LA Weekly December 29, 2004 Weed Patch at the Silverlake Lounge Songwriter/local music scribe performs his frontwoods alt-country with stage-vet cool, yet his Weed Patch did not grow overnight. Locked up in a NoHo studio for the better part of 2002, Weiss released Maybe The Brakes Will Fail a year later with the talented assemblage of local sessioneers (among them, Gary Eaton of Continental Drifters and Adam Maples of Earthlings?) behind the Valley-tonk rhythm. The result was one of the best indie records of 2003, with boho 30somethings standards such as "Codeine," which is a cross between Eric Clapton's 1973 classic "Cocaine" and Dolly Parton's quivering "Jolene" (lyrics: "I can feel Elvis, if you know what I mean, I can be Jesus if you know what I mean, codeine, codeine"). He's now solidified his current roster with guitarist Brad Richard, who "puts the weed back in Weed Patch," according to Weiss, and a new catalog of clever Elvis Costello-inspired songs with as many shit-kickers as there are sawdust ballads. Chuck Mindenhall |