Proto-Kaw Before Came After
Released: April 06, 2004 Origination Year: 2004 Time: 66:08 Tracks: 9 Produced by: N/A Style: Studio Format: CD Enhancement: None Website: www.protokaw.com

It would be unfair to stack Proto-Kaw’s CD “Before Became After” against founder Kerry Livgren’s other groups. His most prominent work in Kansas did reflect a prog rock feel but also had a southern boogie. His next band, A.D., wore its pop-infused heart on sleeve all the while hinting at a sophistication of composition rarely shown by his peers. But with Proto-Kaw, anthems like “Carry On Wayward Son” or the plaintive cry of “Games Of Chance And Circumstance” don’t immediately come to mind. Oddly, what comes to mind is Van Der Graaf Generator.

If you’re familiar with VDGG and vocalist Peter Hamill, think of the group with a crafty guitar in the mix with the exotic percussion and the wind instruments, think of the striking singing reigned in ever so slightly, and you get an inkling of what the disc offers. If this sounds like a negative so far, then Before Became After is not for you. If the idea of slightly epic, slightly jazzy but very progressive rock intrigues, then read on because you’re not liable to get something this defiantly individualistic elsewhere.

Individualistic? It doesn’t read right to me either, but I checked on the computer dictionary and it’s apparently copacetic. Good thing too, as I don’t think any other term expresses the music as well: long songs, confident instrumental breaks and passages, subject matter both earthbound and spiritual. Starting the set with chimes, Livgren’s insistent guitar line and Meredith’s purposefully enunciated singing, “Alt. More Worlds Than Known” speaks to the overall tone of the recording, challenging but not unnecessarily difficult at seven and a half minutes, themes not centered on “boy etc. girl” and secret little hooks that don’t grab you so much as plays tag. You find yourself returning to it without any specific reason why.

If you need something more familiar to get you through, “Gloriana” has a strong, “Vinyl Confessions” era feel to it while “It Moves You” could have been on the A.D. disc, Prime Mover, but you may not be prepared for “Leaven” with it’s slightly Native American feel married to a spoken word opening, it’s tonal shifts from that to hard-driving rock to its frenetic end. And if that’s too much for you, then you may not be able to deal with the closing “Theophany”, clocking in more than eleven minutes.

Yeah, if you can’t handle it, by all means don’t bother because it won’t get easier for you once you’re in. This is a rather uncompromising album because no one is out to be superstars here. No one is auditioning for American Idol here, and I don’t think Simon Cowell and company would know what to do with Lynn Meredith anyway. The guy uses his voice not like a singer but like an actors speaking, crooning, howling, anything. John Bolton adds colors with the wind instruments in conjunction with walls of organ and synth provided by Dan Wright. Craig Kew and Brad Schulz anchor it all with bass and drums in constantly shifting speeds and modes.

Let’s touch upon that notion of spiritual motivation. Sure, those who know of Livgren’s work are well aware of his Christian worldview, and this might turn people off from the disc. I don’t know why myself, believing that being open to all kinds of ideologies, beliefs and cultures is an inherent good. And besides, he never preaches or sermonizes. These songs speak to the mystery at the core of his beliefs and the callousness of a world that may not believe in anything. I can relate to that, can’t you?

What can I say? After having heard the promotional copy, I’m fully prepared to sink dough into one of Inside Out’s special editions; it’s just really good, really ambitious rock played out across a skyline, not a teeny TV screen. But if that’s too much for you, if the thought of investing time in songs that unfold rather than merely play through doesn’t sit well, don’t bother. You won’t get it.

But I certainly hope you will get it and give it a try nonetheless. It’s daunting, but it’s good.

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