Like Jerry Lee Lewis and Ben Folds before him, Low Cut Connie frontman Adam Weiner, backed by an ever-changing cast of supporting characters, has built his reputation on beating seven bells out of his long-suffering piano during their kinetic live shows.
But despite a party-band reputation, there are tears of a clown soaking Private Lives. Slathered in soul and taking rhythmic cues from the birth of rock’n’roll, it’s a collection of portraits of all-American fuckups, lives that are frayed around the edges and unravelling rapidly.
Tearful state-of-the-nation piano ballad Look What They Did, clearly influenced by Elton John, aces the present with a resigned sadness (‘Look how they built up the dream, and now they’re tearing it down’), while the beautifully vulnerable Help Me roots for day-to-day survival, for seeking out the light, in a cruel and indifferent world.
It’s this latter sense of indefatigable positivity that shines through, a sense of togetherness engendered by a celebration of classic, no-nonsense rock’n’roll.
