Karen Zanes

(translated from Portuguese)

Sometimes an imaginative and well prepared recipe produces excellent results. Pay attention to the case of Freeways.

The ready-made one base post-punk, add two tablespoons of new-wave and garage-punk, a dash of Feelies (brand preference Velvet), season it with a bit of "paisley-underground" and in the end joins a very personable singer. Go to the studio and some time later, is offered to us a disc that, far from being a portent of innovation, we listen with undisguised pleasure.

Originating in Cambridge / Boston to Freeways, propelled by lead singer Karen Zanes (it has established whether some kinship with Dan Zanes that back in 80 Bostonians also led the Del Fuegos) and guitarist Frank E. Butkus has on his record titled debut album.

Soon to open, "Whenever you want me" tells that comes. A "beat" and a thunderous "fuzz" to match, grab them by the collar and the wisest course is to offer so little resistance, although the annoying feeling of already having heard this anywhere. "Neon Light Show is an unusual meeting between the X and the Rain Parade, while "I'll take it" and "Shake the Dope Out" (an original Warlocks) are the cylinders return to higher rotation.

About "Love is a sick thing" hangs an unexpected melodic inflection, while "Country" stands a as midway between the monolithic Wooden Shjips and rural landscapes that Passions of the Barbara Gogan traveled in the early '80s. "Casa Loma" is the new X, but this time with Kendra Smith in place of Exene Cervenkova.

At a hearing blind have argued that the guitars that open and sustain "Glass Eye" was derived from a new piece of the Feelies. Naahh, with the evolution of the song note that after a session of Mazzy Star would be something more appropriate. Ditto for the Californian "End of summer."

Do not think however that "The Freeways" is a hard negligible. Rather, it is a magnificent job of "copy / paste" highly recommended for those who have not yet reached age 25. Naturally, with the express recommendation to treat immediately after listening to the originals ....

-Luis Peixoto (Shorcut Sounds) - Shortcut Sounds (Portugal)

Coincidência curiosa. Na mesma semana em que mergulhei no novo Feelies e aguardo com expectativa os mais recentes sons de Damon & Naomi, aterrou na caixa do correio do Atalho o primeiro EP a solo de Karen Zanes.

Salvaguardando as distâncias que a história e os curriculuns prudentemente aconselham, neste registo da até agora membro dos The Freeways e Second Day Venom, encontram-se ecos da matriz das duas bandas referidas no parágrafo anterior, tal como transparecem evidentes cumplicidades com Opal e, sobretudo, Mazzy Star.


"Radio Flyer" incluindo 5 temas originais, um pequeno instrumental e uma versão de "Mystery Train" popularizado por Presley, é uma pequena preciosidade por lapidar.

A atmosfera é lo-fi. A sonoridade, silenciosa, convida à serenidade do alpendre num qualquer fim de tarde primaveril. As guitarras ( acústicas e eléctricas ) decoram a voz que, tal como a de Hope Sandoval, sussurra mais do que canta. E a narrativa, intima e sensorial, vai colorindo a paleta musical através de nuances que remontam aos Feelies de "The Good Earth" e aos referidos Mazzy Star ou Damon & Naomi despidos da componente psicadélica; isto é: sem as guitarras de David Roback no primeiro caso e de Michio Kurihara no segundo.

As canções que fazem "Radio Flyer" são saborosas o suficiente para poderem ser aconselhadas sem reservas, embora não a toda a gente e certamente não indicadas para todas as ocasiões. Funcionam francamente melhor em atmosfera recatada e de introspecção, espaço onde se percebe melhor a sua dimensão e potencial de crescimento.

-Luis Peixoto (Shortcut Sounds) - Shortcut Sounds (Portugal)

The Freeways are from Boston. With such musical background is quite difficult to make not an at least interesting album!!! All songs of Freeways are written by Karen Zanes and Frank E. Butkus, besides shake the dope out (which is a song by Warlocks). Plus Tim Madden (drums) and Mike Swidrak (bass). Most of the songs sounding 80's with a lot of hints of 60's songwriting. They use vintage musical equipment and that fact gives in all tracks a slight garage touch, and a total psych/pop fantastic sound.

