The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 40

Night MUSIC AND MUSICIANS IN THE CLUBS it Buckner takes a big leap forward Richard Buckner's debut album, "Bloom," had its strong moments but ultimately required a leap of faith you had to hear through it to the promise underneath. Something about it was too facile, without genuine emotion to back up the craft. You wanted to like it, but it was too much MOW SHOWING tOUTMMDi DBIVI I HUlllinUHNi KWY. 1 work, and there were too many places to be. Buckner's new album, "Devotion Doubt," draws you in with an ease that's almost thrilling.

It's an enormous leap forward on every level and makes a huge case for the positive effects of suffering on songwriters. Recorded after Buckner's divorce, "Devotion Doubt" traces a relationship and mines the rich complexity inherent in the album's title. What pulls us JEFFREY LEE PUCKETT Wto Rims oF Ye!" Jeffrey Lyon, WMBC-TV toward someone even as we feel ourselves driven away, and how can such contradictory emotions hold hands? You would think it would be a bear of a record to perform live night after night, but Buckner doesn't. "It feels real Dome, And ijvrpncl" PBtar IVmre, ROUJNO STONE MIRASORMNO USAKUDROW iech sokool WM J.J Mil I ly good, actually. Therapeutic," he said from a tour stop in Boston.

"The songs come from journals, and I write in journals because and everything to fit together, right down to the packaging." You could always skip the tragedy and concentrate on one of the year's finest production jobs. Buckner and J. D. Foster have created a sound that's simultaneously organic and ethereal, with several members of Giant Sand providing seemingly empathetic support. The basic tracks are rooted and spare, but smallish noises wind in and around the songs a few piano notes, a little white noise, a ukelele.

The result is effective but not overdone, and frees typical confessional writing to become something far more challenging yet still familiar. "I'm a real big holder-backer," Buckner said. "I don't like to get overblown on anything; I like to have just the right amount of everything." Buckner said he heard the album in his head long before going into the studio and was blessed that Foster and the band Rich Brotherton, Joey Burns, John Convertino, Howie Gelb, Lloyd Maines and Champ Hood heard the songs in exactly the same way. "It came out about 90 percent of how I heard it in my heao," he said. "It came real close.

I'm not sure if it could come any closer, actually. They're just really good guys, and the rest was intuition and a little luck." And the result is one of the year's most quietly powerful, fully realized records. BUCKNER PERFORMS sans band Tuesday night at Twice Told Coffeehouse, 1604 Bardstown Road, with Chris Barbee opening (9 p.m., $6). Hey, Dave There has been a late addition to the big Sea Cake show Tuesday that's sure to interest followers of Louisville's indie scene. Dave Pajo, who has played in many of our most celebrated and influential rock bands, will open with a solo set under the name of his latest project, M.

Look for a record soon on Drag City. Headliners Sea Cake are touring behind "The Fawn," their first record in 18 months. Fans of the band's smooth, slightly jazzy pop have waited far too long; the band was cranking out records every six months for a while. Trans Am, which makes bachelor-pad music for guys who can't get dates, will follow Pajo. It's an 18-and-over show at the Toy Tiger, 330 Bardstown Road (9 p.m.', $7).

Short takes How about a little punk pop to help you get over all of those losing bets? Cherub Scourge and the Don Trio could make you forget everything but your name tomorrow night at the Town Cafe, 414 W. Oak St. (11 p.m., $5). That's a relatively new stage in town, near the Rudyard Kipling. Those darn hippy bands.

They come in here, spreading their "good vibes," playing that "groove" music, drawing all of those attractive young women to their shows waitaminute, I love hippy bands! Widespread Panic performs Wednesday at the Palace Theatre, 625 Fourth Ave. (8 p.m., Call Jeff! Jeffrey Lee Pucfeett's Nightlife column appears each Friday in Weekend EXTRA. On Saturday, his "Tune In" column appears in SCENE. You can call him at (502) 582-4160 or send a fax to (502) 582-4665. iri ii in -ll C'ouotiMmws Pnira NOW SHOWING 459-4700 1 understand my- I I ii R22sj i tz ft acu.

"So it's never painful to sing the songs. I come out feeling really good, really invigorated, like I just ate two dozen oysters. Well, maybe a dozen." It doesn't always work that way on this end, though. Richard Buckner, who's at Twice Told Coffeehouse on Tuesday, has a new album. ysirnc While "Devotion Doubt" is an exciting listen because it marks Buckner's artistic coming-out" party, the emotions it conjures aren't always pretty.

This may be Buckner's big divorce record, but don't make it yours unless you like to wallow. "He said, Til pull you down She said, 'Yeah, I know you will' is the record's first lyric, and a nice sense of impending doom is already cranked. Halfway through and this pours out: "Once upon a blue thing or two, eyes and sighs and a moon confused We heard the sparks fly and we watched their lies Some died in retreat, some in jealousy." And by the last song, Buckner is left on the highway alone: "27 take me home and pour that last year down my throat The days will fade and the nights will burn, though I may be miles away from her." "The whole album has a personality, like a book," said Buckner, who is from San Francisco. "I wanted the songs to be together in a certain way International JVIan Off IVty story NEW LINE CINEMA 3 STARTS TODAY mmn (8II)H3-3OO0 459-4700 I I 499-6656 Jl 935-3771 272 8000 1 Internet alert! Find out more at our Web site: http:www.louisvillescene.com Page 26 The Courier-Journal Weekend EXTRA MAY 2, 1997.