STEVE CONTE - ‘The Concrete Jangle’

Probably better known to rock fans through his ‘day job’ of playing guitar with the Michael Monroe Band and previously with the New York Dolls and Company of Wolves, it’s with Steve’s solo material where things can get much more interesting and varied. His previous albums have spanned garage rock, punk covers, Americana, and rock and soul, and his ‘Steve Conte NYC’ album (released in 2014) in particular received critical acclaim, but sadly didn’t convert into the commercial success which it deserved.   

‘The Concrete Jangle’ builds on these foundations and, to use a sporting analogy, is a game of two halves. Depending on if you listen to vinyl, CD or digitally, the first side/five songs are co-written by Steve and English singer/songwriter Andy Partridge (XTC) and the second side/five songs are Steve’s own work. With projects like this, there’s always the risk that the two sides (however good) could sound different and disconnected, but not here where the two sides blend perfectly and form a wonderful jangly greater whole. And, yes, that’s not a typo – the album title does say “jangle”, with the cover artwork updating his earlier ‘Steve Conte NYC’ album artwork and providing a Rickenbacker-influenced play on words hinting at Steve’s unique New York street-based rock and soul sound within … and janglier than we’ve heard him before.     

So, to start with - Side 1/songs 1-5 and the Conte/Partridge collaboration. I have to say that It’s been fun watching Steve’s genuine excitement unfold on social media as he and Andy collaborated over Zoom trading songs, verses, lines and words. There was no mistaking just how much the opportunity to collaborate with one of his musical idols meant to Steve, which speaks volumes about the level of respect which he has for Andy and also when you consider the ‘Who’s Who’ of musicians that Steve has played with in the studio or on stage including Billy Squier, Chuck Berry, Patti Smith, Peter Wolf, Paul Simon, Alice Cooper, Willie Nile, Eric Burdon and Willy Deville.  

The first single and opening song on the album, ‘Fourth of July’ caught my attention when it was released last July. Big, jangly, guitar-driven, upbeat and melodic, it suggested a partnership of equals bringing their own musical styles together to produce something fresh and original and left me wanting to hear more.  

The raw guitar-led (what else?), ‘Hey, Hey, Hey (Aren’t You the One?)’ struts, swaggers and grooves sensuously out of the speakers. As with ‘Fourth of July’, it defies songwriting convention and starts with the verse which is the chorus, doesn’t stand still and evolves throughout the song. Linking these verse /choruses is a moment of pure pop genius with Steve’s vocals backed by what at first sounds like great “doo-doo-doo” backing vocals, but are they vocals or one of the many musical studio toys and effects which run rampant throughout this album, as Steve, Andy and their contributors let loose and have a lot of fun? (extending beyond piano and organ to vocoder, Wurlitzer, sampling and Ondioline, Continuum and Andromeda keyboards).  

The strutting and swaggering continues in the form of more of a ‘70’s glam rock stomp in the latest single ‘We Like It’ which is based lyrically on politicians’ false (“I’ll promise you anything”-style) promises, delivering a serious message tongue-in-cheek and complete with background gang vocals provided by over 50 of Steve’s musical friends including Ian Hunter, Glen Matlock, Dennis Dunaway, Steve Lillywhite, Nasty Suicide and Dregen to name but a few (in the interests of giving credit where its due, all are listed later in this review). 

Third single ‘Shoot Out the Stars’ provides fuzzy big guitar chords, more of that glam-tinged and psychedelic vibe and a lesson in how to deliver vocals with attitude, before ‘The Last Bell’ brings the Conte/Partridge run of songs to an end. Beginning with a bell tolling solemnly and then Steve singing “One last bell is ringing out, One last bell …” in a trippy and psychedelic descending melody, reminiscent of church bells, before being lifted by a trumpet solo rising above – not your standard musical fair, but very creative musical stuff. 

Turning over to Side 2 or moving on to songs 6-10 (the Conte originals), the lyrical content is on more familiar territory – love, longing and loss. ‘Motor City Love Machine’ puts its foot down and provides the fastest song on the album, providing a great, fun piece of garage rock paying homage to all things Detroit and the object of his affections – classic car or female, I’ll leave you to decide.  

‘All Tied Up’ follows and is without a doubt the best track on the album, if not an instant classic. I would even go so far as to say that it has displaced ‘Anytime At All Times’ as my favourite Steve Conte song – something I didn’t think possible. Speaking in advance of the release of ‘The Concrete Jangle’, Steve is on record as saying that working with Andy Partridge had pushed him to new heights with his songwriting and its not hard to hear that. Within seconds of listening to ‘All Tied Up’, you’ll be enveloped in emotion, as Steve sings and plays at his soulful and emotional best. If he doesn’t have you from the first line, he’ll have you from the third with the beautiful simple melody of the three-word chorus “All Tied Up” which manages to convey longing, regret and heartache at the same time in this tale of love coming along at the wrong time. It also provides one of the best soul vocal performances I’ve heard from a white artist. I could write that it gives me goose bumps or makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up each time I listen to it. If I did, those words would be both inadequate and an under-statement. Think Hall & Oates at their prime, but better … cooler … more emotional … and a whole lot more soulful and you might start to get the picture. Possibly aware of just how good this song is and of the potential to take it even further, as the song heads into the bridge it continues with Steve’s soulful vocal accompanied just by drums – a musical moment designed for emphasis, audience participation and singing and clapping as one (and in much, much bigger venues). 

