Wide Ranging - Concord NH Band Celebrates Debut Album

For Andrew North, the stage and the studio are two distinct places, with the latter a place for adventure. Phosphorescent Snack, the debut album from North and his band the Rangers, is a multi-tracked gem, with elements of funk, soulful pop and progressive jazz. It's Steely Dan meets Frank Zappa at a 1969 Chicago Transit Authority listening party.

"Electrostatic Chills" expresses a solid groove intention, while the instrumental "Epiphone" showcases the four band members' prowess: North on keys, drummer Dale Grant, bass player Chip Spangler and horn wizard Rob O'Brien. That the song is missing the instrument it's named after is not lost on North.

"Yeah, there's no guitar on the album, which has kind of become a point of pride for us," he said in a recent interview. Other standouts include "Down the Pipes," with its echoes of Dixieland jazz, the can-do anthem "Dig Deep" and "Aditi," the latter sounding like an unmistakable nod to a certain Vermont jam band.

"It's hard to admit, because when we say we're Phish-influenced, the reaction can go either way," North agreed. "But there's no question I've soaked up so much of that over the decades, and it comes across in what I do. ... I've stopped trying to downplay it."

The connection is understandable; North moved from Burlington, Vermont, to Concord five years ago, bringing the energy of his first home along with him. Andrew North & the Rangers is a multigenerational ensemble; Grant has played drums for close to five decades, including sessions with members of Yes, Survivor and Cheap Trick, while the younger Spangler's resume includes work in far-away places like Alaska.

Like many bands, the quartet planned to complete its debut disc in 2020, but when the pandemic ended live shows, time was used to polish it a bit more. O'Brien, who plays an electronic Roland Aerophone he affectionately calls Dustbuster that can emit a multitude of sounds, opened his laptop and created walls of horns that would please Earth, Wind & Fire.

"Covid-19 gave us a good chance to sit down and work the tracks up with some overdubbing," North said, "and obviously, if you let Rob loose with a chance to take more than one pass at a song, he'll take full
advantage."

North and his mates marked the record's release with an August show at Area 23, a Concord haven for original bands like theirs.

They'll appear at Newmarket's venerable Stone Church on Sept. 2 "I was in a jam band in like 2006, and we were dying to get a gig at Stone Church," North said, "and they never gave us the time of day…. so I may be irrationally excited about that one."

On Sept. 4 they'll play a late set at the Keene Music Festival, a massive outdoor showcase of regional bands on multiple stages. - Michael Witthaus, The Hippo