Animal Logic

(I.R.S., all 3 formats) This debut album has altered my expectations of a rock band's range. Their sound is richer than the wines I'm used to. Made up of Stewart Copeland, formerly drummer for the Police, and Stanley Clarke, jazz fusion bassist extraordinaire, the third ingredient is Deborah Holland, a singer-songwriter from Clifton, NJ, who's been playing around Los Angeles for the last decade in a succession of bands. This is her big break but all three are lucky to have found each other. The emphasis here is not on showing off virtuosity but on a band sound.
    The production (by Copeland and Clarke) is seamless. The lush, metallic guitar chords chime over synthesizer sounds drawn like stretching caramel. Copeland's clean drum work is a skeletal frame that animates the structure with a fervent pulse beat. Clarke's bass is subtle, stalwart and ever present like being able to hear your subconscious. And riding on top of it all, Deborah Holland's smooth voice, serious and elegantly passionate, convincing as it pulls you into the mise-en-scene. Steve Howe (former Yes), Pete Haycock (former Climax Blues Band) and Michael Thompson contribute very tasty guitar work. L. Shankar, violin and Freddie Hubbard, trumpet, guest on a track each adding to the production's marvelous orchestral weave.
    Pulling in touches of country and tin pan alley the album rocks. Each cut pulls you into its narrative and uplifts you and sends you floating. I've been walking around singing tunes from this record for weeks. It's not just that the melodies are so tasteful and catchy. They reach so far down into you and draw out some dormant mode to persuade you toward a joyous, triumphal feel. They work on psychology levels at the same time as they drive the body with their crisp punch.
    Finally, here are some rock lyrics for adults. We don't get the romantic, stereotype clichés we expect from pop songs. Holland writes about love, lack of love, and yearning, issues songs have dealt with forever, but her lyrics are more immediate as she has a poet's edge, an ability to reveal more and the confidence to express her vulnerability. She's recognized her pain and understood the value in sharing her contexts. After hearing these wails and pleadings and celebrations you feel, "Thanks, I needed that."
    She writes about the chasm that exists between potential lovers. If only she could reach through. She proclaims the terrible emptiness at not having someone to share the domestic good life. She's got things under control except she's calling out for the partner to share it with. There's a welcome sophistication in her confession, an assured awareness of the atmosphere around her, a grown-up summing up of the state of the house message. She just wants someone to sit on the sofa with, not a conquistador. When one of her choruses kicks in, you get a lift. They're as euphoric as a slow motion film sequence, invigorating as running into someone you want to see, being on familiar ground after a rough trip.
    All band members are thrilled with the result of their combined effort. Though Copeland was busy composing and mounting a full-scale opera that premiered in Cleveland last month, and Clarke tours constantly with various arrays of lineups, they are all now concentrated on this band. The album/CD/cassette is available, tour dates are being finalized (December 1st at The Ritz here in NYC), the video's on VH-1, a date is penciled in for an appearance on the David Letterman show (Nov. 10).
    "The industry indicators are good," says singer Holland who already feels that for her the band's been a success. "I'm already happy. I feel validated. Steward and Stanley liking my songs enough to form a band has made me incredibly happy. If the band takes off, that'll just be icing on the cake."
    Animal Logic is a terrific debut from three disparate elements able to merge their particular strengths into one tasty and provocative band. It's a working recipe.

(Cover, November 1989)