Songs are stuck in mind, with great choruses and of course the magic voice of Karen Zanes! You can find several psych/pop diamonds that brings in mind all the 80's revival bands with guitar playing influenced by the Velvets! I also suppose that Jonathan Richman was a great inspiration.

Pretty cool album!!!

-George Markou (Gew-Gaw Fanzine) - Gew-Gaw Fanzine (Greece)

After reading too many shitty reviews that included summations like "band X screwing band Y on Z kind of drugs," I swore off comparing bands to more-famous bands. It's like quitting cigarettes, however. With a little willpower, I can produce more-creative descriptions. But sometimes, as when I'm listening to the Freeways' debut, I buckle under the anxiety and dock their score for inhabiting the sonic coke den of established psych-rock outfits who are themselves unapologetic late-'60s throwbacks. It's as if they'd invited themselves to a party that fizzled out hours ago but had brought excellent metaphorical hash to share with anyone who's still awake. Considering what the local quartet accomplish within the Black Rebel Jonestown Massacre template on their first try, we can expect superior material down the line. On "Country," co-vocalist Karen Zanes summons the ghost of Nico and teaches it to quit being so deadpan. There's a pleasant aroma of menace detectable in the muddy garage haze of "Love Is a Sick Thing," and the up-tempo spin on the Warlocks' "Shake the Dope Out" trumps the original. Which means the Freeways have got off to a better start than the Warlocks did.

-Barry Thompson (The Boston Phoenix)


- The Boston Phoenix

Somewhat vaguely understated production values may be a deliberate but misguided attempt to evoke crude ’60s product. But Karen Zanes, with a vocal style somewhat reminiscent of Signe Anderson, fronts a band specializing in short songs evocative less of ’60s psychedelia than of the nouveau-psychedelia movement of the early 1980s. As such, many of the songs are appealing slices of that mind-manifesting genre. “I’ll Take It,” “Country,” and “End of Summer” are particularly successful in weaving an alluring spell.

- Francis DiMenno (The Noise) - The Noise

Debut albums are welcome and interesting, and the eponymous release of Boston's psychedelic garage band The Freeways can certainly be so described. Taking one part vintage pop-psych, one part garage thrash and one part US road trip, the album conceptually journeys from east to west, beginning basic and fuzzed-out with tracks 'Whenever You Want Me' and 'I'll Take It,' before progressing to more swirly fare like their cover of The Warlocks' 'Shake The Dope Out.' Karen Zanes' light voice contrasts with the buzzing guitars and battered drums, but on the quieter 'Country' she is given more space to emote, alongside a tasteful Hammond organ - an album highlight, this cut. 'Casa Loma' again has a more West Coast feel, with particularly evocative guitars. Groovy track 'Glass Eye' really digs the vintage vibe, while the superb concluding cut 'End Of Summer' is a joy. The latter songs rather outshine the former, but this is nonetheless a good release.

-Simon Lewis (Terrascope UK)
- Terrascope (UK)

Not quite sedated, not quite alert, The Freeways’ self-titled album feels like a lucid dream, featuring breathy, ethereal vocals against intentionally simple drumbeats. From the murky morning vibes reverberating between satellite waves on “Country,” to “Shake the Dope Out,” which whispers aggressive refrains over a nimble bassline, The Freeways singular sound hovers somewhere between croon and consciousness. This native Cambridge, garage psych-pop group is a hypnotic testament to the notion that less is more
Even though Karen Zanes' alluringly unemphatic vocals stay fixed within a five-note range, if you’re into kicking back, you’ll be happy to hear more of the same from this consistently dreamy ensemble.

-Emily Hecht (Weekly Dig) - Weekly Dig

Karen Zanes

Moon and Stars Records
Radio Flyer
7 tracks

Utterly entrancing mind-manifesting music right from the get-go from Zanes, a founding member of the Freeways. Unlike many third-wave psychedelia projects, this is composed more of modest snippets than of grandiose, sprawling manifestos, and is all the better for it. You might close your eyes and almost imagine the second coming of Galaxie 500. “Lover Boy” is ethereal and haunting and the title track doesn’t even need the echo to make its ambiently melancholy point.

