WORKS ON BLUE: HISTORY AND REVIEWS

History

Works on Blue began with John Frazier on guitar and vocals, Jay Arnholt on drums and Steve Lemko on bass. They called Quakertown, PA home until relocating to Washington, DC, in 1996 after Lemko's departure and the addition of Mark Eggerts on bass.

Early on, a publishing deal with Famous Music/Paramount Pictures came pretty quickly, and the band went on the road. After a corporate shake-up (Viacom bought Paramount), support within the publishing house disappeared nearly as quickly as it had shown up. But they crossed the country a couple of times and gigged a lot in Philadelphia, DC and New York, along with some additional regional touring.

Works on Blue released two records (1994's Opinions and 1996's Straight To My Head), with two others left unfinished due to personal, artistic or financial complications (1995's Placebo and 1996's Dexter Love Sessions).

 

Reviews

Works on Blue: Live at the 9:30 Club, Washington, DC

"The music and mood during the set actually sent shivers up my arms. It's been a while since live music has done that to me - but I suspect the energy of the crowd combined with the band's non-attitude was so clean and pure that it left me with something almost tangible.

Works on Blue gives off a great power groove feel for the swaying type - and the intensity of the performance was overwhelming. The band definitely subscribes to today's alt-rock stylings, but it's not generic. The drums are more inventive, the bass is funkier and more elaborate, as is the guitar-work. They closed with a real rock-and-roll song that built itself up further and further until the climax, which reinforced the band's strength and stamina as a unit. I felt as if I were being treated to "the next big thing." And let me tell you, I really hate when writers use that phrase, but the English vocabulary is too short." - Scene


Works on Blue: Opinions

"I caught this Pennsylvania trio on their recent west-coast tour and was suitably impressed. The immediate comparison is to an early U2, with a few disclaimers - no anthems, singer John Frazier's vocal abilities far outshine Bono's and Works have balls!

Their debut album, Opinions, captures virtually all of these qualities; only the sweetness of Frazier's tones seems to have been occasionally misplaced. There agian, his guitar work more than makes up for it; from a jangle worthy of the Edge, onto delicate, shimmering leads, finishing with a psychedelic power of his own. The bass and drums are equally adept.

Like all great albums, each of the songs shines with a glow of its own, some with a punky edge, others with an almost Celtic strut, some are quietly intense ballads, others are outright rockers. Favorites will be chosen on mood alone, because there isn't a filler to be found." - Alternative Press


Works on Blue: Straight To My Head

"A weird sound that's hard to pigeonhole (to say the least). On "Big, Brother" the guitarist, who also provides the vox (he's John Frazier, btw) moves from floaty Main-type guitar frippery to thunderous primate chords to squealy distortion that would make Robert Poss proud to chink-chink strumming to Van Halenish solo squiddling to an ending of Hendrix-styled wah-solo weirdness that segues into the next song. The scary part is that it actually flows pretty seamlessly, no small feat; theoretically it shouldn't be possible to roll so much stuff into one style, but Frazier somehow manages it. Must be a sharp guy... This disc holds the promise of an intriguing future." - Dead Angel


WORKS ON BLUE: DISCOGRAPHY and MP3s