Buy the Newest album by Ness: You Can't Afford To Feel
also check out: Up Late With People
HISTORY
Ness was formed in 2000, following the dissolution of alt-rockers Fig Dish in 1999. Guitarist Blake Smith and bassist Mike Willison formed Caviar (and later The Prairie Cartel) to pursue a more eclectic electro-rock sound, while guitarist Rick Ness and drummer Bill Swartz regrouped under the name Ness.
Ness got off to a rather stuttering start, hampered by incessant lineup changes. Ness’s colorfully revolving door included Jim Shapiro (Veruca Salt, Ultraswiss), Tamar Berk (Starball, the Countdown), Johnny Polonsky, Tom Szidon (The Joy Poppers), and James Webb (The Webb Brothers), with Swartz and Ness the only constant members. At the time, Bill was drumming for Frisbie, while Ness was playing various stringed instruments for The Webb Brothers.
Then sometime in the late fall of 2002, close friend and Hushdrops leader John San Juan came along with his old mate Phil Young, who at the time was putting together a Yes cover band called Topographic Tormato. (The band faced serious challenges, as Phil was attempting to play the roles of Rick Wakeman, Chris Squire and John Andersen simultaneously. This does, however, illustrate the lofty heights of Phil’s musical ambition.) At any rate, Rick and Bill found the pair’s unbridled arrogance and surly attitudes irresistible, and enthusiastically welcomed them as band mates. The two new members also brought a fount of vocal and multi-instrumental talents with them, completing the perfect ensemble to record the band’s debut, "Up Late With People" (2004).
From the opening sugar rush of “Where The People Kick It†to the effervescent thrills of “Adelaide,†"Up Late With People" is a mutating mélange of prog-infused pop songs that incorporate the British invasion flair of The Kinks and The Zombies with the ambitious arrangement fetishes of Queen and Pink Floyd, all with an infectious jolt of power pop a la Cheap Trick and The Sweet. The album is unapologetic as it effortlessly travels all over the musical map, all the while keeping its identity decidedly intact. From delicate harmonies to clamoring cacophony, from bludgeoning rhythms to caressing melodies, Up Late With People is a C.S. Lewis–like journey through your dusty old record collection. Ness’s multifarious racket is most notably exemplified by the album’s 13-minute title track. Up Late With People was recorded by Andy Gerber (Kevin Tihista, Local H) and Neal Ostrovsky (The Webb Brothers, Bon Mots). This audacious debut, which their guiding hands helped birth, can now be heard as an eclectic harbinger of the band’s second release, "You Can’t Afford To Feel" (2008).
Describing "You Can’t Afford To Feel" is like opening a Pandora’s box of chimerical rock metaphors. Its unholy mixture of classic pop and epic reach is like Ray Davies wearing chain mail and jousting a tower of Vox AC30s, or Todd Rundgren daydreaming with a 23-sided die stuck in his ear. Imagine Gruff Rhys challenging the members of Pink Floyd to a duel after seven Brandy Alexanders, or Phil Spector threatening Brian Wilson with a semi-automatic weapon in a noisy airport. That might sound like "You Can’t Afford To Feel." On their new album, Ness deftly hone their craft to a white-hot tip but never give up their raw, zealous abandon. This is immediately apparent on the explosive “Where’s Guns?†which opens the album like a lost Live At Leeds track. Full of mesmerizing melodies, seamless segues, eerie ethereality, and hypnotizing harmonies, these nine songs take you through the dizzying peaks and terrifying valleys that a great album is supposed to have. (Plenty of creamy mid grounds, too.) Ness continues to experiment with the long form: “The Future Used To Be Cool†clocks in at over 24 minutes. Needless to say, headphones are recommended for this monumental track (they work pretty well for the whole album, actually). Many thanks to Neal Ostrovsky, who recorded and mixed the album at his formidable Chicago studio, B-side Audio.
