Underwater, Forward Thrust

The area’s out-migration over the last couple of decades has taken plenty of musical talent, leaving the Tier the poorer for it. Include in that group the husband-and-wife team of Kenny and Gail Gilchrist — aka Forward Thrust.

The two, who now make their home in Allentown, Pa., have teamed with flexible drummer Ron Clark and released their second CD — Underwater — a two-disc excursion into pop/rock, blues, punk and country. Kenny Gilchrist, a very gifted musician and songwriter, and Clark are from Binghamton, while wide-ranging singer Gail Gilchrist grew up in Apalachin. Over the span of almost 90 minutes (40 minutes on disc 1 and 47 minutes on disc 2), Kenny plays guitars (including lap steel and 12-string), bass, keyboards, harmonica, mandolin, flute, melodica and some percussion. There’s actually more gear that he wields, but you get the idea.

The former Gail Anderson acclimates her voice well through the band’s multistyled forays, alternately summoning echoes of such talent as Deborah Harry, the two Joans — Osborne and Armatrading — Jewel, Sam Phillips and Bonnie Raitt. Lyrically, this is hardly a one- or two-theme band, ranging from social observations (9/11, the D.C. sniper and The Depression) to the more esoteric (time, the change of seasons and aging) with wit and feeling. Underwater is presented as a “Thoughtful” disc and a “Party” disc. But there’s not a big difference in the two. Each has both toe-tapping foot-movers and reflective sojourns.

The group’s vocal strength takes center stage immediately with the opening track of the “Thoughtful” disc, Feel Love Badly (a la Osborne) and leaves the listener wanting more with the second disc’s closer, the ’50s-inflected Blue Baby (Roy Orbison meets the Carpenters). Gail adds Harry’s panache on Nothin’ on Me, the second disc’s spy-spoof opener that has her proclaiming superiority over 007, Maxwell Smart and Austin Powers. The song blends Blondie’s Contact in Red Square playfulness with some J. Geils-brand harmonica. Then Gail gets serious about a dysfunctional family with the ’50s-styled Never Coming Back.

Other standout cuts:

  • You Got No Reason: A solid, honky-tonk mover with Kenny taking over the vocals, while adding some tasty steel and harmonica.
  • So Tired of Your Lies: Gail turns out a heartfelt Armatrading tone on vocals, with Kenny again offering some solid steel.
  • Mad, Mad Dog: A devilish revenge tale about a gal done wrong served up in a dish of hard-rocking blues.
  • Stockpicker: Kenny gets semi-autobiographical with this tongue-in-cheek ode to the stock biz, with instrumentation in the tradition of B.B. King and Bo Diddley.
  • The Hands of Time: Rolling in the Heart/Jewel vein, this poignant grandfather/ granddaughter tableau has brought the group laurels in music competitions. Grandpa makes a triumphant final stand built on his observation that “life’s too short to do everything.”
  • Gonna Have to Change: Kenny rocks the blues again, this time more in the mood of Tom Petty/Canned Heat. His social observations about what we need to protect our children from are set against a backdrop of swirling guitar.

Strong, too, are Voyeur Man (upbeat song about a photo shop pervert), Soul-less Clones (big band-sounding satire on plastic people) and Oklahoma (with Gail adding a growling conscience to The Depression). Throughout the two discs, the threesome lays down well-crafted pieces that provoke repeated listenings. And in gigs over the years, the band offers such encore-enticing performances that they have repeatedly become house favorites as they’ve moved about the country, including where they are now. Allentown’s the richer.