The Full-Time Dreamers

The Full-Time Dreamers rock. Hard. Let's just get that out of the way before I even begin this piece. Having watched Kate and Scott perform together in bands for over 20 years (including one I was briefly a member of in high school), I can safely say they take their rock seriously enough to make them excellent, but not so seriously that you won't have a good time watching them play.

One listen to their cd, Too Loud at Any Volume, and their musical influences will come shining through clearly. The best of the mid-70s Stones (perhaps the best Stones period), The Police, KISS, Heart, and Joan Jett immediately make their presence known. Kate Kenney has a similar vocal range to Joan, moving from sultry slow purr to howl before you can blink. She has a tremendous amount of power at the base of her singing, as well as behind her with the band. Scott SanGiacomo's drumming reminds me in turns of Bonham, for sheer raw power, and Copeland, for skill and interesting edges. Dave Dyer has a wonderfully crunchy bass sound, which anchors them solidly and forcefully. Jay Ryan's guitar work is the best of that Gibson metal genre. Close your eyes listening to him solo, and you'd swear it was Slash up there, in the most endearing and complimentary sense of that description. On stage, and on tape, this band is really HARD ROCK. The best kind, too, gut-rumbling rhythm section, that sonic-melodic intense guitar sound, and a lead singer who ties it all together with presence and emotion and grit. Searing and soaring and loud.

There is not a dull moment on Too Loud at Any Volume. The cd starts off with "Kalifornia", comin' for ya in a Pontiac GTO at 100 miles an hour, the chorus hugging the curves, just close enough to the edge. "Another Day" features a frenetic mid-section with intricate drum fills, a driving bass line, and Jay and Kate in an echoing vocal line after a deep breath breakdown bridge. "Dizzy" ranks right up there with some of the greatest pop-rock compositions out there; it may be one of my favorite songs ever, and it is a joy to watch live, and not just because of the shout-out I get from the stage 9 of every 10 times played. That sweet, nearly whispered third verse turns into a demand in short order, neatly punctuated by the drums, and a fantastic guitar riff that is about as "jammy" as the Dreamers ever get. "Tomorrow" and "Back in the Game" keep that 70s rock theme humming, with cowbell and Ann Wilson inspired vocal lines. "Knockin'" is a paen to the ultimate trifecta of Rolling Stones' albums, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, and Exile on Main St. As much as it will remind you of a simliarly titled Stones' song, it is original enough to make you want to hear the Glimmer Twins' take on it. This song is THAT good. "This is Life" is a bit of a departure, with a guitar line reminiscent of Middle Eastern/Indian musical patterns, but still rooted in the hard rock sound the band has taken such care to create on all the previous tunes. "Waydown" closes out the album moving out of the 70s and into the hard rock sounds of the 80s, which may have unfortunately been dominated visually by too much glitter and hairspray, but MUSICALLY kept the faith of four on the floor.

It's difficult to review the work of friends without being either overly enthusiastic or too easy on their faults. But, without reservation, The Full-Time Dreamers are in that great category of solid, driving, edgy rock and roll that so many bands fail to capture. Smart, but not overly clever like so much of modern rock and roll tries to be, this band knows their roots and celebrates them in every power chord, every drum fill, and every vocal wail. This band has an economy of sound as well, every note counts towards the creation of the whole song; nothing gratuitous or fatuous. Just pure exuberance throughout. The Full-Time Dreamers will rock your world.

- Only a Northern Song-Courtney Rau

Five hairy guys dressed up as the Go-Go’s?

Welcome to Halloween, Boston rock style.

The Luxury will ditch their usual material and be playing “We Got the Beat,” “Our Lips Are Sealed” and more faves from the SoCal ’80s girl group at Church Saturday night. They’re just one of many Boston bands participating in a growing local Halloween tradition: dressing up as a famous band and performing a tribute in full costume.

Local music devotees trace the craziness back to 2003, when the Pill dance night at Great Scott held its first Halloween show. Members of the Information dressed up as the Cure, while the Cignal dressed as Happy Mondays.

Ken Powers, a founding DJ at the Pill, recalls one of his favorite shows, a 2005 bash where Protokoll performed as Goth-darlings Bauhaus.

“I remember thinking, ‘Wow, I never saw Bauhaus,’ ” Powers said. “So seeing Protokoll was the next best thing.”

This year’s crop of Halloween weekend shows take a variety of angles.

The Pill (at Great Scott in Allston) holds its the eighth annual Halloween party Friday night. DJs Ken Powers and Michael V present the Honors (as Morrissey), Bearstronaut (as the Rapture) and Vostok 4 (as the Talking Heads). Powers said the Honors absolutely killed it last year as the Smiths (check out video from the show at BostonHerald.com/Entertainment). Vostok 4 is going all-out as the Talking Heads. Bassist Tim Correira even cornered Heads bassist Tina Weymouth at a recent Tom Tom Club show and got advice on his costume: “She said, ‘If you’re going to be me, you’re gonna have to keep the beard!’ ” Doors at 10 p.m., 21-plus, $10; 617-566-9014.

The Middle East features a Saturday night Halloween tribute to the most famous band ever to dress up as another band when local soul/rock outfit Love in Stockholm perform the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” Also on tap: Turkuaz (as the Dead Wedding Band) and Hey Mama (as Elvis Presley). Doors at 8 p.m., 18-plus, $12; 617-864-3278.

Jamaica Plain’s Midway Cafe hosts the unruliest of the bunch Friday when local hard-rockers, the Full-Time Dreamers perform as Motley Crue. When asked what it’s like dressing up as a bad boy, vocalist Kate Kenney joked: “Well, vintage Vince Neil is definitely more woman than I am, so it’s not like I am technically dressing up as a man!” Also performing: Heavy Numbers (as the Zombies), Oilhead (’90s Tribute) and the Bob Show (featuring the music of Dylan, Seger, Marley, Weir and more). Doors at 8 p.m., 21-plus, $8; 617-524-9038.

The strangest show may be Saturday at Church, where local dudes will be letting it all hang out in drag. In addition to the Luxury as the Go-Gos, the Lights Out will be Madonna plural. Each member will present a different era of Madonna, from “Material Girl” to “Blonde Ambition.” “We have learned two things,”Lights Out bassist Matthew King said. “First, that all of Madonna’s songs are basically the same song with slight variations, and secondly, that her tunes will remain stuck in your head for weeks on end!” Also playing: Midatlantic as Lady Gaga. Doors at 7, 21-plus, $10; 617-236-7600
- Boston Herald

Let's face it - there is a dearth of honest-to goodness hard rock, what with everyone singing about their feelings and junk.

Luckily enough, the Full-Time Dreamers have delivered unto us a solid, molten bucket of everything that might mean hard rock to you, including flat fifths in the melody, wah-wah guitar and a sludgy rhythm guitar that makes your ears feel filthier for having heard it.

Vocalist Kate Kenney's voice rips through the song (and by association, the listener) like barbed-wire coated in honey. She bellows out the word "Kaliforn-YUH" as if she's Anthony Kiedis' little sister and bends notes - almost to their breaking point - in an almost maddening fashion, like she knows it drives us nuts. We're sure she does. The guitar is the other foremost character in this story, strutting around like someone put Slash's trademark black hat on a snowman and set it to burn with a Les Paul in hand.All in all, it sounds like the Full-Time Dreamers set their own hair on fire and are running around roughshod but somehow make it sound and look good. It's easy to light yourself on fire, but not so easy to make it look good. In this respect, the Full-Time Dreamers look great. - CD Di Guardia