By Stephen Pitalo
Flashback: November 1988. Better Than Ezra's playing Fred's Bar & Grill in Baton Rouge. (As any student at Louisiana State University would tell you, Fred's on Thursday meant $1 screwdrivers, Better Than Ezra, and songs about Alice B. Tolkas or "making amends with your circle of friends.") On a break from chatting up sorority girls in chort skirts, I asked classmate and bandleader Kevin Griffin if I could interview him for journalism class. He talked about REM's influences on this generation's bands, the National Lampoon issue that spawned their moniker [or did it? - papercup] (Better Than Hendrix Meets Ezra Pound), and how he had the best job in the world. I got a C plus.
Flashforward: November 1996. Better Than Ezra's playing Irving Plaza during Thanksgiving week as part of a fifteen month tour. The road since Fred's has yielded a platinum record (Elektra's re-release of their '93 debut album Deluxe) and worldwide success courtesy of the single "Good."
Signs of growth and departure identify this year's model. Griffin, bassist Tom Drummond, and newbie drummer Travis McNabb (remember the Wipers?) have concocted Friction, Baby with loud imagery, rich roots, and a few roads less travelled. From the Spectoresque waves of power chord guitar to the occaisional slippery wino groove, Ezra's strengths ultimately lie in Kevin's voice, both literally and creatively.
So Kevin and I speak again. He still insists his job can't be beat, even whent he band is under the microscope on their second major-label outing.
"People talk about the pressure of a follow-up, but we had written so many of Friction, Baby's songs by the time the first album was a hit, we didn't have time to think about those pressures," Kevin says. "All but four songs were already written."
Relentless touring and self-promotion have been the benchmark of the Ezra survival plan since the beginning.
"Even before we were signed, it was still business crap," Kevin laughs. "Calling labels, mailing lists, touring information-- it was a constant balance of being in a band and being in a business. With the new album, I know now more than ever that you just cannot coast. There are just too many bands out theere that want to be where you are."
With "Good" came some absurd pop moments-- Alanis Morrissette painting Kevin's toenails, audiences with Michael Stipe and Morrissey, and re-recording "Conjunction Junction" for Schoolhouse Rock Rocks, the CD homage to ABC-TV's Saturday morning brainfood.
"That was an honor," Kevin said of the cover tune, "but the truth is that Stone Temple Pilots were going to do it and something happened at the lasdt minute, Weiland went into rehab or something. So they asked us, and we jumped at it. It's the Holy Grail of Schoolhouse Rock! Ieven like the caricatures of us in the liner notes. I mean, it looks just like me: skinny head and big hair."
And what else are we thankful for this year? Kevin, would you like to start?
"Continuing to do what I love. I'll still be on stage and looking around and thinking, "Man, I'm doing what I've always wanted to do, ever since I was a kid."
Don't expect andy "Bad Boys of Rock" stories from Ezra in the New York tabloids. Their parents are flying up for the Irving Plaza show-- so they can all watch Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade together.
[You get a B minus this time.--ed.] *
Photo By Frank Ockenfels (tb posted)