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Aunt Betty's Ford
demo
independent release
This nine song cassette has been making rounds with industry insiders for roughly a year. Due to high profile support from such influential sources as Hits magazine and Seymour Stein (the man responsible for signing Talking Heads, the Ramones, Madonna, the Smiths, etc.), this little number became the center of a bidding war between Island Records and Virgin Records, with others participating as well, including London Records.
Ultimately, Elektra came out on top. The Aunt Bettys, who had to change their name from Aunt Betty's Ford in order to avoid a lawsuit from Ford Motor Company, should see their debut album released in March of 1996.
Mike Knott's fans will find the Aunt Bettys' closest similarities are to his recent solo projects, "Rocket and a Bomb," and "Strip Cycle." The songs center heavily on character studies. Songs like "Jane" paint the type of down-on-luck images that Knott has been emphasizing of late, along with liberal portions of humor and irony.
The Aunt Bettys' music is less "progressive" in nature than what L.S.U. fans might expect of Knott. Most songs could be stripped down to a lone acoustic guitar and Knott's distinctive voice, and not suffer in and of themselves. That being said, Knott is backed by a fine band, most notably by lead guitarist Andrew Carter, whose no-nonsense rock and roll style makes cuts like "Addict" really cook.
Overall, the Aunt Bettys fall somewhere along the lines of punk in spirit, and rock and roll in style. On the cassette's first track, Knott croons plaintively, "Jesus, won't you help me find my way? Won't you send me some money in the mail?" Shortly thereafter, one would be well advised to remove one's headphones an inch or so from one's ears, in order to avoid an aurally induced lobotomy due to desperate shrieks of "I'm getting screwed, I'm getting used, I'm getting kicked, I'm getting tricked, I'm getting out..."
The demo's mellowest moment comes by way of "Double," reproduced here from L.S.U.'s "Grace Shaker" album. "Little Fighter" swings, but in a very powerful way, faintly recalling Ziggy Stardust era David Bowie.
The cornerstone of this set of songs is a re-tooled version of "Rocket and a Bomb." The new number shares the older song's chorus and musical key, but that's about it. It's a bit too powerful to be called a power "ballad," but on the live circuit, this has evolved into the band's signature sing-a-long song, complete with swaying Bic lighters. Fans of the Word Records released version may be taken aback by the song's big finish, which rides out over a moving Carter guitar solo as the vocalists repeat a four letter expression of disappointment over and over and over again.
However, anyone who has made it this far through the demo is unlikely to be totally shocked or offended. The Aunt Bettys are clearly targeting a different audience than that of previous Mike Knott projects, and are poised for success. And they've got their attitudes with them.
- Jeff Elbel