Peter Holsapple opens this album with "Anytime Soon." At the beginning, he asks, "Can you hear me now?" before the song starts. The line might briefly remind us of those old phone service commercials, but soon, as the song kicks in, such thoughts are set aside. This track has a very cool sound, with an edge, and features a strong vocal performance. Here he sings, "I've got no plans to pass this way again," that line reminding me of The Rolling Stone's "No Expectations." There is the slightest of pauses before he adds, "Anytime soon." There is a bit of a bluesy element to the guitar work after those lines, which is wonderful. This track also contains a good bass line. "And all that time that we've got/Not nearly enough, though we act as though we've got a lot." I've been thinking about that a lot lately, the brevity of it all, and how people act as if they'll live forever, as if the relationships in their lives will go on and on. Then in the middle of the song, he again asks, "Can you hear me now?" as if checking in on us, or on himself. At the end, it begins to come apart, just as we all do. That's followed by the album's title track, "The Face Of 68." Here are the first lines: "I wake up in the morning/With the sun in my eyes/And every day is a total surprise/Isn't that great?/Isn't that great?/And if it was going to happen/It would've happened by now." Looking at each day as a surprise is kind of wonderful, though in my fifties I still foolishly think things will happen, even if they haven't yet. And I can't imagine Peter Holsapple really feels that way at 68 (he's 69 now, actually, having had a birthday after this album was recorded). There is a good deal of humor in this song, as in the lines "Must've been something that I ate/Making a mess of 68." And I like how he goes from the age to the year: "I was 12 in '68." But the line that hits me hardest is "Nothing comes for those who wait," that line a nice little kick in the ass. Make something happen. The track has kind of an unusual ending on drums.
"Larger Than Life" comes on strong. "Larger than life, stronger than death," he sings at the beginning, and the sound itself feels stronger than death. This is a solid rock sound, particularly that insistent rhythmic guitar work. And it makes sense that rhythm plays such a prominent role in this song, since it is about drummer Carlo Nuccio, fellow member of the Continental Drifters, who died in 2022. The song is in part a conversation with Carlo. "And from time to time/Please send us a sign/Or is it all by design/Or just larger than life." Oh man, this is great. Peter is rocking here. And what a vocal performance! At 68 or 28 or whatever, he can deliver a song. And this one might help those of us who have trouble with the deaths of our loved ones (how does anyone deal well with such loss?). "My Idea #49" is another song with a delicious hard edge, the kind of rock music I grew up on. "All those great ideas you like/Oh, those were all mine." Yes, it's a song about someone taking credit for everything, someone needing adulation. "And I cut the deal/Wrote it down in a book/To make it seem more real." You might have someone specific in mind when you listen to this song. I certainly did. I also thought of an insecure god upset for not getting enough credit for everything he created. I love this song, its sound, the attitude. "It was my idea/My idea/It was all my idea." It gets wild toward the end.
"High High Horse" also touches upon aging, and changing perspectives on it. "I used to think about getting older/And how hard it had to be/But it never did occur to me/That when you start getting older/The world gets colder and colder." These lines also strike me: "I used to think/Love never leaves, but it does/And the world never learns." This song deals with loss, with death. There is a bit of a Beatles influence heard here, and this track features some really good stuff on keys. That's Mark Simonsen on organ. "No, that won't happen to me," Peter insists near the end. That is followed by "That Kind Of Guy." At the start of this one, he sings, "I got A Love Supreme/I got a Soft Machine." The line "I got a Soft Machine" is similar to the Grateful Dead's "Dallas got a soft machine" in "Truckin'," and the term comes from the William S. Burroughs novel. But very soon it's clear he's talking about his album collection. "I got Repeat When Necessary," he sings, and then repeats that line, which is hilarious and perfect because apparently it is necessary. Certainly, this character believes it is. Repeat When Necessary, by the way, is an album by Dave Edmunds. "I'm that kind of guy," he then tells us. I am too, apparently, though several of the albums mentioned here are not yet in my collection. A good music collection was important to my friends and me when we were growing up, and still is important. I don't understand the younger generation just streaming everything (shit, I sound old). How can they possibly appreciate the music when they haven't gone out to purchase it? How do they know who plays which instrument on each track if they don't have the liner notes? Do they even read music magazines? It doesn't seem as important to them as it is to us. But then again, it's not quite clear how Peter thinks of this music collector. He might be poking a bit of fun here. His collection extends beyond records, for he sings, "I got Brian Jones' shoe from the bottom of the pool." So there is a twisted element to his passion, isn't there? Anyway, fuck streaming. Buy the fucking album, support the artist, and own the music. Besides, collecting records and CDs is great fun.
Interestingly, "One For The Book" is listed as the next track on the CD (and it is the next track on the vinyl edition), but actually what plays next is "See About You." A cool bluesy rock vibe is established at the beginning. "I'm going to come see about you/Make sure that you're doing all right/Bring a candle, bring some light/So you won't feel alone tonight." We all need checking up on from time to time. What can we do for each other? That hard bluesy edge carries with it the importance of checking in on friends, creating a world where love is necessary, desperately needed, not just a natural part of the landscape. Then we get "One For The Book," which has a somewhat softer sound than many of the songs on this album, and tells of a true story. "One for the road and one for the book/But it's so out of character, I heard some people say." I love how the use of the words "book" and "character" make us think of fiction, but then he sings, "But the facts remain," reminding us that this is a true story. Peter Holsapple sure can write some great lyrics. "Now the circus is gone, but the monkey stayed on." How can you not love a line like that? The book he's referring to, by the way, is Sean Kelly's White Noise & Lightning: The Continental Drifters Story.
The energy is high again on "Fireflies," this one moving at a fast pace like a punk song. There is an urgency here. He sings, "No one left to stop us," and we get the feeling nothing can stop them, nothing can stop this song. And the phrase "You're either on the bus or..." is a Ken Kesey and Merry Pranksters reference, which I wasn't expecting. And check out that guitar work on this track! The lines "Standing on the beach, laughing at the waves/No one left to stop us, nothing left to save" make me think of the Nevil Shute novel. Then the first line of "So Sad About Sam" mentions hearing the news, and I immediately find my chest tightening, feel myself bracing for the worst. That's what the current state of this nation has done to me. Just the word "news" is enough to put me on edge. And the news he refers to here is bad, but not about current events. It's about the suicide of guitarist Sam Moss in 2007. "I always knew he had the blues/This is not what I thought he'd choose/It's so sad about Sam." It isn't long before we who are listening feel like we were friends and knew Sam ourselves. On the vinyl version of this album, this song follows "See About You," which is interesting because it leads us to wonder what could have been done if someone had checked in on Sam. The album closes with "She And Me." Its opening lines are delightful: "She and me/Make a most unlikely we." This one has a wonderful, sweet vibe. "She and I/See mostly eye to eye/And if not, that's okay too/Just like normal people do." Oh yes, remember when disagreements were normal and not disastrous? This is a totally enjoyable number, just the kind of love song Peter Holsapple is so damn good at writing.
CD Track List
- Anytime Soon
- The Face Of 68
- Larger Than Life
- My Idea #49
- High High Horse
- That Kind Of Guy
- See About You
- One For The Book
- Fireflies
- So Sad About Sam
- She And Me
The Face Of 68 was released on CD on April 18, 2025. By the way, Chris Stamey also has a new album coming out. Onward!
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