Speed Of Thought Oklahoma

Speed Of Thought

Cork

Lightspeed Entertainment, 1999

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 05/02/2000

It's been some time since Eric Schenkman has been seen in therock & roll world. Since departing from his former band SpinDoctors after their sophomore release Turn It Upside Down, he's kept a relatively low profile,though he did appear on Natalie Merchant's solo effort Tigerlily a few years back.

Now, it seems that Schenkman is ready to test the waters ofbeing in a band again, teaming up with former Mountain drummerCorky Laing to form Cork. Their debut effort Speed Of Thought has its moments, but overall shows a prettynice sized coat of rust on these two musicians.

Now, some people might not think it fair to compare the 21stCentury work of these two musicians to the songs of their formerbands, but in some cases, the music almost begs to be held up tothat light. Granted, a song like "Pull That String" isn't quite ashippy-trippy as "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" or "Jimmy Olson'sBlues" from the Spin Doctors, but Schenkman does try to capture thegroove of those songs and attempts to put a new musical spin on it.Likewise, when you hear tracks like "Bone Daddy," you can almostimagine Leslie West or the late Felix Pappalardi laying down avocal track.

This being said, Cork does strive to create its own uniquemusical voice while respecting the ghosts of the members' past.Unfortunately, it takes some time before Schenkman and Laing soundlike they're comfortable in this skin. It's not until nearly thehalfway point of the disc, on "Midnight Rose," when Schenkman andLaing (as well as guest bassist Noel Redding, ex- of the JimiHendrix Experience) really sound like they're confident in theirsongwriting and performances. This continues on tracks like"Waiting (You're All I Need)" and "Sin City".