Local Exposure: Blitz Dynette • The Omega Men • Bill Nork

Local Exposure
CD Reviews of Area Musicians

Blitz Dynette
The World Walks On By
[Independent Release]
by Ed Yashinsky

There is no doubt that Blitz Dynette feeds off the incredibly slick playing of Forrest Brown (guitar), Gary Greyhosky (drums), Robert Fanus (bass) and Gregory Johnson (keyboards), as well as Amy Simpson’s gargantuan vocals. However, The World Walks On By, the second release by this rhythm and blues juggernaut, lives and breathes through the hornplay of Bill Gingrich (trombone), Eric Ensminger (trumpet) and Dave Buffington (trumpet). Foregoing a guitar-heavy sound, Blitz Dynette pumps out traditional R&B grooves with enough jazz, rock and worldbeat stylings to avoid the velvet trappings of the local Holiday Inn. There are no clunkers among the original tunes on The World Walks On By and the heavy groove and salsa-like chorus of the Golden Earring standard "Radar Love" offers enough change-of-pace to make even this stale workhorse sound fresh and exciting.

The Omega Men
Introducing the Spy-Fi Sounds
of The Omega Men
[Independent Release]
by Mitchell L. Hillman, Jr.

Sporting what may be one of the most unusual local sounds around, The Omega Men seem to rocket out of a thirty-year time warp to land smack dab in the middle of Lebanon, Pennsylvania. I was first introduced to the "Spy-Fi" sounds of the Omega Men in Tower Records on my birthday this year. The sounds coming out of the stores pipes held me in a tight fitting trance and what’s more, they played the album over and over again. The birthday was horrible, but that album was brilliant and its memory unrelenting. Now that I listen to it again in the headphoned confines of my hi-fi digital slide, I dig this album to the utter end.

The Omega Men mix a mean cocktail that goes down smooth and fine through fifteen tracks that are largely instrumental. Like a soundtrack for a lost Mod movie from the 1960s, this aural beverage brings the best shots of Dick Dale’s frenzied surf sound, Booker T.’s soul, Henry Mancini’s soundtracks, Ennio Morricone’s Spaghetti Western themes and a lot of Hammond Organ together, then shakes them vigorously for about a half an hour. The four songs on the album that feature lyrics find the Omega Men’s forays into the garage sound of the Standells, the Troggs and more recently (and locally) the Original Sins. Although the brilliant "You’ll Never Miss Me" extends their sound into a pop element that should see some more exposure in the sun. All in all, Introducing the Spy-Fi Sounds of the Omega Men is just that: an introduction to the unique chemical concoction of a few familiar elements that washes up on shore as something surprisingly refreshing. And besides it tastes great.

Bill Nork
Crazy Music
[Independent Release]
by Ed Yashinsky

There’s something very familiar (and a little unnerving) about Bill Nork’s songs. Most of Crazy Music features pop-inflected guitar that draws heavily on The Beatles, The Byrds, Marshall Crenshaw and numerous other pop troubadours. There are some magic moments on Crazy Music ("Run Away and Hide," "Out of Love" and "Not Say Goodbye" to name a few) centered around Nork’s strong guitar and Mary K. Jewitt’s solid bass playing, but Nork tends to wear all his influences on his sleeve and that is his downfall. Too many divergent musical styles placed back to back make Crazy Music a little tough to follow.