A muted trumpet and vocal herald the start of the psychedelic, spiralling and Beatles-esque “Decomposing a Song For You”. If ever you could guess the nature of a song from the title, this might be it – a funereal song (complete with the solo trumpet widening out into more of a Louisiana-style jazz funeral march) for a relationship gone wrong.       

Changing the pace and feel completely, the penultimate track is the joyous, upbeat, life-affirming and Supreme(s)ly good “Girl With No Name”. When I reviewed this as a single last October, I wrote “No longer content with creating the perfect 3-minute pop song, Steve Conte has delivered the perfect 4-minute pop song and probably the song of his career”. I meant every word and without any false praise or over-statement. “Girl With No Name” is still the perfect 4-minute pop song, and more than six months on the “I cry for loving” (repeat) line with the shuffling background “I’m so shy, I’m so shy, Don’t know why, I’m so shy” still goes through my head most days. But, for me, it has now been overtaken by ‘All Tied Up’ as the song of his career … and there’s no probably about it.  

Finally, ‘I Dream Her’ (at a mighty 6 mins and 25 seconds and almost twice as long as most of Steve’s material) brings the album to a close with an emotional and evocative song about a life cut short by addiction. Again, tipping its hat to The Beatles’ psychedelic period with Steve singing “She’s always there, When I dream her, I dream her, She is calling to me, When I dream her, I dream her, Please don’t wake me now” with an equally emotional guitar solo bringing the album to the end. 

I’ve been lucky to have had access to this album for weeks and can genuinely say that I’m still playing it regularly – not for reviewing, but because it is such a good album and there is so much to hear within it. On paper, we have 15 minutes of Andy and Steve’s co-written songs and then 20 minutes of Steve’s. What that top line doesn’t tell you is that the 35 minutes of ‘The Concrete Jangle’ contains some of the best music you will hear anywhere. Two great artists and songwriters feeding off each other and inspiring the other to go further. 

In addition to singing lead (and backing) vocals and playing guitar on the album, Steve also plays no less than the 12 string electric sitar, mandolin, organ, piano, Wurlitzer, vocoder, tambourine, maracas, provided sampled strings and arrangements, and provides handclaps. He is accompanied by his brother John Conte (on bass), with Prairie Prince (ex-The Tubes and XTC), Thommy Price and Brian Delaney (on drums), Andrew Hollander (on piano and mellotron flutes), Rob Schwimmer (on keyboards), Mark Stewart (on cello), Chris Anderson (on trumpet), his son Zia on backing vocals and a cast of over 50 musical friends on gang backing vocals on ‘We Like It’ who I’m going to list here to give you a sense of just how highly Steve is rated as a singer and musician – Ian Hunter, Rick Tedesco, Kevin Tyler Preston, Glen Matlock, Prairie Prince, Thommy Price, Marshall Crenshaw, Tommy Henrickson, Kyf Brewer, Marc Broussard, Steve Lillywhite, Kasim Sultan, Jessie Wagner, Palmyra Delran, Genya Rayan, Simon Kirke, Danko Jones, Nasty Suicide, Dennis Dunnaway, Kevin Salem, Danny B. Harvey, Jonathan Clarke, Robert Eriksson, Dregen & Majsan, Kevin March, Chips Kiesbye, Rich Ragany, Keith Roth, Damon Johnson, Rich Jones, Billy Hopeless, Alycia Jones, Jay Millette, John & Jennifer Kerns, Danni Action, Michael Imperioli, Frank Lammers, Christian Keiber, Kerry McGann, The Brazen Giant Ensemble, Ryan Hamilton, Ben Rubin, Jan Verdoorn, Mickey Leigh, Westley Crawford, Janie Barnett, Nicki Richards, Lajuan Carter-Dent and Baz Conte. 

Produced by Steve (with additional remote production from Andrew Hollander and Andy Partridge) and mixed by Geoff Sanoff, the sound throughout is rich, sharp and lush.  

Adapting his earlier ‘Steve Conte NYC’ album artwork signalled a bold statement of intent. You might want to think of this as Steve’s “XTC album”, his “psychedelic album”, his “Beatles album” or “soul album”. However, none of these terms would do it justice, as it is all of these and so much more – let’s just keep things simple and say it’s his “best album”. In ‘The Concrete Jangle’ Steve Conte has delivered the album of his career and produced a slice of sonic heaven that exudes quality out of every note and pore. Guitar-led, it struts, it swaggers, it soars, it jangles and has so much SOUL. You need this in your collection.     

‘The Concrete Jangle’ will be released by, the always cool, Wicked Cool Records on 20 April 2024 

Go get it. 

GMcA