Franz Nicolay – St. Sebastian of the Short Stage

  • Bobby Gorman posted
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Franz Nicolay

St. Sebastian of the Short Stage - Team Science Records

Franz Nicolay is the enigmatic, mustached (yes, I had to mention the famed stache) keyboard player in The Hold Steady who also plays in The World/Inferno Friendship Society; but it doesn’t seem like that’s quite enough for him. So following up his critically acclaimed solo debut, Major General (which, unfortunately, I haven’t heard yet), Nicolay has returned with a four song, ten inch EP on Team Science Records entitled St. Sebastian of the Short Stage; and it’s an EP that, while awesome, does fall short near the end.

The EP kicks off with The Fun Side which features two songs: New England and The Ballad of Hollis Wadsworth Mason Jr and is, appropriately, incredibly fun. New England is a high energy cover of the song by John Richman with help from The Dresden Dolls. It’s a wildly heartwarming song that captives the listener through the upbeat and energetic melody delivered through the use of claps, accordion, piano and three layered and enthusiastic vocalists. It may be filled with slightly immature lyrics but try not to smile as they sing “Dum-de-dum-de-dum-dum-da-dum-day, Ohhhh New England!” – it’s simply impossible and gives the song a certain undeniable charm.

The second track on The Fun Side is equally as fun, although not quite as energetic. A song based on the character of Hollis Mason (the original Nite Owl) from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ legendary graphic novel WatchmenThe Ballad of Hollis Wadsworth Mason Jr sees Nicolay expand his instrumental repertoire and showcase his vocals much more prominently than the opening track. His vocals have a sense of quivering honesty and vulnerability embedded within them that is only further cemented by the the soaring trumpet; and while it’s not as immediately hitting as New EnglandThe Ballad is a perfect compliment to it and caps off The Fun Side nicely.

The flip side of St. Sebastian is a stark contrast to The Fun Side and is titled, appropriately, The Depressing Side. The two songs – which are pretty decent in their own right – seem to fall short when compared to the first side. When The War Came is a four and a half minute song that has some interesting lyrics sung by a very vulnerable Nicolay but rarely grabs the attention that it deserves; it falls into the background all too often thanks in part to its sparse instrumentation whereas I Just Want To Love sounds like a mix between Matthew Good and Dallas Green. A leftover track from 2001 when Nicolay was working an IT-job, I Just Want To Love is an acoustic diddy with echoey and distant vocals and generic lyrics that only survive because he calls them generic right after he sings them in a nice tongue-in-cheek fashion.

As a complete EP, St. Sebastian is a little lopsided but it remains an entertaining listen and one that can be replayed many, many times; still, The Fun Side is by far the better side.