(Epic)
It's usually a fairly suspect proposition when a clutch of various rock folk decide to commit their otherwise idle time to tape. But Tuatara's maiden release may gain back some of the respectability lost to the years when the supergroup devolved into...well, Asia for instance.
Longstanding pals Barrett Martin and Justin Harwood (of Screaming Trees and Luna, respectively) extended invitations to left-coast, multi-instrumentalist Skerik and full-fledged rock God Pete Buck to add their sentiments to various tracks for a side project. Coalescing into a four piece over a year, each member was able to parcel out time between day jobs to seeing Breaking The Ethers to a common birthing.
Where Tuatara delivers in just under an hour's time is fully-baked vision of modern musical aestheticisms couched in old world flavours and smooth melodies. It's what you might drop into the CD player after the evening's bout of hardcore lounge has seen you through your first sheaf of cocktails and there's a requirement for something of similar audio depth but with decidedly more sonic intrigue.
Laced with everything from elegant marimba lines and free-flowing exotica like the udu, tabla, and a Taos thunder drum (!!), a major opportunity for monotonous wanking over a faux world-music premise is actually wrestled into a sound and experimental tryst amongst earnest musicians. Skerik's sax lines and Harwood's upright bass give much of the material its twentieth century footing, while Martin's percussion and various other flavourings (cello, tibetan horns, congas) are the true font of the Tuatara vibe. The spaces left for Buck to protrude from are not as obvious as the rabid R.E.M.-fan might hope for, but six-string bass and slide guitar contributions ("Land of Apples") once again shows the breadth of his sensibilities and how easily he can morph skills as need be. Also seen onboard are Pearl Jam-mer Mike McCready trading opposing guitar passages with Buck, Young Fresh Fellow Scott McCaughey adding steel drum ("Eastern Star"), and some fantastic bass penny whistle brought in by Los Lobos-man Steve Berlin ("Saturday Night Church").
Not ostentatiously fashioned for the widespread consumption like other "supergroup" outings, Tuatara manage to keep their respectability about them while prancing gingerly through the world music garden. Together they kick up a bit of smart mystique for those who occasionally tire of the 4/4 dominion.
