when Taylor performed them with The Mystyx. Both underwent a bit of musical tweaking along the way, but the biggest change may be the way we perceive the lyrical content of " Testament " in light of the events of Sept. 11: " When all was lost something remained/ It was remembered when everything changed/ It doesn’t matter how this came to be ... " The lyric, the song takes on a whole new meaning in our new world.

*** If you go Rantic will perform at a CD release party at 8 p.m. Dec. 7 at the Lafayette Club, High Street, Amesbury. The opening act will be announced. A second release party will begin at 9 p.m. Dec. 8 at Biddy Mulligan’s in Dover, N.H. The opening act will be Craving.

A review written for Folk and Acoustic Music Exchange By Shawn Linderman.

Lynne Taylor's solo debut, Grace, marks a coming of age. Working for some eighteen years with several bands in several genres, Taylor has taken the hard road and paid her dues. In the process, she has found her muse. What she has learned about life and importances have had all the detritus stripped away.
The artist's arresting voice and fluid piano deliver her wisdom with rare beauty.

Taylor is the first singer/songwriter I've heard in many years whose primary instrument is the piano. Like Carole King twenty years ago, the sound makes for a refreshing change from the predominance of guitars on the folk scene. She exhibits complete mastery of its dynamics, producing an unusually plush backdrop for her vocals. The "folk" genre has always seemed to me to be the most open and tolerant of musical fields, where ethnicity, religion and lifestyle are appreciated for the flavors they add to songs. Lynne Taylor has a unique flavor to add: being a high yellow (light-skinned Black), she has lived on the lonely cusp; rejected by both the Black and Caucasian. Yet she maintains a powerful hopefulness, founded in personal strength, that resonates throughout the songs in this collection.

"Legacy" is the most autobiographical song. Lynne shares with us how the rejection was turned into love and strength: the legacy, rather than burden, that was handed down to her. In "Trying," Taylor addresses the quiet courage of an unlikely couple: a woman who was abused as a child and a man of a once rebellious and irresponsible nature. In spite of the dimming of their dreams they labor on, shedding their tears and "Trying to keep the waves from breaking/trying to keep the waves from hitting the shore." Taylor's characters often come from tough backgrounds. In "Voices" she matter-of-factly describes the drunks, fighters and hookers populating the childhood memories of the protagonist's neighborhood. The juxtaposition of such imagery and its presentation by Lynne's vibrato-rich contralto voice makes the impact all the more impressive. (And her vocal beauty really shines on the unlisted track that I'll refer to as "Spirit Knows." It is a powerful Native American protest on behalf of the beauty of earth and the sanity of mankind.) It's not all "fair weather, happy endings" here. The opening track, "Cinderella" laments the loss of youthful dreams and the regret in becoming exactly that which you despised. You can feel the pain of those suffering through the dying of a town in "Backwoods."

Lynne Taylor's GRACE is one of the most intensely personal works I've heard in a long while. The album features gorgeous presentation, well supported by Ed Gerhard, Jim Tierney, David Buda, Chris Decato, Roger Ebacher, Stan Longstaff, Chris Zimpfer and Matt Taylor. Presentation aside, this is gut-level folk. They are songs about thee and me if our lives had been rougher; but we can still identify with the hurts, the joys, the dreams.