Self-described as "Squeeze on adrenaline," Lou Carlozo pretty much makes up the band. He is the songwriter, singer, rhythm guitarist, occasional percussionist and back-up singer/s. In the spirit of Todd Rundgren, he also did some of the mixing and production work and while the Carlozo influence is obviously there, it is not glaringly apparent that Lou did practically all of the work on the CD.

This was quite a project for a musician. Interestingly enough, Lou Carlozo is also a full time staff writer at the Chicago Tribune. He wrote the songs and created the CD in his “spare time.” Carlozo has no plans to leave his day gig, in fact, he said his bosses are behind him and he loves that he has the freedom to be able to figure out who he is as an artist without having to worry about money, like so many musicians do.

Them Apples was a studio project until the CD was released and fans wanted to see the band perform live. In order to satisfy his fans, Carlozo had his brother Tony fly in from Philadelphia along with some musician friends. The music genes evidently run in the family -- Carlozo’s second cousin is Dick Boccelli, the original drummer for Bill Haley and the Comets. Tony apparently inherited that same gene and played drums for Them Apples. At the shows, Lou plays rhythm and 12-string electric guitar. Now together on a “permanent” status, the other members of Them Apples are Roger O’Keith on guitar, Roger Berg on bass and Tony “T-Bone” DeVozzo, the ex-touring drummer for Fishbone. Shows are full of energy with the audience dancing and having fun. Lou calls it a slamming pop rock show. The group has been performing new material that will be on the next CD, which is slated to be recorded in the spring.

The CD All Groan Up is Carlozo’s first solo project since he moved here from Philadelphia and is the first Them Apples CD. Carlozo values his new wave and pop influences like XTC and Squeeze, also acknowledging influences from Motown "and of course, the Beatles." Some songs are similar to the Beatles songs, including the bonus track at the end of the CD with its carnival-like sound and a talking underwater thing going on. “The Last Girl on Earth” has a folksy, Irish sound to it, thanks in part to Caryn Lin and her 5-string violin. The violin fades out nicely under the return of the vocals with a beautiful effect. Earthy chord progressions are the trademark on another track, a psychedelic sound permeates another, funk overtones are all over another and echoes of ‘70s guitar work paint others. There is music to dance to, sing along with and even some to be depressed by.

Carlozo is very good at using the pop structure of writing, braiding easy-to-sing lyrics, music, and emotion to produce catchy songs. Even the sad songs don’t drag the listener down into the murky depths of depression like so many other songs of the ‘90s do. A piece of work that's entirely dark doesn’t really say anything and as Carlozo commented, "A shadow needs the contours of light to make it interesting."

Lyrics are obviously meaningful and, at times, religiously inspired. Then there are lyrics such as, “Rejection is a beast with claws that scatters you to shreds ... ” The strength of that line was diluted by the lack of emphasis on important syllables; the words aren’t completely clear, and require reference to the lyric sheet. Some fine tuning of the vocals is probably the cure for that. Carlozo’s wonderful use of pause between key words gives lyrics an extra punch of expression. At the other end of that scale, some lyrics are flat out predictable; yet that’s okay, too, as that is exactly what pop music is about. Carlozo’s lyrics don't demand that you stop everything you're doing to analyze and compare them to your experiences. While lyrics don’t need to be deep all of the time, “The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain, where lovers leap and then get shattered ... ” doesn’t have the edge required to get away with using such a cliched phrase or a rhythm innovative enough to give the listener something new to hold on to, so it swings over the line the other way. The music itself compensates for lyrical irregularities, but at times, gets pushed to its limit.

Them Apples’ songs may not be perfect, but isn’t that part of rock and roll? In a refreshing way, it is music at the common denominator of the human element -- universally understood feelings and events presented simply and sincerely with passion, maybe overdone at times, but sincere, nonetheless. An innocent quality saturates the songs and inadvertently captures the essence of rock and roll: honest, from-the-gut, emotionally-driven music. Without a complaint.

Them Apples is performing at Gunther Murphy’s on Belmont Ave. in Chicago on Saturday, March 8.