More bacon than the pan can handle

Sure, I'll buy into Mike Doughty's "Dude Theory".

dude theory - the idea of making a relaxed record that sounds like a bunch of dudes playing music for the pure joy of playing.

Doughty, the supremely talented singer/songwriter and former lead singer of the bon-bon shaking 90s band Soul Coughing, proved his thesis a week ago at his rockin' concert at Revolution Hall in Troy. The ever-"haughty melodic" (and probably biased) thesis review board, consisting of myself and RM, sat on the upper level balcony, just above where we stood the last time we were at the venue--almost two years ago, when we saw the Mike Doughty Band for the first time.

Evidence of dude theory was apparent from the start, thanks to the unusual first act: a group of nordic-looking bearded fellows in t-shirts playing an improvised, informal, atonal set featuring unintelligible yells and grunts. Never has primal sound been more musical to my ears. Later, our suspicions were confirmed that this was actually Doughty's band in disguise.

Act the second was The Panderers, a youngish band Doughty had signed on his new record label, Snack Bar. They were a little wet behind the ears, but their sound was far from the contrived, radio-"quality" bullshit we are treated to in the mainstream. Their songs were written and sung from the heart, and they reminded me of the times I watched my dear dude friends from high school getting their jollies by jamming at coffee houses.

Act the third: Doughty's gal-melting voice. It's a hard crust with a buttery center, amping to a degree of macho sensitivity that any lady would want in the father of her children. But one can easily tell that the wooing a lass is not his primary objective. He's having way too much fun up on that stage to be the sensitive, lonely guy he sings about. The honest and relaxed quality of his music (which does sweep the ladies off their feet) is purely dude theory.

That ain't more bacon than the pan can handle for me.