Visible Men In Socks Mode CD

Dustin Lanker, known as Lord Vargas Trilby in parts of Eastern Europe, began playing the piano as a child, a savant, one might say. Dustin has left his mark in Eugene's musical history as well, as a pianist in Spank, The Monastery of Swing, and The Burning Members. Not to mention having played three weeks worth of shows in Europe with Great Britain's founding fathers of Ska, The Specials.

Ask any songwriter worth their weight in salt, and they'll tell you it's hard to write a song about how things haven't worked out, without sounding like a whiny dumb ass. Dustin Lanker's lyrics tell personal stories of shortfall, missed chances, and regret that don't ask for sympathy. As the opening lines of the song "Pokerface" reveal; "It can't be true, no, I won't listen to you, you're lying and your pokerface is bad. You act so fake as though there's nothing at stake, but the ante is all I ever had." The quiet intensity of the arrangements, lyrics, and musicianship on this album is astounding. The Visible Men will be touring extensively in the spring and summer of 2002 in support of this album.

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Although the fact that the Visible Men are comprised of two former members of the Cherry Poppin' Daddies is unlikely to attract much positive attention, pianist/vocalist Dustin Lanker and bassist Dan Schmid take a clear step away from the retro-swing of their past with In Socks Mode. A full-on excursion into classy piano pop in the Ben Folds Five mold, Lanker is a wonderfully accomplished pianist, turning out a truly likeable set of durable melodies and elaborate arrangements that encompasses all of the alternating playfulness and pensiveness needed to ensure that the mood of the set doesn't grow stale. But where the true difference between the artistry of the two songwriters is evident is in their lyrical subject matter, as Lanker sits on the opposite end of the spectrum from Folds' angst-ridden and defiant songwriting persona. In fact, Lanker seems to be positively defeated in his ruminations on rejection and personal shortcomings, a fact which grows increasingly grating as the disc unfolds. Although the sheer attractiveness of his melodies will win over most detractors, Lanker occasionally falls into a lack of cleverness, instead relying on rather blunt (and not particularly funny) scatological and masturbation references. In short, the Visible Men may have a harder time crawling out from under the inevitable Ben Folds Five comparisons than they will in distancing themselves from their former band, but the considerable musical triumphs of In Socks Mode bodes well for when Lanker moves past his self-pity and branches out into more fertile songwriting ground. ~ Matt Fink

The Visible Men: Dustin Lanker (vocals, piano); Dan Schmid (bass instrument).

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