What makes an album from any band really work and become a classic, at least for me, is a strong mix of intelligent lyrics and good musicianship, with the emphasis on the lyrics. Beloved, <\/i>The Minor Profits\u2019 recent debut, fits that mode.<\/p>\n
Now, that said, the Profits won\u2019t be playing stadium tours near you anytime soon. A lot more goes into that kind of \u201cstardom\u201d than solid songwriting and musical muscles. <\/p>\n
But if what you\u2019re looking for are tunes that shine and that make you think while you dance the night away with the one you love, turn your ear this way.<\/p>\n
Principal songwriter Bob Lichty, who also plays keyboards, acoustic guitar, and saxophone, has his ear to that place between real life and the universal, where a song dug out from his life becomes a song he might have dug out from your life. <\/p>\n
In the disc opener, \u201cYou Never Let Me Down,\u201d Lichty and vocalist Luke Kahawai, along with the rest of the band, create a song for all of us guys who just can\u2019t get this \u201crelationship\u201d thing right, regardless. <\/p>\n
Opening with Kawahai\u2019s powerful voice alone, the song\u2019s narrator muses: \u201cYou never break my heart, baby \/ You always hold it just right \/ Don\u2019t know why I keep tearing yours \/ Don\u2019t know why I can\u2019t mend it every night.\u201d When the band kicks in after the first line, they underscore Kawahai\u2019s broken lament. But things don\u2019t stay down for long — because that\u2019s not the way of things. In the next song, \u201cGood Life,\u201d the dour mood gives way to an upbeat celebration of life and love that wouldn\u2019t be out of place on a John Mellencamp project. Other favorites: \u201cNobody Calls Me Baby,\u201d which features the narrator from the opening song trying to defend himself to his buddy at the bar when he should be home working on that relationship. \u201cTell Me Once\u201d finds the guy back at home trying to make amends. And \u201cI\u2019m Not Above,\u201d which is one of those songs that fishhooks into your brain, finds our hero giving in to love:\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m not above \/ Being in love \/ I\u2019m not above playing the clown \/ I\u2019m not above \/ Being in love \/ As long as you are there.\u201d The Minor Profits are comprised of five men who all do other things with their lives but who share a passion for music that has led them to create this excellent disc. <\/p>\n In addition to Lichty and Kahawai, Andrew Hauser anchors the songs with a strong percussion base, Andrew Kreider, who also contributes songs with Lichty, provides guitar, and Steve