ShoreWorld: The Hesh, Soul In Exile II—Jersey Shore Baby (AERIA Records)

Some people bead in on an issue and take it to its inevitable conclusion. Like taking a river all the way to the falls. And that’s the direction and the message of this record, with a bittersweet and personal juxtaposition of raging passions, free form musical experience combined with a painter’s style of lyrical expression that uses broad strokes, coming to terms with the initial betrayal and forgiveness of the awe inspiring musical history that draws all of us towards it, and as in Heshy’s case, even from across the globe.

The story of a place, central to his life, that fell from a once great place featuring all things reproachable and good. The reasons it came to fail, and the ways that it became all right again. For Heshy it’s about redemption, but redemption always comes with a price, and while it starts in the self, the self eventually leads you back to the confrontation of the betrayer.

Heshy uses his music as a form of direction, a compass, if you will. And in this story you are led towards this object of the betrayal and the whirling dervishes that left her desolate.

Soul In Exile II takes a healthy swing in many directions, from music biz politics, to restlessness, hypocrisy, triumph and failures from Jersey Shore super heroes, Heshy and locals alike. From the frustrations of a budding musician in awe of a city and an ideology that for a time shunned its greatest sons, Heshy uses positivity against the negative unbelievers who say “I don’t think this is the right time,” and as he says in the song “This Is The Time”: “Don’t let the lies and propaganda wear you down, your blinded brothers and sisters will eventually come around. This is the time.”

Whether this is the time for a rebirth or a crash and burn desolation, Heshy isn’t shy about telling you how he feels on this record, and as I listened through the lyrical and musical content I could see that this wasn’t a project that came about on the fly. The man doesn’t disguise words in arabesque symbolism as much as he gets directly to the points in only a way he could pull off.

Songs like my favorite “Exile Detour,” feature the manic early Charlie Byrd and Stan Getz influenced sax work of David Perkins and also Gerry Kamber on the second leg on a song that would have made Charles Bukowski crack the cap on a fresh jug of cheap red wine, light a Camel and sit back and get lit. Free form lyrics grab hold and dig in deep with hypnotic blue velvet covered rhythms courtesy of Izzy Kieffer, amongst a cast of others.

“Coda” slides right in underneath “Exile,” with throbbing gristly guitars that interweave with slick wah wah’s and Chili Pepper heavy rhythms. Quick and in the pocket this song packs a fight to the top statement that tells you, in no uncertain terms, that this is “where the Jersey Shore baby sprang free of his trap, it ain’t just an act, and he’s back and that’s that.”

Another interesting tune on the disc is an instrumental entitled “Beach Town In The Off Season” which features guitarist P.K. Lavengood and has some of the most soulful slide work I’ve heard in a while. Morphed from tradition and in the powerful vein of Dickey Betts, Lavengood steers the song past its dark, stormy bridge and back into the main theme with great plainsman style.

This brings the disc into “Lost In Your Universe,” a balladeering tune in the vein of Warren Zevon with a little John Mellencamp’s “Small Town” vibe complete with outstanding guitar work courtesy of Barry Siegfried. And true to the theme Heshy sings grimly, “It doesn’t make sense to stay here, but somehow I still do. Lost in this New Jersey universe, everything may have faded, but I still love you.”

The most poignant tune on the disc is “(The) Town Full Of Self Described Saints,” a snarling song featuring Kenny Sorenson’s harp work and where Heshy kicks over the reality rock so many have hidden under with the line: “The tramps, they’ve all climbed the social ladder, carving their niche in a murky world of outtakes and boots, tickets and drop lines and how many shows, it’s all chatter, and somehow the message in the music is rendered moot.” And as I said in the beginning of this article, love hate always lets you come back, but sooner or later you have to leave or descend into its midst. Its hold on you is ferocious, and you can hear it in the line, “I’m taking myself out of this toxic scene, it’s a bane to inspiration, a dangerous machine.”

Frustration and inspiration often go hand in hand in creativity and I have to say this album shows plenty of that. Other songs like the Springsteen 1970s inspired “Paramount Theatre” and the straightahead “This Is The Time,” with its chilling Tower Of Babel monologue, using multiple over dubbed voices, shooting out in stereo, intermingled chatter of people being interviewed about their quick and dismissive opinions about Asbury and what’s going on with the town layering the chatter till it hits its crescendo in the most claustrophobic of ways, reminding me just how many times I’ve heard these same lines myself and how it’s affected us all. “Grassy Sound” and “Feel Alive Tonight” and “Jersey Shore Baby” featuring The Tel Aviv Jukes (that’s great) are also worth good mention but I’m fresh outta space.

Engineered by John Noll and Paul Ritchie over at RetroMedia in Red Bank, the sounds are excellent and an all-around good job from The Hesh who produced this with help from Kieffer. The list of players on this disc is too long to give justice to. Guys I’ve known, like Dave Mains and Ken Sorenson, as well as Mike Dalton and Stevie Brown, PK Lavengood, Rory Daniels are just a few of the many talented players that came together to make this record happen.

You can tell this is an artist that cares deeply about his musical roots and the resurrection of a place of former glory. The very reason records like this are made are to inspire and aspire the listener, and I believe Soul In Exile II—Jersey Shore Baby has accomplished that in all areas. I think that perhaps Heshy’s soul has found the way out of this exile at last.

(This article appeared in East Coast Rocker/Aquarian Weekly, October 7, 2007.)