-Francis DiMenno (The Noise)
- The Noise

Like a female fronted Galaxie 500, heading on a open top bus to the land of shoegaze, the music of Karen Zanes (The Freeways, Second day Venom) is gentle, fragile and highly listenable, softly strummed guitar and a gorgeous voice augmented by the sympathetic guitar playing of Frank.E.Butkus, whose restrained style suits the tunes to a tee. Over seven songs the mood remains calm and unhurried, with the pop sensibilities of “Lover Boy” really catching the ear, whilst the sweet ache of “Falling Leaf” slows thing down even more, like drops of water in an ancient stone pond. On the title track “Radio Flyer” it all comes together to perfection, the epitome of the sound, whilst a fine mellow cover of “Mystery Train” is the perfect icing on a delicious and very more-ish cake. (www.karenzanes.com) - Simon Lewis (Terrascope UK) - Terrascope UK

Coming from the same Northeastern musical scene as Rhode Island’s Allysen Callery–a scene that favors stark, intimate folk music–Boston’s Karen Zanes is similar in mood but differs in delivery. Whereas Ms. Callery’s style is firmly rooted in the British folk tradition and delivered through delicate, finger-picked melodies, Ms. Zanes’ sound is most notably influenced by the sedate, psychedelic jangle of the early 80s Los Angeles scene known as the Paisley Underground.

Built on songs that feature a bright, reverb-drenched guitar tone and a ghostly, almost detached vocal style, Zanes’ debut ep, Radio Flyer, is equally indebted to Mazzy Star’s haunted, ethereal pop and the narcotic country of the Cowboy Junkies. And though the lo-fi production sometimes leaves the songs feeling more like demos than fully-realized recordings, it also allows Zanes’ earnest emotions and subtle sorrow to float like a soft halo above the haze, making for an intimate listening experience. - The Obscenester - Los Grillos Collective

Coming from the same Northeastern musical scene as Rhode Island’s Allysen Callery–a scene that favors stark, intimate folk music–Boston’s Karen Zanes is similar in mood but differs in delivery. Whereas Ms. Callery’s style is firmly rooted in the British folk tradition and delivered through delicate, finger-picked melodies, Ms. Zanes’ sound is most notably influenced by the sedate, psychedelic jangle of the early 80s Los Angeles scene known as the Paisley Underground.

Built on songs that feature a bright, reverb-drenched guitar tone and a ghostly, almost detached vocal style, Zanes’ debut ep, Radio Flyer, is equally indebted to Mazzy Star’s haunted, ethereal pop and the narcotic country of the Cowboy Junkies. And though the lo-fi production sometimes leaves the songs feeling more like demos than fully-realized recordings, it also allows Zanes’ earnest emotions and subtle sorrow to float like a soft halo above the haze, making for an intimate listening experience. - Los Grillos Collective

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The catch-all term "lo-fi" is rapidly becoming an excuse for a multitude of sins. Songs sound half-finished? Fear not, it's lo-fi. Lack of instrumental interest? No problem, it's lo-fi. Arrangements and production lacking finesse? Don't worry, it's (you've guessed it) lo-fi.
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Karen Zane's début release comes described as "lo-fi dream-pop... with an underlying Americana/back porch feel" and it is guilty of all these offences.

Doubtless the songs are aiming at simplicity but sadly they achieve only banality, coming across as aimless and lacking anything resembling dynamics. Meanwhile, Zane's vocals are pleasant enough, but largely remain whispery and drenched in reverb, giving them a spectral quality which is rarely able to rise above the unremitting plod of her acoustic guitar. The overall effect is like a cut-price Cowboy Junkies, especially on the ill-advised cover of Mystery Train.

There are a couple of redeeming features, such as the remarkably pretty refrain of 'Moonlight Lady and the much-needed twinkly lead guitar work of Frank Butkus. However, it is far from enough to save the release and whatever glimmers of potential they suggest, a great deal of work is needed yet.

(Kai Roberts) - Americana UK