A Slice Of Queens In Grown-Up CD

By Joseph Orovic

Glendale native Mark Bacino’s next album “Queens English” is inspired by the borough he grew up and now lives in.

For a borough used to melancholy artistic interpretations of its status as “one of those other boroughs,” singer/songwriter Mark Bacino has managed to scrape together enough pride to take Queens seriously.

The Glendale native’s latest album, “Queens English,” uses our borough as the backdrop for a sincere exploration of growing up and growing old – but not disillusioned.

“This is somewhat of a very personal record for me,” Bacino said. “It’s describing the sort of things I went through for the last seven years, melded together with the outer borough life.”

Since the release of his last record, 2003’s “Million Dollar Milkshake,” Bacino swapped his Manhattan digs for a Middle Village home, got hitched, started a family and started up his own label, DreamCrush.

“Queens English” follows Bacino’s journey from the appropriately tongue-in-cheek kiss offs to Manhattan to an exploration of love, marriage and fatherhood.

“It felt kind of natural to kind of be writing about a theme or have a continuous narrative in the new record,” Bacino said. “A couple of tunes in, I realized this is what the record is supposed to be.”

The thematic narrative of the album, as well as its inherent heaviness, is a noted departure for Bacino. Before the album, he was known for lighthearted pop of a bygone era when soda fountains and V8 engines were common.

The record’s maturity, (Bacino balks at the term “concept album”) has driven away some of the fans expecting more teenage love pleas and innocence.

Instead, “Queens English” provides a tender glimpse at life for the 42-year-old.

There is the man’s realization he is now an exhausted father in “Camp Elmo” and the sentiment of wearing used threads on your wedding day in “Blue Suit.”

The lyrics, at times more melancholy than the music lets on, reveal a sly depth bordering on coy.

“Sometimes I wake up crying, must be tears of joy I weep/‘Cause I sit right up and count my blessings like sheep,” he sings in “Happy.”

“I think lyrically this record is probably the closest in sort of realizing that creative dream I’ve come,” Bacino said.

Thankfully, that lyrical maturity has a tendency to promote our borough and downplay the other one… what’s it called again? Oh right, Manhattan.

The cover art to “Queens English” includes a picture of an iconic brick stoop.

“Make Manhattan disappear/‘Cause no one’s really from here/So give ‘em all a Bronx cheer/Just for me…/‘Cause the butt of all their jokes/Are the wheels and the spokes…of the city,” Bacino sings in “Bridge & Tunnel.”

The album’s cover art even features a stoop, and the back is a Mr. Softee truck.

“I like turning the idea of ‘bridge and tunnel’ on its ear,” he said. “I sort of flip it over, and make it a point of pride. The hard work, the living and the dying of New York City happens here.”

The hardworking nature translates into Bacino’s music career as well. Session work and jingles help pay the bills.

Gone are the days of a vinyl LP or mixed tapes getting passed around. Now, musicians and artists live and die online, full-time. And Bacino has been a hearty adopter of the new norm, reaching fans via social networking sites, blogs and any other means of technology available.

“There’s a whole bunch of other things now to sort of reach out to your fan base or people who might be interested in what you do,” he said. “Even seven years ago, none of the social media stuff was in play. The interaction is amped up.”

The interaction, however, has not featured much feedback from the Queens-ites themselves.

“I hope that they identify with it, get some feeling of local pride out of it,” Bacino said. “I think they’ll also get the idea that, “Hey, we all are going through the same sort of things.”

You can check out more of Bacino’s album at markbacino.com or dreamcrushmusic.com.

Reach Reporter Joseph Orovic at jorovic@queenstribune.com, or (718) 357-7400, Ext. 127.