June 2006

CD REVIEW
In The Groove - Proceed With... The Cautions
By Don DiMuccio

 

For once I'm really quite proud of myself - at least proud enough to boast about in print. I seemed to have absorbed everything from the new Cautions disc Proceed With The Cautions that this Bay State quartet wanted me (the perceptive listener) to garner.

With several complete passes of the CD now coating my brain, I suddenly find myself plucked out of our current doldrums and jettisoned back to a time when your boyfriend's tie was thin, your girlfriend's hair was big, and your meager source of entertainment was a big night of MTV viewing, which once upon a time actually played music videos. Yet before you get the impression that these guys are a Reagan-era retro act, take a good listen to the often not-so-subtle nuances within the songwriting and performances, and you'll be hearing deep shades of modern alternative rock like Weezer and to a lesser extent Pearl Jam. All those points came through loud and clear to me (the perceptive listener) and were indeed confirmed after a brief inspection of their band bio. Truth be told, The Cautions set out to betoken a specific concept, and were terribly successful at accomplishing it.

The material is instrumentally as strong as the next band. But it's in the often-whimsical lyrics where the true magic of The Cautions lies. The track "Big Hit Song" literally has a mean old cynic like me still laughing: "Why you wanna hurt us, when we've been fans for so damn long? - Now you're too cool to play your big hit song." Believe me, from someone who once paid $300 per ticket to see The Rolling Stones, I can fully appreciate the lines "I couldn't take my girlfriend 'cause the tickets were outrageous." And those dreaded words coming from the oversized PA, "This here's a new one, I hope you like it. No, we won't play that one so you can bite it."

The overall vibe of the band reminds me of another regional act from the early '90s The DJ Lauria Band, who had a similar propensity for songwriting ingenuity but far less commercial success - those damn hair-metal bands got in the way

Tunesmiths aside, The Cautions are a standout act due, in part, to their creative marketing techniques. From CD cover art, to web site design and publicity photo shots, these boys scream professionally vintage. Yet employing that retro image with a modern musical verve is why The Cautions find themselves far from struggling at the lower end of the entertainment food chain. Already, the band has been nominated in The Hard Rock Café's Cabo Wabo Mexican Meltdown Battle of the Bands (rolls right off the tongue), had their song "Coffee Shop Girl" used in several film soundtracks, and also contributed a track for a lauded Cars tribute CD.

With factors like one impressive pedigree, prolific songwriting, continuous live performing, and steady airplay on both college and commercial radio, The Cautions will hopefully be treating us to their unique brand of euphony for a long time to come.