Sometimes, we reviewers look forward to an album release and the moment it pops up in the promo bin, we try to claim it as fast as we can. Other times, we might select an album based on genre or other characteristics that make it look like a good fit – or maybe even an easy one to review. It is more rare to pick an album based on the musicians involved and the angle that comes with it. Courtney Gains’ new album, Safe Haven, is such an album. Gains‘ claim to fame is mainly being a child or teen actor in the 80s, starring in noteworthy supporting roles in films such as Children of the Corn or Back to the Future. In the 90s, some of us might know him from FMV games like Wing Commander and in the 2000s, it seems his career had slowed down enough that his biggest accolade had become a guest cameo in Rob Zombie´s Halloween –likely cast by Rob Zombie for having been a part of Children of the Corn.
The reason I am subjecting you, dear reader, to a mini biography of the man at hand, is that the promo material highlights his role in Children of the Corn in specific. I mean not to throw shade in Gains‘ direction at all. For what it’s worth, Gains seems to be a committed actor and acting in Hollywood is as much based on luck as is the music industry. Music is, however, more of a footnote in Gains’ career as his biggest musical claim to fame is that he once played live with Jam outfit Phish. Projects like this can often reek of desperation, a media persona with fringe appeal trying to convert his fame to success in another field. Acts like First Jason, a synth rock band helmed by the man who played kid Jason Vorhees in one scene in the original Friday the 13th and heavily playing up that part, seem utmost gimmicky, desperate and I question who would fall for the gimmick. The only horror persona who has managed to transition into somewhat of a musical career is John Carpenter, whose Lost Themes Trilogy is both worthwhile and purposeful – Carpenter is known for his atmospheric synth scores, and we both get more of it and in an extended, more song driven form here. Compared to those acts, what does Gains have to offer and how does it connect to his prior work as an actor?
The latter question is easily answered, as it simply does not. Safe Haven is a collection of simple rock tunes, with a noticeable Folk and slight psychedelic influence. The material sounds incredibly 70s oriented, but can´t fully commit to a style. Whereas Blues Rock dominates the opener, a sadly rather unoriginal number with a riff that I swear I have heard before elsewhere, boogie piano dominates the second track and latter material can at times affect a Southern Rock attitude a lá Allman Brothers. The throwback nature of the material is the main throughline while the loose, jam oriented nature of the material does indeed hint that he would not feel too out of place at a Phish show. This nature is the material’s biggest weakness, however. I hinted that the material unfortunately feels derivative at times, but it might be more adequate to call it archetypal. All of these songs sound like they´re based on the DNA of Rock music in a way where any musician playing or improvising basic Rock could and would come up with similar material and I have myself jammed tunes like this at local sessions a considerable amount of times. Gains feels like this is what he wants to do and the fact that, beyond the promo material, little plays up the fact that he is a former horror actor makes me believe that Gains just made an album and wants the world to hear it and that this is not a scheme for profitability. Sadly, I have heard all of these tunes in tighter and better produced forms before and I can not really find much of a reason to seek out Safe Haven in particular.
